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then invited Mouskouri and her backing group, the Athenians, to start hosting a TV series called ''Presenting… Nana Mouskouri'' from 1968 onwards. A typical episode of her series would contain contemporary British, American and French pop and folk music, popular classical pieces, and the Greek songs which had originally made her famous. The shows also featured European and world music stars of the time as guests, making it one of the first BBC TV series to do so regularly. Despite the fact that stars from mainland Europe singing in languages other than English have tended to find it difficult to break into the British market, the series proved very popular with viewers of the new BBC-2 channel, and it ran until the mid-1970s. As well as performing songs known to the British audience in her shows, Mouskouri also welcomed the television audience, chatted to her guest stars and gave spoken introductions to her French and Greek songs in fluent English. These introductions, along with a modest stage presence and her bespectacled appearance, made her a very distinctive star, as Yvonne Littlewood later explained:
: "I suppose it was unusual to see a singer wearing glasses. She didn't look like everyone else. She didn't have blonde hair, and she was very distinctive in her appearance. You know, we should remember that, in those days, we didn't have all the holiday programmes, so Greek music and anything Greek wasn’t as well known to the average public as it is now. She would give the gist n Englishof the subject of the song before she sang it, and that was really quite unique and quite charming."
Ioanna "Nana" Mouskouri ( el, Ιωάννα "Νάνα" Μούσχουρη ) (born 13 October 1934) is a Greek singer. Over the span of her career, she has released over 200 albums in at least twelve languages, including
, ''Presenting Nana Mouskouri''. Her popularity as a multilingual television personality and distinctive image, owing to the then unusual signature black-rimmed glasses, turned Mouskouri into an international star.
" Je chante avec toi Liberté", recorded in 1981, is perhaps her biggest hit to date, performed in at least five languages – French, English as "Song for Liberty", German as "Lied der Freiheit", Spanish as "Libertad" and Portuguese as "Liberdade". " Only Love", a song recorded in 1985 as the theme song of TV series ''Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
, French, English
English usually refers to:
* English language
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Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
, German
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**Ge ...
, Dutch
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, Portuguese
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** Portu ...
, Italian
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, Japanese
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, Spanish
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, Hebrew
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, Welsh
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* Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...
, Mandarin Chinese
Mandarin (; ) is a group of Chinese (Sinitic) dialects that are natively spoken across most of northern and southwestern China. The group includes the Beijing dialect, the basis of the phonology of Standard Chinese, the official language ...
and Corsican.
Mouskouri became well known throughout Europe for the song "The White Rose of Athens", recorded first in German as "Weiße Rosen aus Athen" as an adaptation of her Greek song "" (''San sfyríxeis tris forés'', "When you whistle three times"). It became her first record to sell over one million copies.
Later in 1963, she represented Luxembourg
Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...
at the Eurovision Song Contest with the song " À force de prier". Her friendship with the composer Michel Legrand
Michel Jean Legrand (; 24 February 1932 – 26 January 2019) was a French musical composer, arranger, conductor, and jazz pianist. Legrand was a prolific composer, having written over 200 film and television scores, in addition to many son ...
led to the recording by Mouskouri of the theme song of the Oscar-nominated film ''The Umbrellas of Cherbourg
''The Umbrellas of Cherbourg'' (french: Les Parapluies de Cherbourg) is a 1964 musical romantic drama film written and directed by Jacques Demy, with music and lyrics by Michel Legrand. Catherine Deneuve and Nino Castelnuovo star as two young ...
''. From 1968 to 1976, she hosted her own TV show produced by BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...Mistral's Daughter
''Mistral's Daughter'' is a 1984 American television miniseries, adapted from Judith Krantz's 1982 bonkbuster novel of the same name.
Plot summary
In 1925, Jewish artist’s model Maggy Lunel (Stefanie Powers) arrives in Paris and overcomes her ...
'', gained worldwide popularity along with its other versions in French (as "L'Amour en Héritage"), Italian (as "Come un'eredità"), Spanish (as "La dicha del amor"), and German (as "Aber die Liebe bleibt"). It became her only UK hit single when it reached number two in February 1986.
Mouskouri became a spokesperson for UNICEF
UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing humanitarian and developmental aid to ...
in 1993 and was elected to the European Parliament
The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...
as a Greek deputy from 1994 to 1999.
