Time Line & Biography Of Yanni.

1950's > The Beginning.

Yanni was born on 14th November (the month in which I was born), 1954, in a village of Greece named as "Kalamata". Yanni's father had a bicycle on which he use to go for job, his father pay was 200 and he had 2 suits for wearing and they both had wholes in them. In-spite of being poor his father bought a piano, the cost of piano was more then his one year pay.

 

He was the middle child of his parents, Sotiri and Felitsa Chryssomallis. He has a older brother and a younger sister. Yanni's parents provided him a typical Greek life, he use to go to school, swimming and fishing.


Yanni's father had a bicycle on which he use to go for job, his father pay was 200 and he had 2 suits for wearing and they both had wholes in them. In-spite of being poor his father bought a piano, the cost of piano was more then his one year pay.

1960's > The Sign's of Interest In Music. 

The family shared a great love for music, instead of listing to music they use to make music. Yanni started playing piano at the age of eight, he didn't took any formal piano lessons. Later, music became a great way to reach girls, Yanni, his elder brother and some of their friends use to go to light house by the breakwater, played guitar and singed, some time they serenade their sweethearts right under their bedroom windows.

 

Music was not only Yanni's talent, at the age of 14 in 1969 he broke the Greek National swimming record for the men's 50-meter freestyle event.

1970's > The Journey For Destiny.

Sotiri and Felitsa Chryssomallis wanted their children to go to collage in America to do this they sold their house so at the age of 18 in 1972 he left his homeland of Greece and went to University of Minnesota in America to study Psychology. Yanni graduated from the University of Minnesota in 1976 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology.

In and after his college years, he played in local rock and roll band called Chameleon. Yanni graduated from the University of Minnesota in 1976 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology.

After graduating he gave music 100% of his effort because he needed to better understand the musical power that was inside him . Yanni played the keyboards for Chameleon, a rock and roll band that became well known in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul. Yanni do not read or write the traditional musical notes he has his on unique way of reading and writing musical notes because he is self taught. In late 70's Chameleon released an all-synthesizer album. Yanni eventually moved to Hollywood with drummer Charlie Adams, who he met in Chameleon.

 1980's > Yanni On His Own.

In 1980's Yanni released his first album "Opt mystique" on his own. Yanni single-mindedly continued to pursue his passion for creating music because he knew that his future would be in music. Yanni started experiencing with electronic keyboards to begin creating his own compositions. He explored the new world's of electronic music, instruments and compositions.

Yanni eventually moved to Hollywood with drummer Charlie Adams, who he met in Chameleon. These were very productive and busy years for Yanni. He released 2 albums and worked on a third before moving to Hollywood, the film industry capital, where he recorded 4 film scores and released 3 more albums.

Keys To Imagination. 1986                 Chameleon Days. 1988

Out Of Silence. 1988                           Niki Nana. 1989

1990's > Yanni Rising As An International Super  Star.

In 1990 Yanni released his sixth album "Reflections Of Passion" which was collection of his most romantic songs taken from five earlier albums. "Reflections Of Passion" received U-S Double Platinum Award. Yanni also performed live accompanied by The Dallas Symphony Orchestra.

Non stopping Yanni released 4 more albums over the next 4 years.

 

"In Celebration Of Life" is a strong collection of pieces from four of Yanni's earlier albums, plus "Song for Antarctica".

 

Yanni’s first Grammy-nominated album was "Dare to Dream" (1992), which produced the vocal single “Aria” popularized by an award-winning British Airways commercial.
 

 

"In My Time", is a gentler collection of piano-focused pieces, was also nominated for a Grammy Award and attained Platinum status.

1994 >  Yanni Becoming A Musical Phenomena.

Yanni went back to his home land of Greece after 2 decades to release a album (Live At The Acropolis) at Royal Atticus Theater which was his dream. His first international success came after this album.

