Yanni Biography

Born in Greece in 1954, Yiannis Hyrssomallis, better known as Yanni, released Optimystique, his first album in 1984, and then Private Music in 1989. His successful emergence was a perfect alignment with a growing popularity in instrumental music and a new-age philosophy which embraced a “united” worldview.

Dare to Dream followed in 1992, and became Yanni’s first album to receive Grammy nominations. In My Time followed a year later and brought Yanni another Grammy nomination.

Beyond his albums, Yanni quickly became famous for his concerts staged at international historic sites. His first, Yanni Live at the Acropolis, was filmed in 1993, and both CD and DVD releases of the performance released following. The use of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in its entirety, in such an ancient, historical setting, became a quality synonymous with Yanni’s performances.

In 1997, Yanni performed at the Taj Mahal in India, a remarkable feat for a Western artist, and later in the same year he truly stunned audiences by obtaining permission to perform at the Forbidden City in Beijing, China. The two performances together formed the album Tribute, released in November of that year. Other sites at which Yanni has been permitted to perform include the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, the Kremlin in Moscow, and the Castillo San Felipe del Morro in Puerto Rico.

Following Tribute, a two-year hiatus followed, and then in 2000, Yanni released If I could Tell You, and then three years following, Ethnicity. Ethnicity coincided with Yanni’s autobiographical publication, Yanni in Words. Yanni Live! The Concert Event hit the charts in 2006, becoming the fourth best selling New Age album for the year.

Additional albums focused on various world cultures followed, including Yanni Mexicanismo (2010), Yanni Live in South America (2010), and Truth of Touch (2011.) Tour performances throughout 2011 followed, and in March of 2012, Yanni embarked on another five-month tour, An Evening with Yanni.

To date, Yanni has performed in more than twenty countries around the world and sold more than twenty million copies of his albums, which have gone platinum and gold thirty-five times.