In 2015 she was awarded the Echo Music Prize
Echo Music Prize (stylised as ECHO, ) was an accolade by the , an association of recording companies of Germany to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry. The first ECHO Awards ceremony was held in 1992, and it was set up to hono ...
for Outstanding achievements by the German music association Deutsche Phono-Akademie.
Early years
Nana Mouskouri's family lived inChania, Crete
Chania ( el, Χανιά ; vec, La Canea), also spelled Hania, is a city in Greece and the capital of the Chania (regional unit), Chania regional unit. It lies along the north west coast of the island Crete, about west of Rethymno and west ...
, where her father, Constantine, worked as a film projectionist in a local cinema; her mother, Alice, worked in the same cinema as an usherette. When Mouskouri was three, her family moved to Athens
Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...
.
Mouskouri's family sent her and her older sister Eugenía (Jenny) to the Athens Conservatoire. Although Mouskouri had displayed exceptional musical talent from age six, Jenny initially appeared to be the more gifted sibling. Financially unable to support both girls' studies, the parents asked their tutor which one should continue. The sister conceded that Jenny had the better voice, but Nana was the one with the true inner need to sing. Mouskouri has said that a medical examination revealed she only has one functioning vocal cord
In humans, vocal cords, also known as vocal folds or voice reeds, are folds of throat tissues that are key in creating sounds through vocalization. The size of vocal cords affects the pitch of voice. Open when breathing and vibrating for speec ...
and this could well account for her remarkable singing voice (in her younger years ranging from a husky, dark alto, which she later dropped, to a ringing coloratura mezzo), as opposed to her breathy, raspy speaking voice.
Mouskouri's early childhood was marked by the German Nazi occupation of Greece. Her father became part of the anti-Nazi resistance movement in Athens. Mouskouri began singing lessons at age 12. As a child, she listened to radio broadcasts of singers including Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April 25, 1917June 15, 1996) was an American jazz singer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phrasing, timing, in ...
, Billie Holiday
Billie Holiday (born Eleanora Fagan; April 7, 1915 – July 17, 1959) was an American jazz and swing music singer. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and music partner, Lester Young, Holiday had an innovative influence on jazz music and pop s ...
, and Édith Piaf
Édith Piaf (, , ; born Édith Giovanna Gassion, ; December 19, 1915– October 10, 1963) was a French singer, lyricist and actress. Noted as France's national chanteuse, she was one of the country's most widely known international stars.
Pia ...
.
In 1950, she was accepted at the Conservatoire. She studied classical music with an emphasis on singing opera
Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libr ...
. After eight years at the Conservatoire, Mouskouri was encouraged by her friends to experiment with jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...
music. She began singing with her friends' jazz group at night. However, when Mouskouri's Conservatory professor found out about Mouskouri's involvement with a genre of music that was not in keeping with her classical studies, he prevented her from sitting for her end-of-year exams. During an episode of ''Joanna Lumley's Greek Odyssey'', shown on the UK ITV channel in the autumn of 2011, Mouskouri told the actress Joanna Lumley
Dame Joanna Lamond Lumley (born 1 May 1946) is an English actress, presenter, former model, author, television producer, and activist. She has won two BAFTA TV Awards for her role as Patsy Stone in the BBC sitcom ''Absolutely Fabulous'' (1992 ...
how she had been scheduled to sing at the amphitheatre at Epidauros with other students of the Conservatoire, when upon arrival at the amphitheatre word came through from the Conservatoire in Athens that she had just been barred from participating in the performance there owing to her involvement in light music. Mouskouri subsequently left the Conservatoire and began performing at the Zaki club in Athens.
She began singing jazz in nightclubs with a bias towards Ella Fitzgerald repertoire. In 1957, she recorded her first song, "Fascination", in both Greek and English for Odeon/EMI Greece. By 1958 while still performing at the Zaki, she met Greek composer Manos Hadjidakis
Manos may refer to:
Films
* ''The Hands'' (Spanish: ''Las manos''), a 2006 Argentinean-Italian film
* '' Manos: The Hands of Fate'', 1966 horror film
Music
* Manos (band), German Black metal band
* ''Manos'' (album), by The Spinanes
Other use ...
. Hadjidakis was impressed by Nana's voice and offered to write songs for her. In 1959 Mouskouri performed Hadjidakis' "Κάπου υπάρχει η αγάπη μου" (''Kápou ipárchi i agápi mou'', "Somewhere my love exists"; co-written with poet Nikos Gatsos
Nikos Gatsos ( el, Νίκος Γκάτσος; 8 December 1911 – 12 May 1992) was a Greek poet, translator and lyricist.
