Nikos Xylouris ( 7 July 1936 - 8 February 1980), was a Greek composer and singer from the village of Anogeia in Crete and also the older brother of two other great musicians of Cretan music, Antonis Xylouris or Psarantonis and Yiannis Xylouris or Psaroyiannis.
His songs and music captured and described the Greek psyche and demeanor, gaining himself the title the archangel of Crete.
He acquired his first lyra at the age of twelve and displayed potential to play local folk music.
Xylouris was 17 years of age when he started performances at Kastro folk music-restaurant in Heraklion.
A turning point in Nikos Xylouris' career occurred with a recording in 1958. He first performed outside Greece in 1966 and won the first prize in the San Remo folk music festival.
In 1967 he established the first Cretan Music Hall, Erotokritos, in Heraklion
The recording of Anyfantou in 1969 was a big success. Xylouris soon started performances in Athens, which became his new permanent residence, at the Konaki folk music hall.
During the early 1970s, Xylouris' voice becomes identified not only with Cretan music but also with the new kind of artistic popular music that emerged
In 1971, Xylouris is awarded by the Academy Charles Cross of France for his performance in the Cretan Rizitika songs album with G. Markopoulos.
He died in 1980 from a brain tumor and today is the 31st anniversary of his death.
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