Career beginnings

At the age of 14 she started her career as a belly dancer. She worked as both a belly dancer and a soloist with her father during their tours across Turkey. Can, who appeared in the clubs such as Galata Tower and Astorya, accepted Nükhet Duru and Fahrettin Arslan's offer to perform at Maksim Casino at the age of 17. Due to Can's minority, the casino became under the threat of closure, and after court proceedings her date of birth was changed to 1964.^[4] At Maksim Casino she worked with the likes of Muazzez Abacı, Neşe Karaböcek and Emel Sayın. In 1987, she released her first album, Günah Bize, which was produced by Kervan Plak. Orhan Gencebay helped her with the album's preparations. In 1988, she started performing at Maksim Casino as a singer. Orhan Gencebay served as the producer for her first albums.

1990s: Rise to fame

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Can released a new album each year and in 1995 she signed a contract with Raks Müzik. Her ninth studio album, Bu Devirde, was released in 1997 with its lead single, "Padişah", being written by Serdar Ortaç. Following the success of the album,^[5] Can released a music video for the lead single, directed by Tayfun Dinçer. With the release of this music video Can got a massive fan base and the album topped the sales charts in Turkey.^[6] Following this success, Can started to perform at many concerts. Businessman Kadir Has famously praised her at a business dinner saying: "Sibel, all my money is yours", while President Süleyman Demirel commented by saying: "I swear to God, it's all worth it for this girl".^[7]

2000s–present

In 2000, Can's new album, İşte Türk Sanat Müziği İşte Sibel Can, was released. In 2001, she started working with the production company Emre Plak. In 2002, Can was cast in a leading role in the movie Papatya ile Karabiber. In 2006, her album Özledin mi? sold 200,000 copies and received a diamond certification from MÜ-YAP.^[8] At the award ceremony for receiving the certification, Can performed the song "Lale Devri" from the same album together with Sezen Aksu, who had written and composed the song. In 2007, the album Akşam Sefası was released, which featured the song "Çakmak Çakmak". The song, which was written and composed by Tarkan, was well-received by fans and critics. In 2009, a new album titled Benim Adım Aşk was released,^[9] followed by Seyyah in 2011. The song "Hançer" from the latter became a hit song in Turkey. In April 2012, Can released another album titled Meşk. In February 2014, her twentieth album, Galata, was released. Can also played in Cashmere Carpet advertisements for a while and was the face of this brand for many years.

In April 2016, Can's new album Arabesque was released by DMC. The composer and songwriter Burhan Bayar composed all of the songs in this album, including "Gülüm Benim", "Sevmek", "Bu da Geçer", "Mavi Mavi", "Seninle ilk defa", "Yalnızım dostlarım", "Mutlu Ol Yeter", "Hasret Rüzgârları", "Benim Hatım", and "Gurbet Geceleri", all of which had the style of the 1980s' Turkish songs.^[10][11] On 9 April 2016, Can performed at the Bostancı Show Center,^[12] followed by another concert at the Cemil Topuzlu Open-Air Theatre on 10 August 2016, during which she performed her new songs and said: "The great master of Arabesque music, Orhan Gencebay, discovered my talent; I have loved Arabesque music ever since". At her concert on 10 August 2016 she performed the song "Bağdat" together with Ayla Çelik, followed by the performance of the song "Günah Benim" with rappers Eypio and Burak King in the form of arabesque and rock. Before the concert Can said: "I got to know Eypio and Burak King through my children. Their music video has been watched over 100 million times. I'm so excited to rap for the first time".^[13][14] In October 2016, she joined the singing competition O Ses Türkiye as a judge. In November 2016, she was chosen as the Best Arabesque-Fantasy Music Artist at the Golden Butterfly Awards. Following the award ceremony, people reacted to Okan Bayülgen's jokes about Can's weight. The greatest backlash came from Can's ex-husband, Hakan Ural, and Bayülgen was heavily criticized. In 2017, Can was cast in a leading role on the TV series Sevda'nın Bahçesi.^[15]

In June 2018, her twenty second album, Yeni Aşkım, was released by DMC. Mayk Şişman from Milliyet wrote in his review about the album: "It is gratifying that Sibel Can has included songs from Bahadır Tatlıöz and Yalın in her album. It is also pleasing to know that she aims to offer different tastes within her own limits and does not rely only on Tarkan or Serdar Ortaç songs".^[16]

Albums

Singles

• "Helin" (2011)
• "Kış Masalı" (Mustafa Ceceli Remix) (2014)
• "Hangimiz Sevmedik" (2015)
• "Bir Parmak Bal" (2015)
• "Milletin Duâsı" (with various artists) (2018)
• "Kuyu" (2018)
• "Adı Elveda Olsun" (2021)
• "Bize Kaldı" (2022)
• "Karakol" (2023)

As featured artist

• "Kahır Mektubu" (2011) from the album 130 Bpm Allegro
• "Bilmesin Felek" (2012) from the album Orhan Gencebay ile Bir Ömür
• "Alkışlar" (2013) from the album Proje 2
• "Mihriban" and "Telli Turnam" (2015) from the album Musa Eroğlu ile Bir Asır
• "Emi" (2018) from the album Yıldız Tilbe'nin Yıldızlı Şarkıları