Biography
Nikos Gatsos was born in 1911 in Asea in Arcadia, a district of the Peloponnese, where he finished primary sch ...
) at the inaugural Greek Song Festival
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
. The song won first prize, and Mouskouri began to be noticed.
At the 1960 Greek Song Festival, she performed two more Hadjidakis compositions, "Τιμωρία" (''Timōría'', "Punishment") and "Κυπαρισσάκι" (''Kyparissáki'', "Little cypress"). Both these songs tied for first prize. Mouskouri performed Kostas Yannidis' composition, "Ξύπνα αγάπη μου" (''Xýpna agápi mou'', "Wake up, my love"), at the Mediterranean Song Festival
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the eas ...
, held in Barcelona
Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
that year. The song won first prize, and she went on to sign a recording contract with Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
-based Philips-Fontana.
In 1961, Mouskouri performed the soundtrack of a German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
** Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
documentary about Greece. This resulted in the German-language single ''Weiße Rosen aus Athen'' ("White Roses from Athens"). The song was originally adapted by Hadjidakis from a folk melody. It became a success, selling over a million copies in Germany. The song was later translated into several languages and it went on to become one of Mouskouri's signature tunes.
Family life
Mouskouri has been married twice: first at age 25, to Yorgos (George) Petsilas, a guitarist in her backing band (the trio "The Athenians") and the first man she had kissed. They had two children (Nicolas Petsilas in 1968 and Hélène (Lénou) Petsilas in 1970) but divorced when Mouskouri was 39. Not long after that, she started a relationship with her record producer André Chapelle, but they did not marry then because she "didn't want to bring another father into the family" and divorce was against her conservative upbringing. They eventually married on January 13, 2003, and live primarily in Switzerland.Life outside Greece
In 1960, Mouskouri moved to Paris. She performed Luxembourg's entry in theEurovision Song Contest 1963
The Eurovision Song Contest 1963 was the eighth edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest and took place in London, United Kingdom. It was organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster British Broadcasting Corporat ...
, " À force de prier". Although the song achieved only eighth place in the contest, it achieved commercial success, and helped win her the prestigious Grand Prix du Disque
Grand may refer to:
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* Grand, Oklahoma
* Grand, Vosges, village and co ...
in France. Mouskouri soon attracted the attention of French composer Michel Legrand
Michel Jean Legrand (; 24 February 1932 – 26 January 2019) was a French musical composer, arranger, conductor, and jazz pianist. Legrand was a prolific composer, having written over 200 film and television scores, in addition to many son ...
, who composed two songs which became major French hits for her: "Les Parapluies de Cherbourg
''The Umbrellas of Cherbourg'' (french: Les Parapluies de Cherbourg) is a 1964 musical romantic drama film written and directed by Jacques Demy, with music and lyrics by Michel Legrand. Catherine Deneuve and Nino Castelnuovo star as two young ...
" (1964) and an arrangement of Katherine K. Davis's "Carol of the Drum", "L'Enfant au Tambour" (1965).
In 1962, she met Quincy Jones
Quincy Delight Jones Jr. (born March 14, 1933) is an American record producer, musician, songwriter, composer, arranger, and film and television producer. His career spans 70 years in the entertainment industry with a record of 80 Grammy Award n ...
, who persuaded her to travel to New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
to record an album of American jazz titled ''The Girl from Greece Sings''. Following that she scored another hit in the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
with the song "My Colouring Book" (later included in her 1973 album ''Songs from her TV series''). In 1965, she recorded her second English-language album to be released in the United States, entitled ''Nana Sings''. American singer Harry Belafonte
Harry Belafonte (born Harold George Bellanfanti Jr.; March 1, 1927) is an American singer, activist, and actor. As arguably the most successful Jamaican-American pop star, he popularized the Trinbagonian Caribbean musical style with an interna ...
heard and liked the album. Belafonte brought Mouskouri on tour with him through 1966. They teamed for a duo album entitled ''An Evening With Belafonte/Mouskouri''. During this tour, Belafonte suggested that Mouskouri remove her signature black-rimmed glasses
Glasses, also known as eyeglasses or spectacles, are vision eyewear, with lenses (clear or tinted) mounted in a frame that holds them in front of a person's eyes, typically utilizing a bridge over the nose and hinged arms (known as temples ...
when on stage. She was so unhappy with the request that she wanted to quit the show after only two days. Finally, Belafonte relented and respected her wish to perform while wearing glasses.
