The great singer and composer, Tolis Voskopoulos, has died at the age of 81.
According to reports, the renowned artist died of a heart attack.
Tolis Voskopoulos was one of the most important singers in the history of Greek music, and by far the most commercially successful.
When he first started singing, because of his style, his stage presence, and the way he performed and dressed, the His die-hard fans called him “The Prince”.
Tolis Voskopoulos was at the top of the Greek folk music scene for decades, a fact that led the equally great artist and lyricist behind many of Yiannis Parios’s hits to say: «The The only star Greece has is Tolis». In fact, as Giorgos Gerolymatos has stated, in the 1970s young singers would break their teeth in an effort to resemble Voskopoulos (due to the artist’s distinctive dentures).
In his autobiography, Giorgos Zambetas notes: «Tolis is a born actor. He steps onto the stage and takes it all in. Because when you step onto the stage, it tells you: »Eat me, or I’ll eat you.’ Let’s be clear. Voskopoulos is a hard worker—the greatest of them all.”.
As Voskopoulos himself once stated in an interview with journalist Semina Digeni, «When I started singing, I took the actor Voskopoulos with me.».
From time to time, he has written songs—both lyrics and music—that he has included on his own albums or that have been performed by other artists, the best known of which is the his duet with Marinella, «You and Me,» in 1974 which broke sales records and is still sung today.
Among his admirers were—and still are—people from all social classes, ranging from the working-class neighborhoods to the economic elite of shipowners, and, of course, the late Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou.
Rich ...and his work as composer. Some artists who have performed his songs include: Duchess, Marinella, Stratos Dionisiou, Antonis Remos, Notis Sfakianakis.
In 1971, he wrote the music for the song «My brothers, you vagabond birds» which was performed by Yannis Vogiatzis and won first prize at the Thessaloniki Song Festival; he himself participated in the same festival the following year, singing “Xanthi, Beloved Virgin Mary,” a song that, as was said at the time, he had written for Zoe Laskari, who was present in the audience at the event.
Discography
- 1967 – Memories
- 1968 – Anxiety
- 1970 – My brothers, you vagabond birds
- 1970 – I beg you
- 1971 – A love
- 1972 – Moments of Love
- 1972 – I'm betting
- 1972 – Tolis Voskopoulos
- 1973 – My Boy (Composer of 4 songs)
- 1973 – Let's be realistic
- 1974 – Marinella Voskopoulos
- 1974 – You and me
- 1975 – What do I have, and what will I have?
- 1976 – One More Time (Composer of 3 songs)
- 1976 – When I sing
- 1976 – Smyrneika and Laika
- 1977 – It’s the thing that stays
- 1977 – The memories come flooding back
- 1978 – Sing, actress!
- 1979 – Day and night, everywhere
- 1980 – Tolis Voskopoulos, 80
- 1981 – For Everyone (Composer of 9 songs)
- 1981 – My lonely heart
- 1982 – I don't want to remember
- 1983 – You're mine
- 1984 – My past loves
- 1985 – The Songs We Sang (3 songs)
- 1985 – At that time, the album titled [THEN] had been recorded in 1960
- 1985 – Now
- 1985 – Folk Songs of the Night (5 songs)
- 1986 – Countless because
- 1987 – 16 of my most beautiful songs
- 1987 – An Endless Romantic Journey
- 1988 – His Greatest Hits
- 1989 – Great Interpretations
- 1989 – No. 2's Greatest Hits
- 1990 – Forever
- 1990 – Let's make love like crazy
- 1990 – The whole truth
- 1990 – Top-Rated Hits
- 1991 – You're oozing love
- 1992 – You and me
- 1993 – You and Me: All the Greatest Hits
- 1993 – I'm close to you
- 1994 – Tolis' Classics
- 1995 – Unparalleled
- 1995 – Love Poems
- 1995 – My First Songs, 1966–1971
- 1996 – 16 Zeibekika
- 1996 – Eyes like moons
- 1996 – Back Then: My First Songs
- 1997 – I love only one
- 1998 – You came like a dream
- 1999 – The night was filled with light
- 2000 – His Greatest Hits
- 2000 – Love Poems
- 2001 – Live 2000–2001
- 2002 – The correct answer
- 2000 – No. 2's Greatest Hits
- 2002 – Sung by Voskopoulos
- 2003 – Good luck
- 2003 – 30 Years of the Song “One Love, One Life” (1970–2000)
- 2005 – Countercurrent
- 2006 – Memories (4-CD Collection)
- 2006 – 14 Great Songs
- 2006 – Anthology 1970–2001 (4-CD Set)
- 2006 – The Paths of My Life (2 CDs: Live & Studio)
- 2007 – Look me in the eyes
- 2007 – Gold Record Collection
- 2008 – As time goes by
- 2008 – Gold Record Collection No. 2
- 2009 – 60 Greatest Hits (4 CDs)
- 2009 – Folk Song No. 7
- 2009 – Tolis Voskopoulos
- 2009 – Greatest Hits (3 CDs)
