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Not to be confused with Philhellenism, or Greek words for love.

The cultural impact of Classical Greek homoeroticism is a part of the history of sexuality. Later cultures have articulated their own discourse about homosexuality through the use of historic terms and concepts, such as "Greek love". The metaphor of "Greek love" becomes most vivid historically in periods when the reception of classical antiquity is an important influence on dominant aesthetic or intellectual movements.^[1]

'Greece' as the historical memory of a treasured past was romanticised and idealised as a time and a culture when love between men was not only tolerated but actually encouraged, and expressed as the high ideal of same-sex camaraderie. … If tolerance and approval of male homosexuality had happened once — and in a culture so much admired and imitated by the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries — might it not be possible to replicate in modernity the antique homeland of the non-heteronormative?^[2]

In his essay "Greek Love," Alastair Blanshard asserts that "Contrasting attitudes toward Greek love is one of the defining and divisive issues in the homosexual rights movement."^[3]

Historic terms[link]

As a phrase in Modern English^[4] and other modern European languages, "Greek love" refers to various (mostly homoerotic) practices as part of the Hellenic heritage of Western culture;^[5] quotation marks are often placed on either or both words ("Greek" love, Greek "love", or "Greek love") to indicate that usage of the phrase is determined by context. It often serves as a "coded phrase" for pederasty,^[6] or to "sanitize" homosexual desire in historical contexts where it was considered unacceptable.^[7]

Ancient Greece became a positive reference point by which homosexual men of a certain class and education could engage in discourse that might otherwise be taboo.^[8] In the early Modern period, a disjuncture was carefully maintained between idealized male eros in the classical tradition, which was treated with reverence, and sodomy, which was a term of contempt.^[9]

Ancient Greek background[link]

Ganymede and the eagle (representing Zeus): Roman copy of Greek original

This section requires expansion.

In his classic study Greek Homosexuality, Kenneth Dover points out that the English nouns "a homosexual" and "a heterosexual" have no equivalent in the ancient Greek language. While individuals might differ in their sexual preferences, it was assumed that a person would have both hetero- and homosexual responses at different times.^[10] Evidence for same-sex attractions and behaviors is more abundant for men than for women. Both romantic love and sexual passion between men were considered normal^{[citation needed]}, and under some circumstances healthy or admirable. By far the most common male-male relationship was paiderasteia, a socially-acknowledged institution in which a mature male (erastēs, the active lover) bonded with or mentored a teen-aged youth^[11] (eromenos, the passive lover, or pais, "boy" understood as an endearment and not necessarily a category of age^[12]). However, as noted by Martin Litchfield West: "Greek pederasty...was for the most part a substitute for heterosexual love, free contacts between the sexes being restricted by society."^[13]

Greek art and literature portray these relationships as sometimes erotic or sexual, or sometimes idealized, educational, non-consummated, or non-sexual. These erotic images can be found most commonly painted on pottery. A distinctive feature of Greek male-male eros was its occurrence or encouragement within a military setting,^{[citation needed]} as with the Theban Band.^[14] However, the role of the band in Theban military history appears to have been exaggerated by ancient sources and its homosexual aspect is doubtful. Moreover while there are a number of ancient texts that indicate the presence of pederast couples on Greek military campaigns, their presence appears to have been co-incidental rather than systematic.^[15]

Some Greek myths have been interpreted as reflecting the custom of paiderasteia, most notably the myth of Zeus kidnapping Ganymede to become his cupbearer in the Olympian symposium.^[16] The death of Hyacinthus is also frequently referenced as a pederastic myth.

The main Greek literary sources for Greek homosexuality are lyric poetry, Athenian comedy, the works of Plato and Xenophon, and courtroom speeches from Athens. Vase paintings from the 500s and 400s BC depict courtship and sex between males.^[17]

Ancient Rome[link]

The Hellenization of elite culture as a kind of luxury import influenced sexual attitudes among "avant-garde, philhellenic Romans."^[18] The prestige of Greek literature and art made homoeroticism seem urbane and sophisticated.^[19] There were fears, however, that Greek models might affect behavior and corrupt traditional Roman social codes (the mos maiorum). A vaguely documented law that was passed during this period of Hellenization attempted to regulate aspects of homosexual relationships between freeborn males, perhaps to protect Roman youth from older men emulating Greek customs of pederasty.^[20] Homosexual behaviors at Rome were acceptable only within an inherently unequal relationship; male Roman citizens retained their masculinity as long as they took the active, penetrating role, and the appropriate male sexual partner was a prostitute or slave, who would nearly always be non-Roman.^[21] Effeminacy or a lack of discipline in managing one's sexual attraction to another male threatened a man's "Romanness" and thus might be disparaged as "Eastern" or "Greek." Attacks on emperors such as Nero and Elagabalus, whose young male partners accompanied them in public for official ceremonies, criticized the perceived "Greekness" of male-male sexuality.^[22]