On September 15, 1965, Mouskouri appeared for the first time on American television with Harry Belafonte on the ''Danny Kaye Show
''The Danny Kaye Show'' was an American variety show, hosted by the stage and screen star Danny Kaye, which aired on Wednesday nights from September 25, 1963, to June 7, 1967, on the CBS television network. Directed by Robert Scheerer, it premier ...
''. While on the show Mouskouri performed "Telalima" followed by "Σήκω χόρεψε κουκλί μου" (''Siko horepse koukli mou'') accompanied by Harry Belafonte
Harry Belafonte (born Harold George Bellanfanti Jr.; March 1, 1927) is an American singer, activist, and actor. As arguably the most successful Jamaican-American pop star, he popularized the Trinbagonian Caribbean musical style with an interna ...
and Danny Kaye.
Mouskouri's 1967 French album ''Le Jour où la colombe'' raised her to super-stardom in France. This album featured many of her French songs, "Au cœur de septembre", "Adieu Angélina", "Robe bleue, robe blanche" and the French pop classic " Le Temps des cerises". Mouskouri made her first appearance at Paris' legendary Olympia concert theatre the same year, singing French pop, Greek folk, and Hadjidakis numbers.
These successes across Europe and elsewhere impressed Yvonne Littlewood
Yvonne Mary Pearl Littlewood MBE (born July 1927) is a former British television director and producer. Born in Maidstone, Kent, her career extended over three decades. As a child, she briefly moved to King's Lynn, Norfolk, before going to ...
, the BBC producer who had first met Mouskouri at the 1963 Eurovision Song Contest in London. Following several successful guest appearances on British TV after her Eurovision performance, the BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
In 1969, Mouskouri released a full-length British LP, ''Over and over'', which reached number 10 and spent 102 weeks in the UK album charts. This was the first of a series of English-language albums which, boosted by her TV appearances, sold extremely well in the UK and Ireland, as well as in other European countries, during the early 1970s, including ''The exquisite Nana Mouskouri'' (1969), ''Turn on the sun'' (1970), ''A place in my heart'' (1971) and ''Presenting... Nana Mouskouri'' (1973), while concerts from two of her British tours were also recorded and released as LPs: ''British Concert'' (1972) and ''Live at the Albert Hall'' (1974).
Mouskouri's international appeal encouraged the BBC to sell her programmes to television stations across the world, a fact which she acknowledged in a BBC interview in 2014:
: "This series – I mean, for about 10 years I was doing every year the series on BBC-2… and they went everywhere… in Asia… of course in the Commonwealth… but even in South America… so that I think that I owe to the BBC a lot. And to Yvonne Littlewood, really."
Mouskouri also hosted her own shows for French and West German broadcasters during this period. At a time when TV programmes could attract huge audiences, her popularity as a multilingual television personality turned her into a truly international star.
Although music series such as hers were becoming less common on British TV as the 1970s wore on, the BBC continued to engage her regularly for one-off television specials and guest appearances on other programmes until the mid-1980s, by which time she had been a regular contributor to British TV for more than 20 years. Meanwhile, during the 1970s and 1980s, she expanded her concert tour to include her new fans, not only in the United Kingdom, but also in Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
, New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
, Japan and Australia, where she met Frank Hardy
Francis Joseph Hardy (21 March 1917 – 28 January 1994), published as Frank J. Hardy and also under the pseudonym Ross Franklyn, was an Australian novelist and writer. He is best known for his 1950 novel '' Power Without Glory'', and for his ...
, who followed her to the south of France in 1976.
In the 1970s, Mouskouri - always a prolific recording artist - recorded several LPs in German, including the hit albums, ''Sieben schwarze Rosen'' (1975) and ''Lieder, die die Liebe schreibt'' (1978). During the same period, she continued to release a series of top-selling records in France, such as ''Comme un soleil'' (1971), ''Une voix qui vient du cœur'' (1972), ''Vieilles chansons de France'' (1973), and ''Quand tu chantes'' (1976). Meanwhile, ''Passport,'' a compilation including her most popular songs in English, reached number 3 in the UK album charts in 1976 and won for her a gold disc.
