Sotiria Bellou
| Sotiria Bellou | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Background information | |
| Born |
August 22, 1921 Drosia (Euboia), Greece |
| Origin | Greece |
| Died | August 27, 1997 (aged 76) Metaxa Hospital, Athens |
| Genres | Rebetiko |
| Occupation(s) | Singer |
| Years active | 1941–1994 |
| Associated acts | Vassilis Tsitsanis, Markos Vamvakaris |
Sotiria Bellou (Greek: Σωτηρία Μπέλλου) (August 22, 1921 – August 27, 1997) was a famous Greek singer and performer of the Greek rebetiko style of music. She was one of the most famous rebetisa of all, mentioned in many music guides, and a contributor to the 1984 British Documentary entitled Music of the Outsiders. On 14 March 2010, Alpha TV ranked Bellou the 22nd top-certified female artist in the nation's phonographic era (since 1960).
Bellou was born in Halia (now called Drosia, part of the town of Chalkida) on the island of Euboia. She was the oldest of five siblings of a wealthy family. Her grandfather Sotiris Papasotiriou, after whom she was named and who was particularly fond of her, was an Orthodox priest at Shimatari. As a little girl, Sotiria would go to church along with her grandfather and she would absorb the religious sounds and Byzantine hymns. She began singing at the age of three, and was soon making her own guitars out of wire and wood and playing them. Her father, Kyriakos Bellos, had a grocery store in Neapolis in the northern part of Chalkida. The movie "The little emigree" (I prosphygopoula) featuring the popular singer Sofia Vembo was the catalyst that pushed her to pursue an artistic career. On hearing of her daughter's ambitions, her mother Eleni beat her because, as a conservative woman of that time, she did not want her daughter to pursue an artistic career. However, her father bought her a guitar and paid for private lessons.
In 1940, she decided to move to Athens. Her arrival in Athens coincided with World War II (October 28, 1940 – the day Italy declared war on Greece) and a new challenging period started for Bellou. Her family completely lost touch with her. They found her again after seven years, singing with legendary rebetiko composer Vassilis Tsitsanis. In the meantime, she had worked as a servant at a wealthy lawyer's house, as a hawker selling pasteli (), as a luggage carrier and in many other different jobs. One night she was working as a waitress in a rebetiko club in the Exarheia neighborhood of downtown Athens and sang two songs after a bet with a customer. Kimonas Kapetanakis happened to be there and recognised her genuine talent. He introduced her to Tsitsanis, who instantly became fond of her powerful and melodic voice, and with whom she recorded the first of her many 78 rpm gramophone records.
...
Wikipedia