Nana Mouskouri (born Ioanna Mouskouri on October 13, 1934 in Crete, Greece) is a Greek singer and politician. Her fans have claimed her to be the biggest selling female singer of all time, in part due to her recording many of her songs in many different languages, including Greek, French, English, Spanish, Italian, German and Portuguese. She is noted for her trademark glasses. She sold more than 250 million of her records internationally and recorded about 1500 songs in 15 languages. In general, her songs are known for their sadness, longing, and sentimental musings upon love, for all of which the cry in her voice is exceptionally suited.
When Mouskouri was 3, her family moved to Athens. In 1950, Nana was accepted at the Athens Conservatory , but was expelled in 1957 after it was discovered that she was singing with a jazz group at night. She won first prize at the 1959 Greek Song Festival singing Manos Hadjidakis's "Kapou Iparchi Agapi Mou".
Her first hit was "The White Rose of Athens" (1961). "The Girl From Greece Sings", a 1962 album produced by Quincy Jones followed. In 1963, she was Luxembourg's entry in the Eurovision Song Contest with "À Force de Prier". Following that, she released the English language album "Nana Sings" (1965) and the French album "Le Jour où la Colombe" (1967).
Mouskouri was appointed a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador in October 1993. She represented Greece in the European Parliament from 1994-1999. However, her integrity and sincerity as a supporter of human rights was thrown into doubt when by the end of time as a politician she had chosen to vote against Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender (LGBT) rights, or pro-LGBT wordings in motions and resolutions, on each of five parliamentary occasions (Source: http://www.europarl.eu.int/opengov/default_en.htm - Document A4-0112/97, Document #B4-0824 and 0852, Document #A4-0045/99, Document #A4-0450/98). Her consistently anti-gay behaviour in the European Parliament gravely disappointed many amongst her massive gay and lesbian following worldwide.
She currently lives in Switzerland with her second husband, André Chapelle and still gives about 100 concerts each year. In 2004 her French record company released an unprecedented 34-box set of more than 600 of Mouskouri's mostly French songs. For 2005 and 2006 she plans a farewell concert tour of Europe, Australia, U.S.A. and Canada. Aged 70, no further recordings are expected though doubtless many reissues of her recordings of the 60s and 70s, when her voice was at its most exceptional, will continue for many years to come.
Partial Discography
- "The Girl From Greece Sings" (1962)
- "Nana Sings" (1965)
- "Le Jour où la Colombe" (1967)
- "Over and Over" (1969)
- "Comme un Soleil"
- "Une Voix Qui Vient du Coeur"
- "Vielles Chansons de France"
- "Quand Tu Chantes"
- "Sieben Schwarze Rosen" (1975)
- "Book of Songs"
- "Roses and Sunshine" (1979)
- "Je Chante Avec Toi, Liberté" (1981)
- "Only Love" (1986)
- "The Classical Nana" (1988)
- "Gospel" (1990)
- "Only Love: The Best of Nana Mouskouri" (1991)
- "Côté Coeur" (1992)
- "Nur ein Lied" (1995)
- "The Great Movie Themes" (1999)
- "The Christmas Album" (2000)
- "Fille de soleil" (2003)
- "Ich hab'geweint, ich hab'gelacht" (2004)
External Links