In August 1974, while in Australia, Mouskouri was presented with a plaque representing the sale of twenty Gold Records.
As her fame began spreading outside her fan base in Europe, the United States, and the Commonwealth, Mouskouri was asked to record songs for the Japanese market. Meanwhile, in 1976, a renowned Taiwanese author, Echo, heard her music and introduced it to one of her female radio DJ friends. Mouskouri's records then became popular in Taiwan, especially among high school and college students, with one of her British albums, ''Nana's book of songs'' (1974) becoming particularly popular.
Middle years
In 1979, Mouskouri released another English-language album named ''Roses and Sunshine''. This album consisted largely of folk and country material, and included work from sources includingNeil Young
Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian-American singer and songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, joining Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, Richie Fur ...
, Dolly Parton
Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter, actress, philanthropist, and businesswoman, known primarily for her work in country music. After achieving success as a songwriter for others, Parton made her album d ...
, Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...
and John Denver. It was well received in Canada, and one of the album's tracks, "Even Now" (not the same song as the 1978 Barry Manilow hit), became a staple on beautiful music
Beautiful music (sometimes abbreviated as BM, B/EZ or BM/EZ for "beautiful music/easy listening") is a mostly instrumental music format that was prominent in North American radio from the late 1950s through the 1980s. Easy listening, elevator mu ...
radio stations in the United States. She scored a worldwide hit in 1981 with " Je chante avec toi Liberté", which was translated into several languages after its success in France. The momentum from this album also helped boost her following German album, ''Meine Lieder sind mein Leben''. In 1984, Mouskouri returned to Greece and performed to a large audience at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus
The Odeon of Herodes Atticus (Greek: Ωδείο Ηρώδου του Αττικού; also called Herodeion or Herodion; Greek: Ηρώδειο) is a stone Roman theatre structure located on the southwest slope of the Acropolis of Athens, Greece. Th ...
; her first performance in her homeland since 1962.
In 1985, Mouskouri recorded "Only Love", the theme song to the British TV series ''Mistral's Daughter
''Mistral's Daughter'' is a 1984 American television miniseries, adapted from Judith Krantz's 1982 bonkbuster novel of the same name.
Plot summary
In 1925, Jewish artist’s model Maggy Lunel (Stefanie Powers) arrives in Paris and overcomes her ...
'' – based upon the novel by Judith Krantz – which reached number 2 in the UK charts. The song was also a hit in its other versions: ''L'Amour en Héritage'' (French), ''Come un'eredità'' (Italian), ''La dicha del amor'' (Spanish), and ''Aber die Liebe bleibt'' (German). The German version was also recorded with an alternate set of lyrics under the title ''Der wilde Wein'' but was withdrawn in favour of ''Aber die Liebe bleibt''.
That same year, Mouskouri made a play for the Spanish-language market with the hit single ''Con Toda el Alma''. The song was a major success in Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
, Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
and Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...
.
She released five albums in different languages in 1987, and the following year returned to her classical conservatory roots with the double LP ''The Classical Nana'' (a.k.a. ''Nana Classique''), which featured adaptations of classical songs and excerpts from opera. By the end of 1987, she had performed a series of concerts in Asia, including South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...
, Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
, Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...
, Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...
, Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
and Thailand
Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...
.
Later years
Mouskouri's 1991 English album, ''Only Love: The Best of Nana Mouskouri'', became her best-selling release in the United States. She spent much of the 1990s touring the globe. Among her early 1990s albums were spiritual music, ''Gospel'' (1990), the Spanish-language ''Nuestras Canciones'', the multilingual, Mediterranean-themed ''Côté Sud, Côté Coeur'' (1992), ''Dix Mille Ans Encore'', ''Falling in Love Again: Great Songs From the Movies''. ''Falling in Love'' featured two duets with Harry Belafonte. In 1993, Mouskouri recorded the album ''Hollywood''. Produced byMichel Legrand
Michel Jean Legrand (; 24 February 1932 – 26 January 2019) was a French musical composer, arranger, conductor, and jazz pianist. Legrand was a prolific composer, having written over 200 film and television scores, in addition to many son ...
it was a collection of famous songs from films, and served not only as a tribute to the world of cinema, but also as a personal reference to childhood memories of sitting with her father in his projection room in Crete.
