By keeping her works updated and getting influence from Western elements, she managed to become one of Turkey's modern and enduring icons in different periods.

However, in 1963, when she won the Ses magazine's cinema artist competition, she became known as an actress, and for a number of years she pursued an acting career.

In the same year, she played the leading role in her first film Adanalı Tayfur and became one of the young faces of Turkish cinema at the time.

Over the next six years, she starred in nearly 50 black and white films, including Şıpsevdi (1963), Hızır Dede (1964) and Şaka ile Karışık (1965).

Pekkan spent the first twenty years of her singing career with dozens of songs released as cover versions.

These songs, which were generally written by Fikret Şeneş and included "Kimler Geldi Kimler Geçti", "Palavra Palavra", "Sana Neler Edeceğim", "Hoş Gör Sen", "Sana Ne Kime Ne", "Bambaşka Biri", "Uykusuz Her Gece" and "O Benim Dünyam", later took their place among the best known songs of both Pekkan's career and the Turkish pop music genre.

Disappointed that her song "Pet'r Oil" ranked fifteenth in the contest, she decided to take a break from her career for a few years.

[8] Her father Rıdvan Pekkan was a commander in Turkish Navy, and her mother Gülten Nevin Dobruca was a housewife.

"[12][13] With the help of her sister Semiramis Pekkan,[14] she met İlham Gencer, the owner of "Çatı" nightclub in 1961[15] and began her music career by singing Mina's song "Il Cielo In Una Stanza"[16] With the help of "Los Çatikos" music community, she performed at a few places for a while.

To create that system alone as a woman really requires courage, it's really hard.Before starting her acting career, she met Fecri Ebcioğlu, who helped her through her music career and in 1965 arranged Pekkan's first record Her Yerde Kar Var, which is the Turkish version of the song Tombe la neige by Salvatore Adamo.

She represented Turkey at the International Apollonia Music Festival in Athens, where she performed the songs "Ozleyis" and "Perhaps One Day" in 1968 and 1969, respectively.

[27][28] Pekkan, who switched to İstanbul Plak in 1972,[29] broke yet another sales record with her 45RPM, Dert Bende Derman Sende, which is an arabesque style song.

[36] She took part in the contest with the song "Pet'r Oil" and finished 15th, which left her deeply disappointed; the ranking had a shocking effect not only for herself, but also for the circles who were sure she would get a high rating.

[39] After "Pet'r Oil", the singer ended her contract with Philips Records and signed a new one with Yaşar Kekeva Plak.

Complying with the arabesque music trend that rose in the country, in September 1981, she released the LP record Sen Mutlu Ol from this company.

Finally, she went to the studio and recorded three new songs, and her album Sevdim Seni was edited and republished in March 1983, and her agreement with Yaşar Kekeva Plak ended.

[53] In 2002, Pekkan was cast in a leading role in the movie Şöhret Sandalı alongside Ediz Hun and Halil Ergün.

[54][55] In 2011, Pekkan released her single "Yakar Geçerim", written by acclaimed Turkish singer Tarkan, which ranked second on Turkey's official music chart.

The song was written by Turkish singer Gülşen and ranked third on the official music chart in Turkey.

[59] Pekkan has continued her career by releasing singles "Yakarım Canını" (2015), "Ayrılık Ateşi" (2016), and "Canın Sağ Olsun" (2019), the first of which ranked fourth on Turkey's official chart.

[60] Pekkan, who appeared in many movies in the 1960s, was criticized by some men in the media for her new style and physics, and in the second year of her acting career she published a sensational article on the magazine Bikini, titled "I destroy the idols".

[67] In the album Güldünya Şarkıları, which various artists prepared for the purpose of helping the Domestic Violence Emergency Helpline, Pekkan performed the song "Kadın Dediğin", and together with Aynur Doğan, she promoted the album by performing the song "Keçe Kurdan", which had previously been banned by a court decision.

As a part of Güldünya Şarkıları's project, she visited Bakırköy Women's Prison, where she also met and comforted Deniz Seki who was being held in State custody.

Like Hande Yener and İzel, Pekkan continues to release songs that are similar to her previous works in terms of style and arrangement.

[83] In April 2018, she and a number of artists accompanied President Erdoğan on a visit to Hatay to meet soldiers who had participated in Operation Olive Branch.

[88] Pekkan has performed in many places inside and outside Turkey, and in addition to Turkish, has sung in English, French, Italian,[89] and Japanese.

[90][91] Pekkan, who did not finish her education at Çamlıca Girls High School,[92] started her music and acting career early and took singing lessons from Leyla Demiriş.