Katy Garbi | |
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Katy Garbi
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Background information | |
Birth name | Ekaterini Garbi |
Born |
Athens, Greece |
June 8, 1963
Origin | Athens, Greece |
Genres | pop, dance |
Occupation(s) | Singer, musician, actress, record producer |
Instruments | Vocals |
Years active | 1987–present |
Labels |
Sony Music Greece (1989–2010; 2012–2013) Universal Music Greece (2010–2011) Minos EMI (2013–2015) Panik Platinum (2016–present) |
Website |
Katy Garbi's signature |
Katerina "Katy" Garbi (Greek: Κατερίνα "Καίτη" Γαρμπή, pronounced [kateˈrina ˈketi ɡarˈbi]; born June 8, 1961) is a Greek singer active in Greece and Cyprus, with some popularity in Turkey. Her career has spanned over 20 years and is marked by several multi-platinum releases. Garbi participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 1993 for Greece with the song "Ellada, Hora Tou Fotos", taking ninth place. She cemented her popularity in the mid-1990s and was one of the most successful artists of the decade with her albums Arhizo Polemo (1996) and Evaisthisies (1997) becoming two of the best-selling albums of the decade. She struck her biggest commercial success with To Kati (2000) in terms of unit sales. Garbi has won 11 Pop Corn Music Awards, including three for Album of the Year, and one Arion Music Award. On 14 March 2010, Alpha TV ranked her among the top-certified female artists in the nation's phonographic era (since 1960),at 8th place.
Garbi began her singing career with her younger sister, Liana, as the "Garbi Sisters" when she was just 15 years old and Liana 13. Due to their age, their father was against their work as singers, but he did not want to stand in the way of the promising future that he felt their talent offered them. They are most remembered for the backup vocals they provided at Yannis Floriniotis's performances in the early eighties.
Breaking away from the duo with her sister Liana, Garbi recorded her first solo song "Sain Trope" that quickly became a hit. Her official debut in discography came in 1987, when she appeared as one of the artists on a new compilation album called Ta Deka Dekaria alongside other new singers including Manto, Polina, Sophia Vossou and Laurentis Mahairitsas. In addition to "Sain Trope", contribution also included a duet with Kostas Haritodiplomenos titled "Glyka". With the success of the first album, the second volume was released in 1989 which featured Garbi in two new songs titled "Ah, Afto Mou Aresei" and "Zo Na S'Agapo". These early songs grabbed the attention of Greek music executives, and led her to her first record contract with CBS Records Greece, paving the way for her first studio album in 1989.