ATHENS – [ANA-MPA]
Beloved Greek singer Marinella, whose songs spanned generations and marked Greece’s popular music scene for decades, died on Saturday afternoon aged 88.
Her rich and unique voice was accompanied by a great stage presence and she was the first Greek female singer to appear on stage with very short hair and bell bottoms. Most of her numerous LPs were highly successful commercially and spread her fame and talent abroad.
Born Kyriaki Papadopoulou in Thessaloniki in 1938, she started singing for audiences very early. At 17 years of age she was called upon to replace an ailing singer in a theater troup she performed as actress. The post became permanent after her appearance, while her first appearance as an adult singer came a year later, when her name was changed from ‘Kiki’ to ‘Marinella’. At the ‘Panorama’ venue in Thessaloniki, she met Stelios Kazantzidis, her first husband, with whom she started singing in Athens in a duet that rose to stardom in Greece and abroad before they divorced in 1966.
Marinella worked with several Greek composers and song writers from a broad spectrum of genres and was the first Greek female singer to issue LPs of live performances (“Mia vradya me tin Marinella” 1 and 2, in 1972-1973). She also performed with singer Tolis Voskopoulos, and they were briefly married, divorcing in 1981.
A book on her life was issued by writer Yiannis Xanthoulis in 2023, describing her professional life that spanned 65 years.
Her career ended in September 2024, when she suffered a stroke on stage during a concert at the Herodes Atticus Odeon.
She is survived by her daughter Georgina, whom she shared with Greek equestrian champion Freddy Serpieri.
