Nikos Xilouris
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| Nikos Xylouris Νίκος Ξυλούρης |
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| Background information | |
| Born | July 7, 1936 |
| Origin |  Crete, Greece |
| Died | February 8, 1980 (aged 43) |
| Occupation(s) | Composer, singer |
Nikos Xylouris (Greek: Νίκος Ξυλούρης, 7 July 1936 - 8 February 1980), nicknamed Psaronikos (Greek: Ψαρονίκος), was a Greek composer and singer from the village of Anoghia in Crete and also the older brother of another great musician of Cretan music, Antonis Xylouris or Psarantonis (Greek: Ψαραντώνης). He was part of the movement that brought down the Greek military Junta of 1967. His songs and music captured and described the Greek psyche and demeanor.
He acquired his first lyre at the age of twelve and displayed potential to play local folk music. Xylouris was 17 years of age when he started performances at Kastro folk music-restaurant in Heraklion.
A turning point in Nikos Xylouris' career occurred with a recording in 1958. He first performed outside Greece in 1966 and won the first prize in the San Remo folk music festival. In 1967 he established the first Cretan Music Hall, Erotokritos, in the city of Heraklion on the island of Crete. The recording of Anyfantou in 1969 was a big success. Xylouris soon started performances in Athens, which became his new permanent residence, at the Konaki folk music hall.
During the early 1970s, Xylouris' voice becomes identical not only with Cretan music but also with the new kind of artistic popular music that emerged as well-known composers such as Giannis Markopoulos, Stavros Xarhakos, Christodoulos Halaris and Christos Leontis wrote music on the verses of famous Greek poets among which stand out Nikos Gatsos, Yannis Ritsos, Giorgos Seferis, Kostas Varnalis and Dionysios Solomos. In 1971, Xylouris is awarded by the Academy Charles Cross of France for his performance in the Cretan Rizitika songs album with G. Markopoulos.
He died in 1980 from a brain tumor.
