Despina Vandi

In the early 2000s, Greek singer Despina Vandi achieved international success with songs sung in her native language. Born in Tübingen in the former West Germany on July 22, 1969, Déspina Maléa, her birth name, grew up in Greece, where her parents came from, and began singing under an assumed name after studying psychology and philosophy. Her first album, Gela Mou, released in 1994, was a success, reaching number 7 in the Greek charts and number 11 in Cyprus, where her popularity was also high. After two further albums, Esena Perimeno (1996) and the No. 1 Deka Endoles (1997), a string of No. 1 hits followed, including "Spania" from Profities (1999), "Ipofero" in 2000, "Ante Gia" and "Gia" from Gia in 2001, followed by "Come Along Now" and "Opa Opa" in 2004 and "Kalanta" in 2006. After several platinum-selling albums, Despina Vandi had to interrupt her career due to a car accident in August 2008, before resuming it with the albums C'Est la Vie (2010), Allaxa (2012), De Me Stamatises (2014) and Afti Einai i Diafora Mas (2016). 2019 sees the release of To Dikou Mou Cinema.