George Dalaras

Known as “the Greek Bruce Springsteen,” laiki superstar Yiorgas (George) Dalaras stands among the most significant pop music sensations to emerge across the Mediterranean in recent decades. He entered the world in 1950 in Nea Kokkinia, Piraeus, as the son of rembetika performer Loukas Ntaralas, and first appeared on record in 1965 on his father’s version of “Wry Thorn.” Already working professionally as a singer by the time he turned seventeen, Dalaras soon released his initial solo single, “Expectation.” His debut album, The Station, arrived in 1968 and became a major success, launching a discography that eventually surpassed forty releases and encompassed everything from dhimotka folk songs to the compositions of Mikis Theodorakis and Giannis Markopoulos. To record several Latin American and flamenco standards, he even acquired basic Spanish for a collaboration with guitarist Al Di Meola. In 1983 Dalaras filled Athens’ Olympic Stadium for two consecutive sold-out concerts, each drawing more than eighty thousand spectators. Although his fame remained centered in Greece, it reached listeners worldwide, leading him to appear at such historic sites as Paris’ Olympia Theatre and New York City’s Radio City Music Hall. The retrospective collection The Very Best of George Dalaras surfaced in 2000.