​Ciwan Haco was born on 17 August 1957 in Tirbespiyê (near Qamislo-Syria). He is a descendant of the Kurdish noble famaly, Haco Agha, from the district of Mardin. As a result of repression after the rebellion of Shaikh Said 1925, the family left the region of Mardin. They settled down in Ciwans Birthplace. His father, a manor owner, laid special emphasis on Ciwan´s education. Initially he did not share Ciwan´s passion for music. Only the lower classes made music at that time. Despite the veto of his father he loved music and he decided to do it for his life. With fourteen years he finally published his first compositions. When he was 17 years old, he gave his first concert on a large stage.

After his graduation In 1979 he came to Germany to study musicology at the Ruhr University Bochum. There he got to know the wild concerts and festivals in the 80´s in his years of studying rather than the dry lectures. In particular, he was inspired by three German musicians, among them Udo Herbst. Their common path should be 10 years. The influence they exert his musical development was significant. Prior his music was very strongly influenced by the traditional Kurdish folk music. Only now Ciwan Haco included elements of european and american pop and rock music into his creative influence. With this basis, he developed their own forms of interpretation of Kurdish folklore and describes his songs as “modern Kurdish music. This is a unique style.

His stay in Norway perfected his musical language. There he worked with great musicians, some with international experience. So typically Paolo Vinaccia (drums, percussion), Stein Hanssen Bull (electric guitar), Bugge Wesseltoft (keyboards) and Bendik Hofseth, with his saxophone always set melodic accents in his CD’s. His music was given a new, better quality. Finally he could afford professional studio recordings by well-paid numerous concerts. Although he was long been a celebrated star in his hometown he made his first official recording contract in Norway in 1991. In 2004 he received a permit appearance in Turkey. In Batman, he united 300,000 Turks and Kurds peacefully on a spectacular concert. The last concert on his tour, he held Turkey in Istanbul under the motto “for the love and peace”. With this concert he filled a hall, which only allows 14,000 people, with legendary 25,000 people. Almost all Turkish media reported the largest solo concert in the history of the Turkish music scene. Another milestone was the concert at a music festival in Diyarbakir. There he played with along other musicians like Ibrahim Tatlises to the Newroz celebrations in front of ca. one million peaople. Since April 2007 we can even see Ciwan Hacos acting talent verified in a movie called “Dol – Valley of the drums” of the Kurdish director Hiner Saleem.

Even if Ciwan Haco wasn´t in his hometown for a long time, perhaps because he can´t do a step unobserved, he never forgot his kurdish roots. Quite the contrary: “We can not forget the events in Kurdistan. They affect our lives directly.” In his songs, he repeatedly expressed with pride that he is closely linked with the suffering and struggle of his people in Kurdistan. Unhidden he tells in his works from the destroyed 5,000 Kurdish villages and opposes the prohibition of its language. Among his texts he is not only inspired through his native land but also by the nature or the old poems.

It was not until 1999 when he met his wife who comes from Iceland and when his two daughters where born he changed his texts and was devoted to the beautiful things in life – the love and joy. Among other things he wants to deal with this change in his texts to communicate: “We Kurds have to change dramatically. We used to the fight. But today we need to use other means. We must use the culture. We need good films, good music, good theater. And show that we can speak about love and sex not only about politics.