Capital: | € 12 million |
---|---|
Age: | 67 |
Born: | 8/23/1952 |
Country of origin: | Greece |
Source of wealth: | singer |
Last updated: | 2024 |
Short introduction
For decades, the native Greek Vicky Leandros has been a well-known and popular pop and chanson singer in Greece as well as in Germany and numerous other countries. She started her great career at the Grand Prix Eurovision de la Chanson (Eurovision Song Contest), where she appeared twice for Luxembourg. In 1967 she took fourth place in Vienna with the chanson “L’amour es bleu”, which has now become an evergreen. In 1972 she took first place with “Après toi” in Edinburgh. At that time, however, she was already very successful internationally.
Early life
Vicky Leandros was born on August 23, 1952 in Paleokastritsa on the Greek island of Corfu as Vassiliki Papathanasiou. In 1958 she came to Germany with her parents. After her parents divorced in 1961, Vicky grew up with her father Leandros Papathanasiou in Hamburg, who was already successful as a singer under the artist name Leo Leandros. She received singing, guitar and ballet lessons and attended high school.
Her first single entitled “Knife, Scissors, Fork, Light” became a hit in Germany in 1965. The following year she appeared at the Grand Prix Eurovision de la Chanson to gain further international recognition. She started singing multilingual at an early age and can now proudly look back on hits in Greek, German, French, English, Spanish, Dutch and even Japanese.
Career
Vicky Leandros achieved her great success in seven different languages from the late 1960s to the mid-1980s. For this success she was honored internationally with countless gold and platinum records. She has appeared on numerous television and music programs in Germany, Greece, France, Belgium, Canada, the Netherlands, Spain, Latin America and Japan and, with 20 chart positions in the Top Twenty, is one of the most successful female artists in Germany since the introduction of the music charts .
In addition to her singing career, Vicky Leandros was also politically active until 2008. She ran for the social democratic Greek party PASOK on several occasions and became Vice Mayor and City Councilor for Culture and International Relations of the city of Piraeus in October.
Career highlights
With Vicky Leandros’ long and very successful international career, it is difficult to say what her greatest successes have been. So maybe her entire career is a highlight, be it the fact that she can sing in seven different languages, or that her first single was already a hit. Be it the victory of the Grand Prix Eurovision de la Chanson in 1972 or its numerous formwork panels in gold and platinum, everything Vicky Leandros dares seems to be crowned with success.
In 1972 she was awarded the “Best selling Artist” award internationally. In addition to various awards from the music industry, she received the Order of Merit of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg in 2011 and the German Federal Cross of Merit in 2015.
Famous quotes
Despite all the successes, the famous singer has remained down-to-earth and self-reflective. “I know that I don’t know anything” is one of her most famous quotes, from which she also made a song in 2015. Despite her mature age and life experience, she knows that she can also learn.
Amazing facts
Since her marriage to Enno Freiherr von Ruffin in 1986, she has held the title Baroness von Ruffin. The marriage was divorced in 2005. The two daughters Sandra and Milana are from this marriage. The son Leo comes from her first marriage. Vicky Leandros has also been the grandmother of a little boy since 2013.
In 2001 and 2006 she was in conversation as a Senator for Culture of the City of Hamburg. However, she refused both times because she preferred to concentrate on her music career.
Children are particularly important to her. She supports various aid projects for children. She works for children in Africa as well as for the “One Heart for Children” campaign in Germany. She also supports the “Mentor Foundation”, which is committed to preventing drug abuse among children and adolescents. For her social commitment, she received the “golden pea” from the German Center for Fairy Tale Culture in 2012.