Known by the nicknames "The Sun of Art"[2] and "Pasha",[3] he was one of the prominent figures of Turkish classical music.

[7] In 1950, while he was a university student, he took part at TRT Istanbul Radio's music competition and ranked number-one out of 186 contestants.

During this performance, he was accompanied by musicians Hakkı Derman, Serif İçli, Şükrü Tunar, Refik Fersan and Necdet Gezen.

[11] In 1965, he published a poetry book called Bıldırcın Yağmuru (The Quail Rain), which contains nearly 100 poems.

[7] Among the poems featured in this book are Pembe Yağmurlar (Pink Rains), Bursa Sokağı (Bursa Street), İkinci Sadık Dost, Çim Makası, Son Kavga (Last Fight), Bu Bestecikler Sana, Alınyazım, Kazancı Yokuşu and Kendimi Arıyorum.

In the 1950s, with his special patterns of behavior, dressing and his performance on stage, he managed to keep people constantly interested in himself.

Referred to as the "Pasha of Music", in 1969, after his Aspendos concert, for the first time, he started being favored by the people of Antalya.

[17][18][19] During the last 6 years of his life, Müren was away from the scenes and the media due to heart disease and diabetes.

[20] On 24 September 1996, during the ceremony held for him at TRT İzmir Television, he had a heart attack and died.

[22] TEV and Mehmetçik Foundation built Zeki Müren Fine Arts Anatolian High School in Bursa in 2002.

In a statement on 24 September 2016, TEV Bursa branch president Mehmet Çalışkan said that the foundation had helped 2,631 students with the Zeki Müren Scholarship Fund over the last 20 years.

[23] After his death, the house in which the artist lived in Bodrum for the last years of his life was transformed into Zeki Müren Art Museum by the order of the Ministry of Culture and was opened to the public on 8 June 2000.