Yanni

Like fellow new-age crossover instrumentalists John Tesh and Kenny G, Grecian keyboard wizard Yanni has sold millions of albums. But as is the case with John and Kenny, no one will actually admit to buying one of those albums. See, it's simply not cool to like Yanni's grandiose, baroque balladry--not even in a kitschy sort of way (at least not yet; a post-ironic Yanni resurgence may be right around corner, and all it will take is a well-chosen Yanni sample in a monster hip-hop single or an endorsement from Beck to make that a reality). But let's face it: Yanni didn't become a platinum-selling artist without the help of countless closet fans, so it's possible that lurking in would-be hipsters' record collections, between the editions of Blood On The Tracks, OK Computer, and The Velvet Underground & Nico displayed prominently to impress discerning guests, are some hidden, secretly appreciated copies of Yanni's Live At The Acropolis or In Celebration Of Life.
Yanni's theatrical, triumphant music has been featured in many sports programs (including Olympics coverage), a development perhaps foreshadowed by his early career as a teenage member of the Greek national swimming team. However, it was music, not water sports, that was Yanni's true calling, so he moved from his native Kalamata, Greece to America after graduating high school to pursue his musical dream. Despite the fact that he was completely self-taught, with no official musical training whatsoever, his flamboyant synthesizer talents soon landed him work as a studio musician and composer of film music and commercial jingles, and in 1986 he signed to the record label Private Music. As his cult following grew over the course of grandly titled keyboard opuses like Keys To Imagination, Optimystique, and Dare To Dream, he eventually became one of Private Music's top-selling artists. His mainstream profile was further boosted by his long-term romance with Dynasty actress Linda Evans, which became so well-publicized that when the couple finally called it quits in the late '90s, they felt the need to issue a press release officially announcing their break-up.

Yanni's most recent studio effort is Ethnicity, issued in February 2003. Its release coincided with the latest in a long line of Yanni greatest-hits packages, Ultimate Yanni.

This Biography was written by Lyndsey Parker