Famous Greek Musicians

Greek composer Vangelis is one of the finest and most versatile figures in electronic music. He soared to international fame with his Academy Award-winning soundtrack of the film Chariots of Fire. Starting to learn the piano at age 3, he later experimented with jazz and rock-n-roll.

Demis Roussos was a Greek singer-songwriter remembered for his work with the band Aphrodite's Child. He also had an illustrious career as a vocal soloist and sold over 60 million albums worldwide. His works have inspired musicians all over the world, including Bollywood music director R. D. Burman, whose song Mehbooba Mehbooba is based on Roussos' Say You Love Me.

Greek pop icon Nana Mouskouri soared to fame all over Europe with her track The White Rose of Athens. She has sung in a wide range of languages, including German, Italian, Chinese, and Dutch. Dubbed Europe’s Barbra Streisand, she also sang the theme song of the Oscar-nominated movie The Umbrellas of Cherbourg.

Yanni is a Greek keyboardist, pianist, composer, and music producer. He achieved international recognition by organizing and producing concerts at historic monuments, such as Taj Mahal, Burj Khalifa, and the Great Sphinx of Giza. Adhering to his one world, one people philosophy, Yanni works with musicians of various nationalities to create music that incorporates an eclectic fusion of ethnic sounds.

Maria Amalia Mercouri was a Greek actress, singer, politician, activist, and socialist. Mercouri had a profound acting career and is remembered for her portrayal of Ilya in the film Never on Sunday, which earned her a Cannes Film Festival Best Actress Award. As a politician, Mercouri served as the Minister of Culture and Sports, the first female to do so.

Greek composer Míkis Theodorakis was the famed composer of the Mauthausen Trilogy, one of the finest works centered on the Holocaust. He had also composed for movies such as Zorba the Greek and Z. An active communist and a Lenin Peace Prize winner, he was also jailed once for a military coup.  

Dimitri Thivaios, or Dimitri Vegas, is part of a globally popular electronic duo with his brother, Michael Thivaios a.k.a. Like Mike. The Belgian-born Greek-origin DJ has performed in festivals such as Tomorrowland and co-owns the label Smash the House. The duo has also collaborated with legends such as David Guetta.

Born to Greek parents in Romania, Iannis Xenakis was inspired to take up music by his parents, especially his pianist mother. He lost an eye in the Greek resistance during World War II but later excelled as an architect, musician, and mathematician in France, merging music and math through his musique stochastique.

Better known as Gus G, Greek heavy metal guitarist Kostas Karamitroudis soared to fame as part of legendary English singer Ozzy Osbourne’s band. He was 9 when he decided to learn the guitar and joined Berklee at 17, though he dropped out soon after to explore the metal scene on his own.

One of the best-known pop singers from Germany, Greek-origin Vicky Leandros is the daughter of famous Greek composer and musician Leo Leandros. She soared to international fame representing Luxembourg in Eurovision and later won countless awards, such as the Goldene Europa. She has also released hit tracks in Japanese.

Initially part of the Greek navy, Pantelis Pantelidis later quit his naval career to focus in music. A YouTube sensation, he was a self-taught guitarist, too, and soared to fame with tracks such as Den Tairiazete Sou Lew. The singer lost his life to a tragic car accident at age 32.

Sakis Rouvas was not just a musical prodigy, having started his ballet lessons as a child, but also a national-level pole-vaulter. He later quit sports to focus on music and soared to fame with hit Greek tracks such as S'eho eroteftei and Hilia milia. He was the highest-scoring third-placed contestant on Eurovision.

Helena, or Elena, Paparizou is one of Greece’s finest singers. The Swedish-born musician started her career as part of the folk/Eurodance duo Antique. She soared to fame after winning Eurovision 2005, singing My Number One, becoming the first Greek to win the contest ever. She is now one of Greece’s most powerful celebrities.

