Internationally acclaimed Greek singer Nana Mouskouri was made an honorary citizen of Vari-Vouliagmeni municipality, Athens, on Tuesday night.
Mouskouri thanked the city for the recognition of the city's Gold Medal, awarded unanimously by the city council, and spoke of her happy childhood in Vouliagmeni. She also acknowledged the help and collaboration of composers Mimis Plessas, Giorgos Hatzinassios, and Giorgos Katsaros, who attended the event, at the start of her professional career. Also attending the event were Giorgos Dalaras, Marios Fragoulis, George Perris and MPs, the head of the Hellenic Army Academy, and former Canadian ambassador Robert Peck, among others.
A brief video highlighting the singer's life was shown, and the event wrapped up with a children's school choir singing some of her best-known songs.
RESOURCE | ABOUT Nana Mouskouri
Over the span of her career, Nana Mouskouri released over 200 albums in at least twelve languages, including Greek, French, English, German, Dutch, Portuguese, Italian, Japanese, Spanish, Hebrew, Welsh, Mandarin Chinese and Corsican.
Mouskouri became well known throughout Europe for the song "The White Rose of Athens", recorded first in German as "Weiße Rosen aus Athen" as an adaptation of her Greek song "Σαν σφυρίξεις τρείς φορές" (San sfyríxeis tris forés, "When you whistle three times"). It became her first record to sell over one million copies.
In 1992, Spin Magazine included Mouskouri on their list of "7 chart-toppers you won't see on MTV" and stated that Mouskouri sells two million records each year worldwide and has released about 800 albums in seven different languages.
In 1996, Platinum Europe Awards handed Mouskouri a special award saying, "Europe is a great musical culture". She also received a Golden Disc Award for "Weisse Rosen Aus Athen" and became the first Philip artist to reach one million sales.
The single titled "White Roses from Athens” was released in 1961, which stayed at number 1 on the charts for 39 weeks and sold more than 1.5 million copies within six months.
[Wiki]