Getting expelled from a conservatoire for singing pop was the best career move she never planned.
At a glance
- Known for
- Greek singer who sold an estimated 300 million records in more than a dozen languages
- Before fame
- Kicked out of the Athens Conservatoire for moonlighting in popular music
- Off-screen
- Served as a Member of the European Parliament for Greece from 1994 to 1999
Rise to Fame
Singing pop on the side got her barred from the Epidauros stage and blocked from exams at the Athens Conservatoire, which turned out to be the entire career. She'd studied classical voice and opera since 1950, but moonlighting at a jazz club was enough to end that chapter. She left and started singing Ella Fitzgerald covers at a tiny Athens spot called Tzaki.
Composer Manos Hadjidakis found her there in 1958 and started writing songs for her. Three years later, Weisse Rosen aus Athen held number one for 39 weeks and moved 1.5 million copies in six months, proof that the opera world's reject had commercial instincts they couldn't teach. Quincy Jones flew her to New York in 1962 to cut her first English album. The conservatoire trained her voice. The jazz club gave her a career.
In the Spotlight
At some point a music career becomes a small multinational. An estimated 300 million records, roughly 450 albums, at least 13 languages. Not translations. Full albums recorded specifically for each audience, from French to Japanese to Welsh. She took over markets the way other artists take over radio stations: one at a time, committed.
France treats her like a national treasure. She's climbed three ranks of the Legion d'honneur to Commandeur in 2019, and picked up the Victoire d'honneur. She retired in 2008 at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus in front of 10,000 people, came back a year later, and retired again in 2024 at 90. Two retirements, 16 years apart. At some point, the calendar makes the decision.
Side Notes
A suggestion to remove her glasses nearly ended her biggest break. Harry Belafonte suggested she ditch the black-rimmed frames for their 1966 tour, and she almost quit on the spot. He relented. The frames became her visual trademark for the next six decades, as recognizable as the voice itself. She'd rather walk away from a career break than compromise on how she shows up.
That stubbornness extended to politics. She won a seat in the European Parliament in 1994, lasted five years, then resigned because she felt Parliament wasn't doing enough about Kosovo. She succeeded Audrey Hepburn as UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador in 1993, which is either a coincidence or proof that the UN has a type.