By the close of the 2nd century BC, however, the consul Quintus Lutatius Catulus was among a circle of poets who made short, light Hellenistic poems fashionable in the late Republic. One of his few surviving fragments is a poem of desire addressed to a male with a Greek name, signaling a new aesthetic in Roman culture.^[23] The Hellenizing of Latin literature in the "new poetry" came to fruition in the 50s BC with Gaius Valerius Catullus, whose poems, written in forms adapted from Greek meters, include several expressing desire for a freeborn youth explicitly named "Youth" (Iuventius). His Latin name and free-born status subvert pederastic tradition at Rome. Catullus, however, more often addresses his poems to a woman,^[24] and while the theme of boy-love is found in his successors writing during the reign of Augustus, by the end of the Augustan period Ovid, Rome's leading literary figure, declares the fashion dead: making love with a woman is more enjoyable, he says, because unlike pederastic sex it's mutual.^[25]

The Hellenization of Roman culture occurred in large part as a result of the Roman conquest of Greece. Roman attitudes toward Greek culture were thus ambivalent: while it was admired as superior in the arts and intellectual pursuits, Roman superiority was asserted in matters of morality, and sometimes simply asserted. In Archaic and classical Greece, paiderasteia had been a formal social relationship between freeborn males; taken out of context, and imported into Rome as the luxury product of a conquered people, pederasty came to express roles based on domination and exploitation.^[26] The reception of Greek pederasty at Rome thus had a dual character, reflected on the piece of convivial silver known as the Warren Cup. It has been argued that the two sides of this cup represent the two pederastic traditions at Rome, the Greek in contrast to the Roman (though the cup may be a modern forgery).

In his work on Roman homosexuality, the classicist Craig A. Williams has emphasized that the Romans themselves did not regard male-male sexual behaviors as foreign, and argues that pederasty itself was not imported. What was foreign to the Romans was the Greek custom of pederasteia in which both participants were free citizens. "Those sexual practices that could be represented as somehow 'Greek'," Williams notes, "were primarily those involving freeborn boys openly courted in accordance with the Hellenic traditions of pederasty."^[27] Williams regards the use of slaves as a characteristic that distinguishes Roman pederasty, but asserts that other scholars are in error when they view the Hellenization of Roman culture as having influenced Roman sexual attitudes, though he concedes that the Romans had a concept of "Greek customs which included a homosexual component."^[28] Williams also disagrees with other scholars who take Latin expressions such as praegraecari ("to Greek it up") as necessarily illustrating the perceived "Greekness" of certain behaviors. Williams treats the phrase "Greek love" itself as a modern misconception,^[29] and his purpose is to describe male-male relations in Rome as a reality. "Greek love," or the cultural model of Greek pederasty in ancient Rome, may be distinguished from homosexual practice as a "topos or literary game" that "never stops being Greek in the Roman imagination."^[30]

Renaissance[link]

Marsilio Ficino (as portrayed by Leonardo da Vinci) articulated an idealized form of male love within the classical tradition

It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Marsilio Ficino. (Discuss) Proposed since May 2012.

Male same-sex relationships of the kind portrayed by the "Greek love" ideal were increasingly disallowed within the Judaeo-Christian traditions of Western society.^[31] In the postclassical period, love poetry addressed by males to other males has been in general taboo.^[32]

In 1469,^[33] the Italian Neoplatonist Marsilio Ficino reintroduced Plato's Symposium to Western culture with his Latin translation titled De Amore ("On Love").^[34] The Symposium became the most important text for conceptions of love in general during the Renaissance.^[35] In his commentary on Plato, Ficino interprets amor platonicus ("Platonic love") and amor socraticus ("Socratic love") allegorically as idealized male love, in keeping with the Church doctrine of his time.^[36] Ficino's interpretation of the Symposium influenced a philosophical view that the pursuit of knowledge, particularly self-knowledge, required the sublimation of sexual desire.^[37] Ficino thus began the long historical process of suppressing the homoeroticism of Plato's works;^[38] in particular, the dialogue Charmides "threatens to expose the carnal nature of Greek love" which Ficino sought to minimize.^[39]

For Ficino, "Platonic love" was a bond between two men that fosters a shared emotional and intellectual life, as distinguished from the "Greek love" practiced historically as the erastes/eromenos relationship.^[40] Ficino thus points toward the modern usage of "Platonic love" to mean love without sexuality. In his commentary to the Symposium, Ficino carefully separates the act of sodomy, which he condemned, and praises Socratic love as the highest form of friendship. Ficino maintained that men could use each other's beauty and friendship to discover the greatest good, that is, God, and thus Christianized idealized male love as expressed by Socrates.^[41]

It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Renaissance. (Discuss) Proposed since May 2012.

