Legendary Greek singer Marinella passes away at 88

The Grande Dame of Greek music, legendary singer Marinella passed away at the age of 88  on Saturday evening, her family announced.

In September 2024, she had suffered a severe hemorrhagic stroke   during a live performance in the antique Odeon of Herodes Atticus in Athens. After three weeks in ICU and four months of hospitalization, she was discharged from the hospital in January 2025 and returned home, where she lived until her death.

Born in Thessaloniki as Kyriaki Papadopoulou and known by her stage name Marinella had an impressive vocal stage and her career spanned several decades.

Since the beginning of her professional singing career in 1956, she had released 66 solo albums, and had also been featured on many albums by other musicians.

She represented Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest 1974 with “A bit of wine, a bit of sea and my boyfriend”, marking the country’s first entry in the contest.

From 1956 to 2024, Marinella remained active for 68 years, performing in concerts and weekly shows at nightclubs.

She released her first song in 1957, “Nitsa, Elenitsa (Little Helen)“.

Her early career was marked by her collaboration with singer Stelios Kazantzidis. Together they managed to become the greatest duet of Greece, unsurpassed even today. They sang the songs of Mikis Theodorakis, Manos Hadjidakis, Vassilis Tsitsanis, Giorgos Mitsakis, Giorgos Zambetas, Apostolos Kaldaras, Theodoros Derveniotis, Stavros Xarchakos, Christos Leontis, whom are considered the best composers of the era.

Marinella married Stelios Kazantzidis on 7 May 1964 and they toured together in Germany and the United States.

They divorced in September 1966.

Marinella then began a solo career and had a child outside of a marriage which was a shock for the conservative Greek society of the 1970’s.

She married singer Tolis Voskopoulos in 1973. This marriage also ended in divorce in 1981.

Marinella was the first Greek singer to participate in the International MIDEM Festival of 1973 in Cannes with three new songs composed by Stavros Xarchakos.

She also performed in several Greek musicals, both as singer and actress. Her popularity rose in the late 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, with a string of successful albums and live shows. She developed a new standard for shows in the Greek night clubs, introducing costumes, dancing, and special lighting effects.

In November 2002, she collaborated with Gιοrgos Dalaras. They performed concerts in Athens and Thessaloniki as well as abroad.The tour was titled “Together” and the released live album from these performances reached platinum status in 2003.

PS I can recall when an aunt of mine got married, the close family went for further celebration to the establishment where Kazantzidis & Marinella were singing live. They were top back then. But we, kids, were not allowed 🙁