She recorded several more albums over 1996 and 1997, including the Spanish ''Nana Latina'' (which featured duets with Julio Iglesias
Julio José Iglesias de la Cueva (; born 23 September 1943) is a Spanish singer, songwriter and former professional footballer. Iglesias is recognized as the most commercially successful Spanish singer in the world and one of the top record ...
and Mercedes Sosa), the English-language ''Return to Love'', and the French pop classics, ''Hommages''. In 1997, she staged a high-profile ''Concert for Peace'' at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York. This concert was later released as an album, and aired as a TV special on PBS
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...
in the United States.
On 30 May 2013, Mouskouri was awarded an honorary degree by McGill University
McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous ...
, Canada.
UNICEF and politics
Mouskouri was appointed aUNICEF
UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing humanitarian and developmental aid to ...
Goodwill Ambassador in October 1993. She took over from the previous ambassador, the recently deceased actress Audrey Hepburn. Mouskouri's first U.N. mission took her to Bosnia to draw attention to the plight of children affected by the Bosnian war. She went on to give a series of fund-raising concerts in Sweden and Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
.
She was a Member of the European Parliament
The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...
for Greece through the centre-right New Democracy
New Democracy, or the New Democratic Revolution, is a concept based on Mao Zedong's Bloc of Four Social Classes theory in post-revolutionary China which argued originally that democracy in China would take a path that was decisively distinc ...
party from 1994 until 1999, when she resigned from her position as an MEP. Several reasons have been given for the resignation, one being her pacifism, and another being that she felt ill-equipped for the day-to-day work of a politician.
21st century
Mouskouri lives in Switzerland with Chapelle, and, until her final performance in 2008, performed hundreds of concerts every year throughout her career. In 2004, her French record company released a 34- CD box set of more than 600 of Mouskouri's mostly French songs. In 2006 she made a guest appearance at that year's Eurovision Song Contest which was held, for the first time ever, in her native Greece.
In the same year, she announced her plans to retire. From 2005 until 2008, she conducted a farewell concert tour of Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...
, Australia, New Zealand, Asia
Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...
, South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sout ...
, the United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
, and Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
. On July 23 and 24, 2008, Mouskouri gave her two final 'Farewell Concert' performances at the ancient Herodes Atticus Theatre, in Athens, Greece, before a packed stadium, including Greece's Prime Minister and Athens mayor, plus the mayors of Berlin, Paris and Luxembourg, along with fans from around the world and thousands of her Athenian admirers.
In 2010, in response to the financial crisis in Greece,The EU economic situation and Greece – ECFIN – European Commission"the uropeanCouncil decided in April 2009 that Greece was in excessive deficit" Mouskouri announced that she would forgo her pension to contribute to the country's recovery. She commented: "Everywhere I see stories about my country going bankrupt. And people are aggressive about it. It's frightening. And it's painful for me. Nobody wants their country to be treated badly. It's frustrating and very sad." In late 2011, Mouskouri released two newly recorded CDs, the first featuring songs of the Greek Islands, recorded with other Greek singers, and the second featuring duets with French contemporaries. In late November 2011 Mouskouri sang again at a single concert, with guests, in Berlin, commemorating the 50th anniversary of her hit single "The White Rose of Athens". She then did a concert tour in Germany in 2012. At age 80, she embarked on a three-year Happy Birthday Tour and in 2018 had booked a five-month Forever Young Tour through parts of Europe and North America. In 2015 she was awarded with the
Echo Music Prize
Echo Music Prize (stylised as ECHO, ) was an accolade by the , an association of recording companies of Germany to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry. The first ECHO Awards ceremony was held in 1992, and it was set up to hono ...
for Outstanding achievements by the German music association Deutsche Phono-Akademie.
In popular culture
The British comedianBenny Hill
Alfred Hawthorne "Benny" Hill (21 January 1924 – 20 April 1992) was an English comedian, actor, singer and writer. He is remembered for his television programme ''The Benny Hill Show'', an amalgam of slapstick, burlesque and double ente ...
impersonated Mouskouri on ''The Benny Hill Show
''The Benny Hill Show'' is a British comedy television show starring Benny Hill that aired on the BBC and ITV (from 1969) between 15 January 1955 and 1 May 1989. The show consisted mainly of sketches that were full of slapstick, mime, parody ...
''. Wearing a long dress, large glasses and long black hair, he talked and sang with a slow and quiet voice. He introduced a song with a long translation into English of all the events supposedly mentioned in the song... and then sang just a single line of "Greek".
