Nana Mouskouri bids farewell with Athens concert

Nana Mouskouri has bid adieu to a remarkable half-century in music with a farewell concert in her native Greece at the foot of the Acropolis in Athens.

Fans filled the ancient Odeon of Herodes Atticus on Wednesday evening to hear the 73-year-old songstress -- one of the best-selling recording artists of all time -- perform from her wide repertoire.

Hours earlier, the city of Athens bestowed its gold medal on Mouskouri, who has been on a worldwide farewell tour since she announced her plans to retire three years ago.

Born on the island of Crete, the bespectacled Mouskouri has sold more than 300 million records in French, English, Germany, Greek, Spanish, Italian, Dutch, Portuguese, Hebrew and Japanese, her record company Universal says.

She was also engaged in humanitarian work, serving as a UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) ambassador, and served as a Greek member of the European Parliament in the 1990s.


photo: Louisa Gouliamaki/AFP
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