Maro Litra (), born as Maria Litra (} on 3 November 1970 in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

), is a

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

singer. She studied music at ''McGill University Conservatory of Music''.

Biography

She was born in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

on 3 November 1970 by Greek parents from

Lefkada Lefkada (, ''Lefkáda'', ), also known as Lefkas or Leukas (Ancient Greek and Katharevousa: Λευκάς, ''Leukás'', modern pronunciation ''Lefkás'') and Leucadia, is a Greece, Greek list of islands of Greece, island in the Ionian Sea on the ...

and

Missolonghi Missolonghi or Mesolongi (, ) is a municipality of 32,048 people (according to the 2021 census) in western Greece. The town is the capital of Aetolia-Acarnania regional unit, and the seat of the municipality of Iera Polis Mesolongiou (). Missolon ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

. She studied music at ''McGill University Conservatory of Music''. For many years she worked as

singer 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 ...

in Montreal's nightclubs and restaurants. She began her career after she was competing in the second edition of the Greek talent show

Fame Story ''Fame Story'' is a Greek reality TV show that was a licensed version of Endemol's ''Star Academy'' originally broadcast on the ANT1 network. It has been one of the most successful Greek television shows and is credited for having helped foster t ...

. She has released 2 albums, several singles and she has won 2 awards in

MAD Video Music Awards The MAD Video Music Awards is a Greek award show presented by the MAD TV. The awards honor the year's biggest achievements in music, voted by the viewers of the station. Winners receive an authentic Mad designed award with the graphics of that ye ...

.She has collaborated with some important artists in

: Nikos Vertis, Stamatis Gonidis,

Natasa Theodoridou Natasa Theodoridou (; born 24 October 1970, in Thessaloniki) is a Greek singer. She is the only female Greek artist to have her first three albums achieve platinum status. She has been certified for a total of at least 432 thousand albums and 20 ...

Peggy Zina Panagiota-Calliope Zina (; born 8 March 1975), known professionally as Peggy Zina (), is a Greece, Greek singer. She made her recording debut in 1995 with her Peggy Zina (album), self-titled album. She has since released twelve studio albums and ...

Notis Sfakianakis Panagiotis "Notis" Sfakianakis (; born 2 November 1959) is a Greek singer of folk music, and is one of the most commercially successful artists of all time in Greece and Cyprus. Sfakianakis began his career in 1985, opening at nightclubs for othe ...

Vasilis Karras Vasilis Karras (; born Vasilis Kesoglidis, 12 November 1953 – 24 December 2023) was a Greek laïko singer. Early life Karras was born on 12 November 1953 in Kokkinohori, Kavala, Greece, to Pontian parents. At the age of 10, his family moved ...

, Antypas, Giorgos Tsalikis, Nikos Makropoulos,

Nikos Oikonomopoulos Nikolaos "Nikos" Oikonomopoulos (, ; born 30 June 1984)Peoplegreece. Retrieved on January 15, 2016 is a Greek singer. He appeared on the Greek talent show ''Dream Show – The Music 2'', of which he was the winner. He is the top contemporary male ...

, Julie Massino,

Kostas Karafotis Kostas or Costas () is a Greek given name and surname. As a given name, it can be a hypocorism for Konstantinos (Constantine). Given name * Costas Andreou, Greek musician * Kostas Antetokounmpo (born 1997), Greek basketball player * Costas Azariad ...

, Dakis.

Career

2000-2001: Early years

In 2000 she met the Greek singer

Giorgos Alkaios Giorgos Alkaios (Greek: Γιώργος Αλκαίος; born 24 December 1971) is a Greek recording artist. His career began in 1989 after appearing on a Greek reality show. Following a brief period of stage acting, Alkaios dedicated himself to m ...

, who offered her to work with him at a nightclub in Greece. On 24 April 2001 she released her first CD-Single ''Kiss My Remix'' by Kewl Records, which includes six covers of Greek hits: ''«Akros Tolmiro» (

Despina Vandi Despina Malea (; born 22 July 1969), known as Despina Vandi (), is a Greek singer. Born in Tübingen near Stuttgart, Germany, Vandi's family returned to Kavala, Greece when she was six years old. After moving to Athens in the early 1990s, Vandi ...