Andrea Martin
Andrea Louise Martin (born January 15, 1947) is an American-Canadian actress, singer, and comedian, best known for her work in the television series '' SCTV'' and ''Great News''. She has appeared in films such as '' Black Christmas'' (1974), ''W ...
played Mouskouri in a sketch, 'The Nana Mouskouri Story', during the 1981–1982 season of '' SCTV'' (later included in a DVD compilation).
In 1976, Ronnie Barker
Ronald William George Barker (25 September 1929 – 3 October 2005) was an English actor, comedian and writer. He was known for roles in British comedy television series such as ''Porridge'', ''The Two Ronnies'', and '' Open All Hours''.
...
performed a song in drag as a parody of Mouskouri in ''The Two Ronnies
''The Two Ronnies'' is a British television comedy sketch show starring Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett. It was created by Bill Cotton and aired on BBC1 from April 1971 to December 1987. The usual format included sketches, solo sections, seria ...
'' as Nana Moussaka. Mouskouri was also parodied in the first episode of the 1970s New Zealand political satire ''A Week Of It
''A Week of It'' is a New Zealand television series screened from 1977 to 1979. A comedy sketch show, the series relied heavily on political satire, and as such was often written very shortly before it screened. Although it only ran for three yea ...
''.
In 1991, British comedienne Victoria Wood
Victoria Wood (19 May 1953 – 20 April 2016) was an English comedian, actress, lyricist, singer, composer, pianist, screenwriter, producer and director.
Wood wrote and starred in dozens of sketches, plays, musicals, films and sitcoms over se ...
mentioned Mouskouri in her original song, "The Reincarnation Song." The song was included in Wood's television special of that year, ''Victoria Wood: Sold Out''.
In the ''Ed, Edd n Eddy
'' Ed, Edd n Eddy'' is a Canadian animated comedy television series created by Danny Antonucci for Cartoon Network and distributed by Warner Bros. Domestic Television. The series revolves around three friends named Ed, Edd (called "Double D" ...
'' episode ''O-Ed-Eleven'', Eddy's brother is shown to have a Nana Mouskouri poster in his old bedroom.
Karl Pilkington included Mouskouri as a clue in his contest 'Rockbusters', part of the radio show ''The Ricky Gervais Show'' on XFM. Broadcasting on December 31, 2005, the clue was "Me granny's taking a penalty. She better get the ball in the back of the net," initials (NM) = Nana Mouskouri (nanna must score 'ere). Gervais described this clue as "one of his best clues ever."
In 2015, Liina Vahtrik parodied her song "Only Love" on the Estonian version of ''Your Face Sounds Familiar
''Your Face Sounds Familiar'' ( Spanish: ''Tu cara me suena'') is a Spanish interactive reality television franchise series where celebrity contestants impersonate singers. The format, similar to Dutch television series ''Soundmixshow'', was ...
''.
Chart records and certifications
United Kingdom In the UK, Mouskouri performed quite successfully. Her 1976 release titled ''Passport'' was certified Gold while her 1977 album ''The Magic of Nana Mouskouri'' also attained Gold status a year after it was released. She also had two other silver certified albums, ''Alone'' (1986) and ''At Her Very Best'' (2001). France In France, Mouskouri achieved her first gold certification in 1995 with her 1987 release titled ''Nana Mouskouri 1''. Three years after, she scored her second Gold record with her 1987 album ''Master Serie Vo. 1''. Germany In Germany, Mouskouri has six albums that received certifications from BVMI. Her best selling album in the country is ''Nana Mouskouri In New York'' which received 5× Gold in 2015 for selling over 750,000 in Germany. Other albums that received 1× Gold certification includes the albums ''Die schönsten deutschen Weihnachtslieder'', ''Lieder, die die Liebe schreibt'', ''Alles Liebe'', ''Die Welt ist voll Licht'' and ''Sieben schwarze Rosen''. The United States In the US, her album titled ''Only Love - The Best of Nana Mouskouri'' charted and peaked at #141 onBillboard 200
The ''Billboard'' 200 is a record chart ranking the 200 most popular music albums and EPs in the United States. It is published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine and is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of ar ...
, spending six weeks on chart. This is her highest charting project in the country. In 2007, ''I'll Remember You'' peaked at #22 on Billboard Traditional Jazz Albums and #42 on Billboard Jazz Albums. In 1998, ''Concert for Peace'' peaked at #7 on Billboard World Albums and charted for six weeks.
