Gülşen Çolakoğlu is a Turkish singer-songwriter. Born and raised in Istanbul, she graduated from Şehremini High School. After finishing high school, Gülşen enrolled in Istanbul Technical University and at the same time began performing at bars and later left the university. In 1995, while performing at a bar, she was discovered by a composer and contracted with Raks Müzik for her first studio album.
Gülşen's debut album, Be Adam, was released in 1996, which made her known in the music industry, but she preferred to take a break from her professional career and instead focused on her marital life. In 2004, her fourth studio album Of... Of... became a hit in Turkey and a single with the same name as the album earned her both a Golden Butterfly Award and a Turkey Music Award. The Mü-Yap certified album Yurtta Aşk Cihanda Aşk and her subsequent albums had successful sales, and Beni Durdursan mı? became Turkey's best-selling album of the year, followed by Bangır Bangır, which became the second best-selling album of 2015.