Anna Vissi

Anna Vissi
Άννα Βίσση
Vissi performing in January 2011
Born (1957-12-20) 20 December 1957 (age 66)
Larnaca, Cyprus
Other namesAnna Vishy
Occupations
  • Singer
  • songwriter
Years active1973–present
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1983; div. 1992)​
Children1
RelativesLia Vissi (sister)
Musical career
OriginCyprus
Genres
InstrumentVocals
Labels
Websiteannavissilive.com

Anna Vissi (Greek: Άννα Βίσση, pronounced [ˈana ˈvisi], locally [ˈanːa ˈviʃːi]; born 20 December 1957) [1] is a Greek Cypriot singer and songwriter. She studied music at conservatories and performed locally before moving to the professional scene in Athens, in 1973, where she signed with Minos and simultaneously collaborated with other musical artists and released promotional singles of her own while studying at the University of Athens.

Vissi established herself in the recording industry by winning the Thessaloniki Song Festival in 1977 with the song "As Kanoume Apopse Mian Arhi" and releasing the eponymous debut album. Since the 1980s, Vissi began a nearly exclusive collaboration with songwriter Nikos Karvelas, to whom she was married from 1983 to 1992 and had one child with, resulting in one of the most successful music partnerships in the nation's history. Together they created the label CarVi, which resulted in legal issues with EMI Greece, and they then moved to CBS Records Greece, which later became Sony Music Greece.

Over the course of her career she has released over two dozen albums, most of which have been certified at least gold in the two countries and has also starred in three theatrical productions and briefly ventured into television and radio. Vissi experimented with different styles of music; after becoming one of the first Greek artists to introduce Western pop and dance elements into Greek laïko and entehno, she became one of the most prominent portrayers of the laïko-pop hybrid genre and culture that was thriving from the mid-1990s into the mid-2000s. She landed her biggest commercial success with Fotia (1989), followed by the double Kravgi (2000), which became the eighth best-selling album of all time in terms of units,[2] while five others – Kitrino Galazio (1979), I Epomeni Kinisi (1985), Klima Tropiko (1996), Travma (1997), and Antidoto (1998) – have also achieved six figure sales.

She has a large number of successful singles most of which have become classics, including "Inai Kati Stigmes", "Tha Borousa", "Dodeka", "Methismeni Politia", "Oso Exo Foni", "Pragmata", "Agapi Ipervoliki", "Psihedelia", "Ta Mathitika Hronia", "Treno", "Stin Pira", "Atmosfaira Ilektrismeni" , "Gkazi" and many many more. Through the years she kept a strong fan base, sold-out tours[3] and shows (as was her latest shows in Rex in winter 2011–12 and Hotel Ermou 2015–2016 which was the most successful of the year).[4][5][6]

Since the late 1990s, Vissi has also made attempts at establishing a career abroad, most of which fell through and have had some negative repercussions on her domestic career.[7] However, she struck some success with her 2005 single "Call Me", which made her the first Greek or Cypriot artist to top the US Billboard Hot Dance Club Play Chart and has also represented Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1980 and 2006, and Cyprus in 1982.

Vissi has won six Arion Music Awards, 15 Pop Corn Music Awards, and nine MAD Video Music Awards. Vissi has received 37 Platinum and 16 Gold certifications from IFPI Greece and has become one of the country's best-selling artists of all time, having sold over 9 million records worldwide and is one of the country's top earning artists.[8][9][10] Alpha TV ranked Vissi as the second top-certified female artist in Greece in the phonographic era (since 1960), behind Haris Alexiou,[11] while Forbes listed her as the 15th most powerful and influential celebrity in Greece and fourth highest ranked singer.[12]

  1. ^ Peters, Barbara; Kilimann, Susanne (January 2013). Zypern : [mit gro§er Reisekarte]. Baedeker. ISBN 978-3-8297-1489-1.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference top 10 best-sellers was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ "Άννα Βίσση". 17 August 2012. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  4. ^ Staff (2 December 2011). "Η Άννα Βίσση επιστρέφει στο REX" (in Greek). MAD TV. Archived from the original on 9 December 2011. Retrieved 2 December 2011.
  5. ^ Πόλις, Ράδιο. "ΜΙΑ ΒΡΑΔΙΑ ΣΤΗΝ ΑΝΝΑ ΒΙΣΣΗ" (in Greek). radiopolis.gr. Archived from the original on 24 May 2016. Retrieved 20 August 2016.
  6. ^ "Μια βραδιά στην Βίσση" (in Greek). nikosonline.gr. 12 March 2016.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference to vima trio was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Bakker, ieste (14 January 2006). "Anna Vissi back at negotiations table". ESCToday. Retrieved 10 September 2010.
  9. ^ "The Greek List". Forbes (in Greek). November 2010. p. 60.
  10. ^ "Άννα Βίσση: Το απόλυτο φαβορί... Θεωρείται η απόλυτη star, αφού ξεπέρασε παγκοσμίως 9.500.000 πωλήσεις". Zougla.gr. Archived from the original on 6 September 2013. Retrieved 7 January 2011.
  11. ^ Chart Show: Your Countdown. Alpha TV. Airdate: 22 March 2010.
  12. ^ "The Greek List". Forbes (in Greek). November 2010. p. 38.