Ioanna "Nana" Mouskouri is a renowned Greek singer born on October 13, 1934. Throughout her illustrious career, she has released over 200 albums in at least twelve languages, including Greek, French, English, German, Dutch, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Hebrew, Welsh, Mandarin Chinese, and Corsican.
Mouskouri gained widespread recognition across Europe with her song "The White Rose of Athens", initially recorded in German as "Weiße Rosen aus Athen" and later adapted from her Greek song "Σαν σφυρίξεις τρείς φορές" (San sfyríxeis tris forés, "When you whistle three times"). This song became her first record to sell over one million copies.
In 1963, Mouskouri represented Luxembourg at the Eurovision Song Contest with the song "À force de prier". Her friendship with composer Michel Legrand led to the recording of the theme song for the Oscar-nominated film The Umbrellas of Cherbourg. From 1968 to 1976, she hosted her own TV show, Presenting Nana Mouskouri, produced by BBC, which showcased her multilingual talents and distinctive image, featuring her signature black-rimmed glasses.
Mouskouri's popularity as a multilingual television personality and distinctive image turned her into an international star. Her song "Je chante avec toi Liberté", recorded in 1981, is perhaps her biggest hit to date, performed in at least five languages – French, English, German, Spanish, and Portuguese. "Only Love", a song recorded in 1985 as the theme song of TV series Mistral's Daughter, gained worldwide popularity along with its other versions in French, Italian, Spanish, and German. It became her only UK hit single when it reached number two in February 1986.
Mouskouri became a spokesperson for UNICEF in 1993 and was elected to the European Parliament as a Greek deputy from 1994 to 1999. In 2015, she was awarded the Echo Music Prize for Outstanding achievements by the German music association Deutsche Phono-Akademie.
Nana Mouskouri's family lived in Chania, Crete, 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.
Mouskouri's family sent her and her older sister Eugenía (Jenny) to the Athens Conservatoire. Although Mouskouri displayed exceptional musical talent from age six, Jenny initially appeared to be the more gifted sibling. Financially unable to support both girls' studies, their 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.