Legendary Greek folk singer Tolis Voskopoulos is best remembered for his theatrical hit Oi Erastes tou Oneirou. With a career spanning over 6 decades, he also starred in many plays and movies. He was later married to Greek politician Antzela Gerekou and passed away at age 80.

Greek violinist Leonidas Kavakos is regarded as one of the finest in the world. Part of a musical family, he began learning the violin at age 5 and had won 3 major competitions by age 21. He now organizes a chamber music festival and has also proved his mettle as a conductor.

One of the most popular Greek singers of all time, Haris Alexiou has experimented with genres such as folk, laika, and rebetiko. In a career spanning over 5 decades, she has collaborated with multiple artists. She also has a huge fan following in Turkey, where a street has been named in her honor.

Sakis Tolis soared to fame as the guitarist for the Greek black metal band Rotting Christ. Also known as Necromayhem, Tolis has played with Thou Art Lord and has co-written a book on his time with Rotting Christ. In early 2022, he announced the launch of his first solo album.

Legendary Greek composer Manos Hadjidakis was one of the prominent figures of Éntekhno orchestral music and was one of the first to popularize the rebetika genre. His Greek movie score Ta Pediá tou Pireá, or Never on Sunday, was the first foreign-language film track to win an Academy Award.

Mario Frangoulis is a Greek theatre actor and vocalist best known for his refined tenor vocals. A commercially and critically acclaimed recording artist, Frangoulis has recorded songs in English, Spanish, French, Italian, and Greek. Mario Frangoulis is also known for his charity work; he has sung in several charity galas, including the Red Cross Annual Ball.

Marinella is a Greek singer best known for her longevity and versatility. Marinella, whose singing career has spanned over 65 years, is one of the most popular and respected singers in Greece. Apart from releasing several solo albums, she has also collaborated with other prominent musicians over the course of her illustrious career.

Swiss-born Greek singer-actor Panos Mouzourakis is best known for his roles in the Greek series S1ngles and 4. He had first gained attention with the play Acharnis, which toured around the globe. He has also lent his voice to the Greek version of the hit Disney animated film Frozen.

One of the most internationally renowned Greek musicians of all time, George Dalaras has been part of over 1000 concerts globally. His 2 concerts at the Athens Olympic Stadium in 1983 were among Greece’s largest. He has also been named a UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador and has been made a Cypriot citizen.

Greek-Sudanese singer Marina Satti initially studied architecture but was later drawn to theater and jazz music and graduated from Berklee. She soared to fame with her viral track Mantissa and later established the female a cappella group Fonés and the all-female choir Chόres. She has also been part of musical plays.

Eleni Karaindrou is a Greek composer best known for her work with Greek filmmaker Theo Angelopoulos; Karaindrou has scored many of Angelopoulos' films. A prolific composer, Eleni Karaindrou has also composed music for theatrical productions, TV series, and TV movies. In 2021, she was honored at the Ghent Festival's World Soundtrack Awards with the Lifetime Achievement Award.

Dimitri Mitropoulos was a Greek composer, conductor, and pianist. Apart from his orchestral career, he also conducted opera; from 1954 to 1960, Mitropoulos was the chief conductor of New York's Metropolitan Opera. His dramatically vivid and musically incisive performances of Puccini, Richard Strauss, and Verdi remain templates of the opera conductors' art.

Yannis Ploutarchos is a Greek singer-songwriter. He is widely regarded as one of the most famous laïko singers of his generation. A prolific singer, Yannis Ploutarchos has released many albums so far, including Dio Fones – Mia Psihi, which was certified 15x Platinum!

Giannis Poulopoulos was a Greek singer-songwriter who came up with several hit songs during the 1960s, '70s, and '80s. One of the highest-selling Greek singers of all time, Giannis Poulopoulos has also contributed to the Greek film industry as many of his songs have been featured in feature films.

Nikos Karvelas is a Greek singer, songwriter, and producer. He is best known for his collaboration with his ex-wife and singer-songwriter Anna Vissi. Nikos Karvelas is also a prolific producer who has sold millions of records. In 2012, he was included in Alpha TV's list of top Greek composers in the phonographic era.

