Rita Sakellariou

Rita Sakellariou (; 22 October 1934 – 6 August 1999) was a Greek singer in the laïko tradition.

Biography

Sakellariou was born on 22 October 1934 in Chamezi, a village near Sitia on the Greek island of Crete. Her father was a shoemaker from the island of Kalymnos; her mother's family were refugees from Smyrna. Sakellariou, the eldest of three children, was given the name Margarita after her paternal grandmother. The family moved to Piraeus when Sakellariou was a small child. Her father lost his life in the 1946-49 civil war and the family were left destitute.

An introduction to the composer and bouzuki player Vassilis Tsitsanis led to an eight-year collaboration and established her as a singer in the Laïko tradition of urban folk music. She also appeared in several Greek films in the 1960s. She recorded her first solo album, Kathe Iliovasilema (Every Sunset) in 1970, and her greatest success came with her third album Istoria Mou (My Story) in 1972.

Sakellariou was at the height of her fame in the 1970s, when she had a string of hits including "Istoria mou, Amartia mou" ("My story, my Sin") and "Oi Andres kai oi Handres" ("Men and Beads"). Her classic song "Istoria mou, Amartia mou" can be heard playing on a Greek radio station during a scene in the 1973 film The Exorcist. By the end of the 1970s the best years of the Queen Ann nightclub were over, as was Sakellariou's second marriage. Although she found it difficult to keep up with new musical trends in the 1980s and 1990s, she remained a popular figure and produced several albums.

In 1998 Sakellariou was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. After undergoing treatment she went on a tour in Australia, which she had to abandon after three performances. On her return to Athens, she was admitted to the Ygeia Hospital, where she died on 6 August 1999.