İlkay Akkaya (born 26 May 1964 in Istanbul) is an Alevi singer and member of the Turkish music group Grup Kızılırmak.[1] [2]
Akkaya attended Marmara University in Istanbul. Akkaya began the first step of her music career when she became a member of the music group Grup Yorum in 1987. In 1988, she left Grup Yorum together with Tuncay Akdoğan. On 10 January 1990, she founded the group Kızılırmak together with Tuncay Akdoğan and İsmail İlknur.Kızılırmak is currently one of the most famous Alevi groups; it has given concerts throughout Europe. By April 2008, the group had released 13 albums.
During her time with Kızılırmak, Akkaya also worked on her solo career.From 1990 to 1992, she appeared at the Birlik Theatre in Ankara, where she played the role of Ballihan in the play Pir Sultan Abdal.
In 1991, she composed the film music for the film Bir Küçük Bulut.In 2003 she played in the theatre play "Talan" directed by Zafer Diper. In May 2005, she played in the theatre play "Nâzım Hikmet – Şeyh Bedreddin Destanı". The group Kızılırmak also wrote the music for these theatre plays. İlkay Akkaya still gives many concerts in Europe today. Akkaya has worked with singers such as Erdal Erzincan and Hasret Gültekin.