 

The album "Live At Acropolis" is a long format music video which has gone 6 times platinum. "Live At Acropolis" has sold more than 7.5 million copies world wide. This video became second best selling video of all time, sales record in India in it's initial four weeks of release.
Yanni has been a favored composer of every Olympic broadcast for the past two decades and his music is used as the theme for numerous other important sporting events around the world.
After "Live At The Acropolis" and "Live At Royal Albert Hall", Yanni went on bigger musical project called "Tribute." The big question was: Where to perform next?.... The answer was "Taj Mahal" in India and "Forbidden City" in China, doing so Yanni became the only man in history who has ever performed at the Taj Mahal in India and was the first westerner to perform at the Forbidden City in China.

 

Tribute attained "Double Platinum" status and stayed on #2 in music video charts for the whole year.

 

 

 When Yanni bought his album "Tribute" to America he sold out 10 consecutive shows at Radio City Music Hall in New York. Yanni also became the first foreign artist to sell out five consecutive shows at the Auditorio Nacionale.

2000 > The Return Of Yanni.
After the grueling "Tribute" World Tour which was more than 110 concerts Yanni was in a very dangerous situation the situation where you have everything but you are not happy, so Yanni packed up and moved to Greece and stayed with his parents and simplified his life. Yanni's father used to say to him, you are being brainwashed right now. You are forgetting to live. You don't live anymore. You just work. So Yanni just left his carrier and took care of his-self. One day Yanni woke up and watched at the sun rise and he felt that he is healed. Then he went back to some countries that he has toured but this time he had time to stay there, be with the people, breathe their air, eat their food, drink their vine and etc. Then he got busy following a different direction. He relocated from the West Coast to his current home on the Florida coast. He had a new studio designed and built so he could focus on his next musical venture. Once it was completed and Yanni was ready to compose again, he experienced a flicker of hesitation about whether his creativity would return at his command... it did. The album "If I Could Tell You" was Yanni's first studio album in seven years. The album has a very strong mode which Yanni personally wanted to do. The album also reflects a sense of peace, of coming home, and gives the fans a glimpse into Yanni's heart. After releasing the album Yanni did what he was asked to many times write a book.

"Yanni In Words" premiered at number fourteen on the New York Times bestseller list. “Yanni In Words” is a beautiful reflection of his life’s journey. On one level, the book is about Yanni's rise as an international star, his romance with Linda Evans, his philosophy, and, of course, his music. But Yanni in Words is also about the life and hopes of a gifted boy named Yanni Chryssomallis, growing up in Greece, spinning his dreams and coming to America to make them come true. The book is very honest, you will find it as soon as you will start reading the very first page of book.
Read The Sample Pages.
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On February 2003, Virgin Records released "Ethnicity", his 13th album and third on Virgin. Extending the “One World, One People” philosophy that has been the hallmark of his career, Ethnicity offers an upbeat collection of tracks that pulse with the rhythms and voices of cultures around the globe. Its instrumentation is equally diverse: from the aboriginal depth of the Australian didgeridoo … to the haunting tone of the Armenian duduk … to Celtic-flavored violin … to the percussive plunk of the Indian Tabla … the album brims with international flavor. One element distinguishing "Ethnicity" from previous albums is the extensive use of human voices, not only solo arias and group chants, but also bona fide lyrics, a rare departure for the artist. “The Promise” for example, is an adaptation of an earlier composition, “Secret Vows” featuring lyrics from longtime friend Pamela McNeill and soulfully sung by Alfreda Gerald, a member of Yanni’s Tribute tour. The album’s final track reflects his own cultural heritage with a traditional Greek island folk song, “Jivaeri.”
Yanni currently is on an ambitious 2003/04 tour. Which began at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, and is featuring many of his new compositions and spotlighting the talents of solo musicians the world over along with his core band and symphony orchestra. The first leg of tour has finished, Yanni will be coming back hopefully in March 2004. (Check the "News" section for information)

Future.....

About future no one can exactly say what's going to happen but Yanni will be hopefully doing was he has been doing all his life: Making people come closer to each other, Bringing peace and love and of course his beautiful music which helps us in our very disturbed life's.
In my words Yanni is a true living legend.