Singer, born in Chania, Crete, Greece. She studied at the Athens Academy of Music and released her first record in 1958. Her recording of The White Rose of Athens (1962) became a major European hit and in the early 1970s she had a series of hit albums in the UK. During her career to date she has recorded over 1000 songs and received numerous gold and platinum discs. She was a member of the European Parliament (19949).
| Nana Mouskouri | |
|---|---|
| Mouskouri is one of the world's highest-selling female recording artists | |
| Born |
October 13, 1934 Chania, Crete, Greece |
Nana Mouskouri (born Ioanna Mouskouri on October 13, 1934, at 5 AM, in Chania, Crete, Greece) is a singer of Greek origin who over four decades has forged a highly successful international career. Mouskouri has recorded from the 1960s into the new millennium.
The early years
Mouskouri's family lived in Chania, Crete, where her father, Constantine, worked as a film projectionist in a local cinema. When Mouskouri was three, Constantine moved the family to Athens. Mouskouri's family worked extremely hard in order to send Nana and her elder sister, Jenny, to the prestigious Athens Conservatoire. In fact Mouskouri had one vocal chord that was normal and one vocal cord that was thicker than the other (rather than the normal equal two vocal chords).
Mouskouri's childhood was stamped by the Nazi occupation of Greece. Mouskouri began singing lessons at age 12. Despite the flaw in her vocal cords, Mouskouri took singing lessons regularly. The young Mouskouri committed herself into classical music studies with a passion, perfecting her vocals with extraordinary self-discipline as well as taking piano and harmony classes. After 8 years at the Conservatoire, Mouskouri was encouraged by her friends to experiment with jazz music. However, when Mouskouri's Conservatory professor found out about Mouskouri's involvement with a genre of music that he considered to be absolutely worthless, he flew into a fury and prevented her from sitting her end of year exams. Mouskouri's dreams of becoming an opera singer were dashed.
Mouskouri left the Conservatoire and began performing at the Zaki club in Athens. It was at the Zaki in 1958 that Mouskouri met the famous Greek composer Manos Hadjidakis. In 1959 Mouskouri performed Hadjidakis' Kapou Iparchi Agapi Mou (co-written with poet Nikos Gatsos) at the inaugural Greek Song Festival. The song won first prize, and Mouskouri began to be noticed. Mouskouri soon ventured further and participated at the Mediterranean Song Festival, held in Barcelona where she performed Kostas Yannidis' composition Xypna Agapi Mou. Mouskouri eventually signed a recording contract with the Paris-based Philips-Fontana axis.
In 1961, Mouskouri performed the soundtrack of a German documentary about Greece. The song was later translated into several different languages and it went on to become one of Mouskouri's signature tunes. Mouskouri married Yorgos Petsilas in 1961. Mouskouri and Petsilas have two children, son, Nicolas born on 13 February 1968 and daughter, Hélène, nicknamed Lenou, born on 6 July 1970. In 1974, Mouskouri and Petsilas separated and in 1975, Mouskouri and Petsilas were officially divorced. Mouskouri performed Luxembourg's entry in the Eurovision Song Contest that year, À Force de Prier. Mouskouri soon attracted the attention of French composer Michel Legrand, who composed her two major French hits Les Parapluies de Cherbourg (1964) and L'Enfant au Tambour (1965).
In 1965, she recorded her second English-language album that was released in the United States entitled, Nana Sings. Belafonte brought Mouskouri on tour with him through 1966. During this tour, Belafonte told Mouskouri to remove her signature black-rimmed glasses when on stage.
Mouskouri's 1967 French album Le Jour Où la Colombe ascended her to superstardom in France. Mouskouri made her first appearance at Paris' legendary Olympia concert theater in 1967, with a repertoire blending French pop, Greek folk, and Hadjidakis numbers.
In 1968, Mouskouri turned her attention to the British market and hosted a variety show called Nana and Guests. Mouskouri spent much of the 1970s on the road which helped to broaden her worldwide popularity to levels.
The middle years
In 1979, Mouskouri had another English-language album named Roses and Sunshine. In 1984, Mouskouri returned to Greece for her first live performance in her homeland since 1962.
In 1986, Mouskouri recorded Only Love, the theme song to a BBC TV series that went on to top the UK charts. That same year, Mouskouri made a play for the Spanish-language market with the hit single Con Todo el Alma.
The later years
Mouskouri's 1991 English album, Only Love: The Best of Nana Mouskouri became her best-selling release in the United States.
She recorded several more albums over 1996-1997, including the Spanish Nana Latina (which featured duets with Julio Iglesias and Mercedes Sosa), the English-language Return to Love, and the French pop classics, Hommages. This concert was later released as an album, and aired as a TV special on PBS in the U.S.
Mouskouri was appointed a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador in October 1993 .
Between December 11-14, 1997, Mouskouri gave four triumphant performances at the Olympia in Paris to celebrate the 40th anniversary of her singing career. Also in 1997, Mouskouri resigned from her position as a European MP.
Mouskouri currently lives in Switzerland with her second husband, André Chapelle whom she married on January 13, 2003. In 2004, her French record company released an unprecedented 34-CD box set of more than 600 of Mouskouri's mostly French songs. During an interview with The Australian newspaper, when asked why this would be her final concert series, Mouskouri said she wanted to retire on a high note.
Mouskouri has sold more than 300 million(*) records internationally, recording about 1,500 songs in 15 languages on 450 albums.
Music genre
Mouskouri's repertoire varies and garners her the support for the type of universal appeal she aims, i.e.
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