)'', ''«Sto Dromo Ola Petamena» (

Evridiki Evridiki Theokleous (, ; born 25 February 1968), known mononymously as Evridiki, is a Greek Cypriot singer. She is best known in Europe for representing her home country, Cyprus, in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1992, 1994 and 2007 with the s ...

)'', ''«To Allo Miso» (

)'', ''«Pes Mou Ti Sou Efteksa» (

)'', ''«Spania» (

)'' and ''«Simadi Sto Lemo» (

)''.

2004: Fame Story & Collaboration with Julie Massino

In 2004 she was competing in the second edition of the Greek talent show

and she managed to reach the semifinals. When she left the talent show, she participated in Julie Massino's album ''«I'm In Love»'' with a duet called ''«Oso Girizi I Gi»'' which was certified gold.

2005-2006: Mikres Amarties

In 2005, Maro Litra signs a contract with

Heaven Music Heaven Music is an independent record label in Athens, Greece, founded in 2001 by ANT1 Group. It is known for signing new and young artists. Overview During its first five years of operation under the control of George Levendis, Heaven Music was ...

and released her first album ''Mikres Amarties'' (Small Sins). The album was distinguished by the first single ''"Iparhi Alli"'' as long as by the songs ''"Thymisou"'', ''"File"'' and her duet ''"Thelo Na Sou Po"'' (I Want To Tell You) with

which included in the reissue of her album. Two songs ''"Ma Den Boro Na Se Ksehaso"'' and ''"Mi Me Kitas"'' were written by

Natalia Germanou Natalia Germanou (; born 22 June 1965) is a Greek songwriter, television hostess, radio producer and journalist. Germanou has written lyrics for many popular singers such as Anna Vissi, Despina Vandi, Mihalis Hatzigiannis, Notis Sfakianakis, ...

. In the spring of 2005, Litra started performing at club «Posidonio» with Nikos Vertis. For the winter season of 2005–2006, she started her second round of performances at club «Posidonio». At the ''

Mad Video Music Awards The MAD Video Music Awards is a Greek award show presented by the MAD TV. The awards honor the year's biggest achievements in music, voted by the viewers of the station. Winners receive an authentic Mad designed award with the graphics of that ye ...

'' she was nominated as ''«best debut artist»'' with her song ''Iparhi Alli'' and she performed live with

Constantinos Christoforou Constantinos Christophorou (Κωνσταντίνος Χριστοφόρου, born in Limassol, Cyprus on 25 April 1977) is a Greek-Cypriot singer. He represented Cyprus in Eurovision Song Contest as a solo singer with " Mono Yia Mas" (1996) a ...

a mashup of the hits ''"Crazy In Love / Ain't Nobody"''. On 14 June 2006 Maro Litra appeared on

and performed the song ''"Baila Morena"'' with

Christos Dantis Christos Dantis (; born Christos Vlachakis, 26 September 1966), is a Greek multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, lyricist, and record producer best known for his hits such as "To Palio Mou Palto" and "Ena Tragoudi Akoma" and later for co-w ...

. For the winter season 2006-2007 she performed at «Votanikos» with Stamatis Gonidis,

and Giorgos Lianos.

2007: I Mihani Tou Hronou (Phoebus era)

In 2007, Maro Litra collaborated with the popular songwriter

Phoebus Apollo is one of the Olympian deities in ancient Greek and Roman religion and Greek and Roman mythology. Apollo has been recognized as a god of archery, music and dance, truth and prophecy, healing and diseases, the Sun and light, poetry, ...

. He wrote 4 songs of Litra's next album, ''I Mihani Tou Hronou'' (The Time Machine) which includes 11 new tracks. The album was distinguished by the first single ''"I Mihani Tou Hronou"'' as long as by the songs ''"Metaniosa"'', ''"Gyrizo"'', ''"Ola Ki Ola"'' written by Phoebus, ''"Ke Ti Katalaveno"'' and ''"Gyalia Spasmena"''. The duet ''"Ine Trela"'' with Giorgos Lianos were written by Stamatis Gonidis for their performances at «Votanikos». She performed the track ''"Summer Wine"'' with Kostas Martakis on 25 June 2007 at the

, where she won the category "Sexy Video Clip" with the music video ''"I Mihani Tou Hronou"''. For the summer season she performed at «Thea» with Nikos Makropoulos and

. For the winter season 2007-2008 she performed at «FIX»,

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; ), also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, Salonika, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece (with slightly over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area) and the capital cit ...

with Giorgos Tsalikis and Goin' Through.