Born to Greek parents in Egypt, singer Alkistis Protopsalti moved to Greece because of the political instability in Egypt. In the past, she has been Greece’s alternate tourism minister. She has not only released several platinum and gold albums, but has also sung in languages such as Chinese, Swahili, and French.

Nikos Skalkottas was a Greek classical composer and one of the most important members of the Second Viennese School. He also taught musicians like George Hadjinikos and John G. Papaioannou, who were responsible for publishing his music, which received posthumous appreciation. A short documentary about his life and career was released in 1988.

Phoebus is a Greek songwriter best known for his association with popular singers like Katy Garbi and Despina Vandi. Most of the albums that he composes recieve critical appreciation and certification, making Phoebus one of the most sought-after songwriters. He is also counted among the most successful songwriters of the 1990s and 2000s in Greece.

Born in Cyprus, Alkinoos Ioannidis failed to learn the drums due to the lack of drum trainers in Nicosia and leaned the guitar instead. He later moved to Greece to study theater and then deviated to music. Apart from performing at concerts in Greece and Cyprus, he has also headlined festivals.

Greek Cypriot singer Constantinos Christoforou was still studying when he released his first CD single, Tora pou milas. He later soared to fame with Eurovision, where he represented Cyprus and churned out hits such as Ela Ela. He was also part of One, the first boy band of both Greece and Cyprus.

Eugenia Manolidou is a Greek classical composer, television presenter, and conductor. Apart from her musical career, Manolidou has also appeared in popular TV shows like Dancing with the Stars and MasterChef Greece. In 2014, her work La Pisanella, the girl from Pisa was honored at Key to the Future, an opera composition competition, with the Popularity Prize. 

While he initially studied law, Dionysis Savvopoulos soon dropped out to focus on music. The Thessaloniki-born singer hitchhiked to Athens and took up odd jobs, such as that of a nude model, to survive. Apart from his hit Greek folk/rock and rebetika tracks, he is also known for his political activism.

Angélique Ionatos was a Greek singer, composer, and guitarist. Over the course of her illustrious music career, which spanned over four decades, Ionatos set and sang many classical and modern Greek texts, including those of Sappho. Consequently, Angélique Ionatos has popularized several modern and classical Greek texts. 

Greek musician and lyrical poet Timotheus of Miletus was known for his dithyrambic poetry. He served the court of Archelaus I, the king of Macedon. He was criticized by the Lacedaemonians for adding strings to the lute and by the Spartans and Athenians for adding strings to the lyre.

Greek-Cypriot singer Lia Vissi is best known for her appearances on Eurovision and for her song To Katalava Arga. The elder sister of popular singer-actor Anna Vissi, Lia also ran unsuccessfully for the Cypriot House of Representatives elections, failing to get a seat from the Larnaca district.

Greek-Cypriot singer/actor Marlen Angelidou is known for being part of Hi-5, Greece’s first all-female pop band formed through a contest. Though she initially studied management and biochemistry, she later graduated in musical theater. Known for hits such as Xero Ti Zitao, she has also lent her voice to animated characters.

Greek-Cypriot singer Andy Paul later moved to the UK, where he began his music career performing in pubs. He later soared to fame with the track Anna Mari-Elena, winning the Cypriot Eurovision contest, and then released hits such as Now That I Found You, which was a chart-topper in the whole of Europe.

Marios Tofi is a Greek Cypriot songwriter and singer best known for his participation at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest in 2004 where he represented Cyprus with the song Onira. He came eighth in the prestigious contest. 

The son of iconic Greek composer Mikis Theodorakis, George Theodorakis had a short-lived career, comprising just 4 albums over a period of 2 decades. He owned the SSR and Theta studios. Though not as successful as his father, he is known for experimenting with synthesized sounds and moving away from traditional Greek music.