Marinella
| Marinella Μαρινέλλα |
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Kyriaki Papadopoulou |
| Born |
20 May 1938 Thessaloniki, Greece |
| Genres | Folk, laïko, blues, rebetiko |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, singer, actress |
| Years active | 1957–present |
| Labels | PolyGram Greece, Minos EMI, BMG Greece, Universal Music Greece |
Marinella (Greek: Μαρινέλλα) (born May 20, 1938) is one of the most popular Greek singers whose career has spanned several decades. She has sung professionally since 1957. Since the beginning of her career, she has released 66 solo albums and has been featured on albums by other musicians.
She was born Kyriaki Papadopoulou (Κυριακή Παπαδοπούλου), in the city of Thessaloniki in northern Greece. Her parents were Greek refugees from Istanbul (former Constantinople). She is the fourth and last child of a large family, which despite its poverty, was rich in love and in artistic vein. The whole family gathered around the turntable and sang, while her father tried to teach children the steps of the waltz and the tango. From the age of four years singing on the radio broadcast in "Pediki Ora (Children's Hour)" and later did ads for shops such as "Melka" in Thessaloniki, earning her first pocket money. She participated in many performances of children's theatre.
At age 15, she gave up her budding career to finish school, but by seventeen, her passion for the theatre is stirring and she joins the artistic group of Mary Laurent, a "mpoulouki" (so called then the singer troupes that traveled Greece end-to-end for performances) and plays small roles. One day, the lead singer fell sick and sought Marinella as a replacement, who was willing to take the singer's place. At that moment, the Greek music world found one of its best representatives. Marinella became the lead singer of the troupe. She later joined the Military Theatre because the remuneration was better. At the same time she started her career as a singer at the "Panorama" centre of Thessaloniki, where Tolis Harmas coined the name "Marinella" for her, inspired by his song.
She released her first song in 1957, "Nitsa, Elenitsa (Little Helen)". Her early career was marked by her collaboration with singer Stelios Kazantzidis. Together they managed to become the greatest duet of Greece, unsurpassed even today. Starting at the night club "Luxembourg" in Thessaloniki where they enjoyed great success, they later moved to Athens, the capital, where they became widely known. They sang the songs of Mikis Theodorakis, Manos Hadjidakis, Vassilis Tsitsanis, Giorgos Mitsakis, Giorgos Zambetas, Apostolos Kaldaras, Theodoros Derveniotis, Stavros Xarchakos, Christos Leontis, whom are considered the best composers of the era.
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