Canada
In Canada, ''Je Chante Avec Toi Liberte'' was certified platinum in 1985 for selling over 100,000 copies in the country. Her 2018 and most recent album ''Forever Young'' debuted at #73 on Billboard Canadian Albums.
Others
In 2003, Arion Greek Music Awards honored Mouskouri with a Lifetime Achievement Award.
In 2015, Echo Awards
Echo Music Prize (stylised as ECHO, ) was an accolade by the , an association of recording companies of Germany to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry. The first ECHO Awards ceremony was held in 1992, and it was set up to hono ...
honored Mouskouri with a Lifetime Achievement Award for her undeniable impact and legacy.
In 1992, Spin Magazine
''Spin'' (stylized in all caps) is an American music magazine founded in 1985 by publisher Bob Guccione, Jr. Now owned by Next Management Partners, the magazine is an online publication since it stopped issuing a print edition in 2012.
Histor ...
included Mouskouri on their list of "7 chart-toppers you won't see on MTV" and stated that Mouskouri sells two million records each year worldwide and has released about 800 albums in seven different languages.
In 1996, Platinum Europe Award
Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver".
Platinu ...
s handed Mouskouri a special award saying "Europe is a great musical culture". She also received a Golden Disc Award for "Weisse Rosen Aus Athen" and became the first Philip artist to reach one million sales.
The single titled "White Roses from Athens” was released in 1961, which stayed at number 1 on the charts for 39 weeks and sold more than 1.5 million copies within six months.
Discography
Notable albums
Autobiographies
* ''Chanter ma vie'', by Nana Mouskouri, Grasset ed., Paris 1989. and . * ''Το όνομά μου είναι Νάνα'' (''To ónomá mou eínai Nána'', "My Name Is Nana"), by Nana Mouskouri, Livani Publishing, Athens 2006. , . * ''Mémoires: La fille de la chauve-souris'', by Nana Mouskouri withLionel Duroy
Lionel Duroy de Suduiraut (born 1 October 1949) is a French writer and journalist born in Bizerte (Tunisia) into an impoverished family of aristocratic origin who long shared extreme right-wing ideas. His youth in this environment left a profoun ...
, XO Éditions, Paris 2007. and .
** ''Memoirs'', by Nana Mouskouri with Lionel Duroy, translated by Jeremy Leggatt, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London 2007. and .
** ''Stimme der Sehnsucht: Meine Erinnerungen'', by Nana Mouskouri with Lionel Duroy, translated by Ulrike Lelickens, Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, Berlin 2008. and .
Further reading
* Poilly-Genoud, Audrey. ''Nana Mouskouri, une fragilité fondatrice: quelques notes éparses sur les lunettes de Nana Mouskouri''. Paris: l'Harmattan, 2010See also
* List of Greek musical artists *List of multilingual bands and artists
This is a list of multilingual bands and artists. The band's or artist's native language is listed first. The list itself may also contain some singers from all over the world whose first language is English and ability to sing in different langu ...
* List of people from Crete
References
External links
;OfficialNana Mouskouri's profile at UNICEF
Nana Mouskouri international Fan Club
German Fan club website
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Nana Mouskouri at Universal Music France
;Biographies * ;Discography * * *
Site québécois de Nana Mouskouri
Biography, discography by language, list of 1 800 recordings, covers magazines, TV in Quebec, drawings, memories et topicalities. ;Filmography * * ;Political career * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mouskouri, Nana Living people 20th-century Greek women singers People from Chania Eurovision Song Contest entrants for Luxembourg Greek entehno singers Greek folk singers Greek pop singers Greek sopranos 20th-century Greek women politicians Singers from Athens English-language singers from Greece German-language singers French-language singers Spanish-language singers Latin-language singers Hebrew-language singers Italian-language singers Japanese-language singers Greek pacifists Greek expatriates in Switzerland Thessaloniki Song Festival entrants Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 1963 MEPs for Greece 1994–1999 20th-century women MEPs for Greece UNICEF Goodwill Ambassadors Singers from Crete New Democracy (Greece) MEPs Fontana Records artists Mercury Records artists Philips Records artists Polydor Records artists Cretan women Politicians from Chania Officers of the National Order of Quebec Commandeurs of the Légion d'honneur Commanders of the Order of Merit of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg Officiers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres Commanders of the Order of Beneficence (Greece) 1934 births