Leo Leandros (; born Leandros Papathanasiou; 23 August 1923) is a Greek musician, composer, singer, songwriter, lyricist and record producer.

Biography

Born on 23 August 1923 in

Astakos Astakos (, meaning "lobster") is a town and a former municipality in Aetolia-Acarnania, West Greece, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Xiromero, of which it is a municipal unit.

, Leandros left in the 1950s for Germany to pursue a career in

singing Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define singi ...

and composing. He had some success, but shifted his focus to his daughter,

Vicky Vicky, Vick, Vickie or Vicki is a feminine given name, often a hypocorism of Victoria. The feminine name Vicky in Greece comes from the name Vasiliki. Notable people with the name * Family nickname of Victoria, Princess Royal (1840–190 ...

, who had been singing from a very early age. He became her manager, composer and producer when she was 13 and took charge of her training and career. Under his pseudonym Mario Panas () he was the co-composer (together with Klaus Munro) of "

Après toi "Après toi" (; "After you") is a song recorded by Greek singer Vicky Leandros, with music composed by her father Leo Leandros under his pseudonym Mario Panas, and German composer , with French lyrics by . It in the Eurovision Song Contest 19 ...

", the winner of the

Eurovision Song Contest 1972 The Eurovision Song Contest 1972 was the 17th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom and was organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster British Broadcasting Corpo ...

, which Vicky performed for

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

. Leandros has composed and produced for many other artists such as

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Demis Roussos Artemios "Demis" Ventouris-Roussos ( ; , ; 15 June 1946 – 25 January 2015) was a Greek-Egyptian singer, songwriter and musician. As a band member, he is best remembered for his work in the progressive rock music act Aphrodite's Child, but as a ...

Nana Mouskouri Ioanna "Nana" Mouskouri ( ; born 13 October 1934) is a Greek singer and politician. Over the span of her career, she has released an estimated 450 albums in at least thirteen languages, including Greek language, Greek, French language, French, ...

, Ulli Martin,

Freddy Quinn Freddy Quinn (born Franz Eugen Helmut Manfred Nidl; 27 September 1931) is an Austrian singer and actor whose popularity in the German-speaking world soared in the late 1950s and 1960s. As Hans Albers had done two generations before him, Quinn ...

and Jairo, among others. In 1983, he retired but returned exclusively to the studio in the early 1990s for three albums with Vicky Leandros. His albums have sold over 120 million worldwide. A low-profile personality, Leandros avoids public appearances. In October 2005 though, he appeared on German/Austrian TV as a surprise guest for his daughter who was celebrating her 30-year stage Jubilee. He was also the first singer of the Hymn of Panathinaikos. He turned 100 on 23 August 2023.

Discography

References

External links

Official homepage
(archived 2 February 2011) * *https://eurovisionworld.com/eurovision/1972 {{DEFAULTSORT:Leandros, Leo 1926 births Living people Greek male songwriters Eurovision Song Contest-winning songwriters People from Astakos Greek men centenarians