Minus One are a Cypriot rock band formed in

Nicosia Nicosia ( ; el, Λευκωσία, Lefkosía ; tr, Lefkoşa ; hy, Նիկոսիա, romanized: ''Nikosia''; Cypriot Arabic: Nikusiya) is the largest city, capital, and seat of government of Cyprus. It is located near the centre of the Mesaor ...

in 2009. They gained prominence in 2016 for representing Cyprus in the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...

History

Minus One began as a

cover Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of co ...

band, but later started performing their own music. They tried to represent Cyprus in the

Eurovision Song Contest 2015 The Eurovision Song Contest 2015 was the 60th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Vienna, Austria, following the country's victory at the with the song "Rise Like a Phoenix" by Conchita Wurst. Organised by the European Broa ...

with the song "Shine", but placed third in the national final. After being internally selected, they represented Cyprus in the

Eurovision Song Contest 2016 The Eurovision Song Contest 2016 was the 61st edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Stockholm, Sweden, following the country's victory at the with the song "Heroes" by Måns Zelmerlöw. Organised by the European Broadcasting ...

with the song "Alter Ego", which they co-wrote with Swedish musician Thomas G:son. The band reached 8th place with 164 points in the semi-final, and finished in 21st place with 96 points in the final. As a part of their "Alter Ego Tour" in 2016, the band performed in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

Limassol Limassol (; el, Λεμεσός, Lemesós ; tr, Limasol or ) is a city on the southern coast of Cyprus and capital of the district with the same name. Limassol is the second largest urban area in Cyprus after Nicosia, with an urban population ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, and

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

. In February 2017, they opened for British musician Glenn Hughes on his Resonate Tour in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nat ...

, and

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

. On 16 December 2017, the band released a cover of the 1964 song "

You Don't Own Me "You Don't Own Me" is a popular song written by Philadelphia songwriters John Medora, John Madara and David White (musician), David White and recorded by Lesley Gore in 1963, when Gore was 17 years old. The song was Gore's second most succe ...

", originally performed by

Lesley Gore Lesley Sue Goldstein (May 2, 1946 – February 16, 2015), known professionally as Lesley Gore, was an American singer, songwriter, actress, and activist. At the age of 16, she recorded the pop music, pop hit "It's My Party (Lesley Gore song), I ...

. In the Minus One version, the band is joined by 15-year-old Cypriot singer Semeli Panayiotou. Minus One's first album, ''Red Black White'', was released on 14 December 2018. It was recorded at Medley Studios in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

and released by Danish label Mighty Music.

Band members

Current

* Andreas Kapatais – lead vocals * Constantinos Amerikanos – guitar, backing vocals * Harrys Pari – guitar * Orestis Savva – bass * Christopher Ioannides – drums

* Francois Micheletto – lead vocals * George Solonos – guitar, backing vocals * Antonis Loizides – bass * Maxim Theofanides – bass

Discography

Studio albums

* Red Black White - 2018 * Got It Covered - 2021

EP

* The Bologna Season - 2017

Singles

* Alter Ego - 2016 * The Potato Song - 2016 * Save Me - 2016 * You Don't Own Me - 2017 * Girl - 2018 * What's Up - 2019 * My Girl - Where Did You Sleep Last Night - 2020 * What's Up? - 2021 * Oh Pretty Woman - 2021

References

Cypriot rock music groups Eurovision Song Contest entrants for Cyprus Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 2016 {{Cyprus-stub