George Dalaras

by Jason AnkenyDubbed "the Greek Bruce Springsteen," laiki superstar Yiorgas (George) Dalaras ranks among the biggest pop music phenomenons to hit the Mediterranean in decades. Born in Nea Kokkinia, Piraeus, in 1950, he was the son of rembetika performer Loukas Ntaralas, and made his recorded debut on his father's 1965 recording of "Wry Thorn." By the age of 17, Dalaras was already working as a professional singer, and soon cut his first solo record, "Expectation." In 1968, he issued his debut LP The Station, a major hit which became the first of well over 40 albums he released during his career in a variety of styles ranging from dhimotka folk songs to the music of Mikis Theodorakis and Giannis Markopoulos; he even learned rudimentary Spanish to cut a number of Latin American and flamenco standards in collaboration with guitarist Al DiMeola. In 1983, Dalaras performed two sold-out shows at Athens' Olympic Stadium before crowds in excess of 80,000 people nightly; while remaining a star primarily in his native land, his reputation did extend to the global music community, and he played many of the world's most legendary venues, including Paris' Olympia Theatre and New York City's Radio City Music Hall. A career retrospective, The Very Best Of George Dalaras, appeared in 2000.