2008-2009: Taxidiotes Psihis & Elpizo Pia Se Mena

In 2008, she collaborated with the band ''Taxidiotes Psihis'' for the duet ''"De Theli Logo I Kardia N' Agapa"'', written by Pantelis Makris. In March 2009 she released her new digital single with

''Kaneis Lathos'' (feat. TNS), written by Konstantinos Pantzis. It was the first single of her upcoming album ''Elpizo Pia Se Mena'', but the release was canceled. Some years later, the self titled ''"Elpizo Pia Se Mena"'' was leaked on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

. On 24 June 2009 she performed live at the

the song ''"It's Not Right (Tha Kano To Sosto)"'' and she won the category "Best Duet/Featuring" with ''"Kaneis Lathos"''. In the autumn of 2009, Litra started performing at club «FIX»,

with

& Dionysis Makris.

2010: Collaboration with Toni Cottura & move to "Sony Music"

In 2010, Litra signs a contract with

Sony Music Entertainment Sony Music Entertainment (SME), commonly known as Sony Music, is an American multinational music company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony Group Corporation. It is the recording division of Sony Music Group, with the other half being the ...

and the producer

Toni Cottura Toni Cottura (born 7 June 1971), better known by his stage name Smooth T., is an Italian-born German Eurodance and hip hop producer and rapper. Musical career He started his career in 1988 as a hip hop producer with David Fascher and later worked ...

asks her to collaborate on some new songs. Their first single ''"Elevator Love"'' was released in two versions (English & Greek) by Sony Music Entertainment. At the ''

'' she was nominated as ''«Sexy Video Clip»'' with the ''Elevator Love''. Her second single with Cottura ''"Unut Onu / Miss You Like Crazy"'' was a duet with the Turkish singer ''İsmi Sina''. On 7 May 2010 she released a new cover of the classical song of

Vicky Leandros Vasiliki Papathanasiou (, ; born 23 August 1949), known professionally as Vicky Leandros (, ), is a Greek singer living in Germany. She is the daughter of singer, musician and composer Leandros Papathanasiou (also known as Leo Leandros as well ...

''"To Mistiko Sou"'' (Something's Got a Hold of My Heart). In November 2010 she released a new digital single with Cobalt Music ''"Ora Na Pigaineis"'' written by Konstantinos Pantzis & Posidonas Giannopoulos. For the winter season 2010-2011 she performed at «EDO Athens Club Restaurant» with Christos Kiprianidis & Giorgos Christou.

2011: Collaboration with Notis Sfakianakis & Return to Canada

In 2011 she released her new digital single ''"Ise Oti Agapao"'' written by Andreas Lambrou. On 29 April 2011 Litra collaborated with

at «Pili Aksiou» in Thessaloniki. For the summer season she was on tour with rapper BO. In September 2011 she decided to move back to Canada, because of Greece's economic crisis.

2016: Ti Den Katalavenis & Makria Kai Agapimeni

In May 2016, Litra decided to make a "comeback" with two new songs written by Stavros Zacharias and Nikos Tassiopoulos, and released from Smile Records. The first digital single ''"Ti Den Katalavenis"'' released on 19 May 2016. The second single ''"Makria Ke Agapimeni"'' released on 18 July 2016. After a year, she released a new summer remix of her single ''"Makria Ke Agapimeni"'', on 17 May 2017.

2020: Soon & Gone

In 2020, Litra collaborated with the band ''"The Far Removed"'' (Tony Marcello & Dionyssios Roussianos) and she released a new digital single called ''"Soon"''. In November 2020 she released by Real Music her new pop dance single ''"Gone"'' written by ''"The Far Removed"''.

2021: Greece

In 2021 she signs a contract with

/ 314 Records and she released her new single and music video ''"Greece"'' written by ''"The Far Removed"''.

References

External links

Maro Litra in gossip-tv.gr
{{DEFAULTSORT:Litra, Maro 1970 births Living people 21st-century Greek women singers Singers from Montreal 21st-century Canadian women singers