Dzansever Dalipova, Known as Cansever, Dies at 59

Singer Dzansever Dalipova died on August 8, 2026, in a hospital in Essen, Germany, at 59, and the news was confirmed a day later by her family and management team in a post on social media. The date and location of the funeral will be announced later.

She was born on July 8, 1967, in Veles, in what is now North Macedonia. She died exactly a month after her 59th birthday. In Turkey she was known for decades under the name Cansever, and her largest audiences were in Turkey, Macedonia and Bulgaria.

A Macedonian Album, Then Turkish Television

She began her professional career in 1992 with the album “Kemano Basal e Romenge,” recorded in Macedonia. It took her five more years to reach an audience beyond the Roma community: in 1997 she appeared on the Turkish television show “Ibo Show,” hosted by Ibrahim Tatlises, and performed the song “Kara Cadir.” After that appearance her career shifted to Turkey, where she sang arabesque music and stayed on the scene for nearly three more decades.

In the Balkans she remained known for her Roma repertoire. Her most performed songs include:

• “Kali”
• “Sa ka dav akaja rat”
• “Me jakha but roven”
• “Ka Panda Sarenge Muja”
• “Miliyonya”

Thirty four years passed between her debut album and her death, spent building an audience across three countries and two music markets, Roma and Turkish, that rarely overlap under the same name.

How Long Was She Ill Before She Died?

She spoke publicly about her leukemia diagnosis in late 2025. After a bone marrow transplant, the hardest part of her treatment appeared to be behind her, but her condition later worsened. About eight months passed between the public disclosure of her diagnosis and her death.

Germany was not a random choice. She had already been operated on there in 2009, when she resolved a spinal problem she had lived with for fifteen years, so her final treatment also led to a German hospital.

Three Decades of Health Problems

Her medical history runs longer than her career. At 12 years old she lost sight in one eye in a street accident. In 1994 she developed a severe form of spinal rheumatism, which for years left her walking hunched over and struggling to move. Surgery did not come until 2009 in Germany, fifteen years after the diagnosis, and most of her most productive period, including her breakthrough in Turkey, played out while she was living with that condition.

That is context rarely mentioned in concert announcements. The woman who filled venues in Istanbul and Skopje performed with chronic back pain and sight in only one eye.

Reactions From Colleagues

After the announcement from her family and management, messages of condolence came from colleagues across the region and in Turkey. Among those who paid tribute was singer Emir Habibovic.

There is no reliable information about her last performance, or about whether she planned any return to the stage after her transplant. Her management has so far only confirmed her death.

Media in the region have used the title queen of Roma music alongside her name for years. It does not come from any competition but from figures that cannot be measured: a Roma repertoire still played at weddings and celebrations today, and a Turkish audience that knew her as Cansever, not always aware of where she was from or what language she was singing in when it was not Turkish.

What remains are recordings and a catalog of several dozen songs. Her family will announce the funeral date later.