Nana Mouskouri Video Showcase

Nana Mouskouri, born as Ioanna Mouskouri on October 13, 1934, in Chania, Crete, Greece, is a singer of Greek origin.

She was known as Nana to her friends and family as a child. She has recorded in many different languages, including Greek, French, English, German, Italian, Spanish, among others.

She is also known to be The Best Selling Female Recording Artist Ever.

Mouskouri's family lived in Chania, Crete, where her father, Constantine, worked as a film projectionist in a local cinema. Her mother, Alice also worked in the same local cinema as an usherette.

When Mouskouri was three, her father moved the family to Athens. Mouskouri's family worked extremely hard in order to send Nana and her elder sister, Jenny, to the prestigious Athens Conservatoire.

Mouskouri had displayed exceptional musical talent from the age of 6. However her sister, Jenny, initially appeared to be the more gifted of the two. In fact Mouskouri has one vocal cord that is thicker than the other. This unusual condition accounts for her unique voice, both speaking and singing. Mouskouri's childhood was stamped by the Nazi occupation of Greece.

Her father became part of the anti-Nazi resistance movement in Athens. Mouskouri began singing lessons at age 12. Despite the flaw in her vocal cords, Mouskouri took singing lessons regularly. During the Nazi German occupation, her family no longer had the financial means to pay for her singing lessons, but her teacher saw that she had a certain talent and continued to give her lessons free of charge.

As a child, she listened to radio broadcasts of singers such as Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, and Billie Holiday and Édith Piaf. More: Wikipedia - Nana Mouskouri

Photo author: Daniel Selby from flickr.com