During the Renaissance, artists such as Leonardo Da Vinci and Michelangelo used Plato's philosophy as inspiration for some of their greatest works. The "rediscovery" of classical antiquity was perceived as a liberating experience, and Greek love as an ideal after a Platonic model.^[42] Michelangelo presented himself to the public as a Platonic lover of men, combining Catholic orthodoxy and pagan enthusiasm in his portrayal of the male form, most notably the David,^[43] but his great-nephew edited his poems to diminish references to his love for Tommaso Cavalieri.^[44]

By contrast, the French Renaissance essayist Montaigne, whose view of love and friendship was humanist and rationalist, rejected "Greek love" as a model in his essay "De l'amitié" ("On Friendship"); it did not accord with the social needs of his own time, he wrote, because it involved "a necessary disparity in age and such a difference in the lovers' functions."^[45] Because Montaigne saw friendship as a relationship between equals in the context of political liberty, this inequality diminished the value of Greek love.^[46] The physical beauty and sexual attraction inherent in the Greek model for Montaigne were not necessary conditions of friendship, and he dismisses homosexual relations, which he refers to as licence grecque, as socially repulsive.^[47] Although the wholesale importation of a Greek model would be socially improper, licence grecque seems to refer only to licentious homosexual conduct, in contrast to the moderate behavior between men in the perfect friendship. When Montaigne chooses to introduce his essay on friendship with recourse to the Greek model, "homosexuality's role as trope is more important than its status as actual male-male desire or act … licence grecque becomes an aesthetic device to frame the center."^[48]

Neoclassicism[link]

Winckelmann saw the Apollo Belvedere as embodying a Greek ideal

It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Neoclassicism. (Discuss) Proposed since May 2012.

German Hellenism[link]

The German term griechische Liebe ("Greek love") appears in German literature between 1750 and 1850, along with socratische Liebe ("Socratic love") and platonische Liebe ("Platonic love") in reference to male-male attractions.^[49] The work of the German art historian Johann Winckelmann was a major influence on the formation of classical ideals in the 18th century, and is also a frequent starting point for histories of gay German literature.^[50] Winckelmann observed the inherent homoeroticism of Greek art, though he felt he had to leave much of this perception implicit: "I should have been able to say more if I had written for the Greeks, and not in a modern tongue, which imposed on me certain restrictions."^[51] His own homosexuality influenced his response to Greek art and often tended toward the rhapsodic: "from admiration I pass to ecstasy …," he wrote of the Apollo Belvedere,^[52] "I am transported to Delos and the sacred groves of Lycia—places Apollo honoured with his presence—and the statue seems to come alive like the beautiful creation of Pygmalion."^[53] Although now regarded as "ahistorical and utopian," his approach to art history provided a "body" and "set of tropes" for Greek love, "a semantics surrounding Greek love that … feeds into the related eighteenth-century discourses on friendship and love."^[54]

Winckelmann inspired German poets in the latter 18th and throughout the 19th century,^[55] including Goethe, who pointed to Winckelmann's glorification of the nude male youth in ancient Greek sculpture as central to a new aesthetics of the time,^[56] and for whom Winckelmann himself was a model of Greek love as a superior form of friendship.^[57] While Winckelmann did not invent the euphemism "Greek love" for homosexuality, he has been characterized as an "intellectual midwife" for the Greek model as an aesthetic and philosophical ideal that shaped the 18th-century homosocial "cult of friendship."^[58]

The idealization of Greek homosocial culture in David's Death of Socrates

German 18th-century works from the "Greek love" milieu of classical studies include the academic essays of Christoph Meiners and Alexander von Humboldt, the parodic poem "Juno and Ganymede" by Christoph Martin Wieland, and One Year in Arcadia: Kyllenion (1805), a novel about an explicitly male-male love affair in a Greek setting by August, Duke of Sachsen-Gotha.^[56]

French Neoclassicism[link]

Neoclassical works of art often represented ancient society and an idealized form of "Greek love."^[59] Jacques-Louis David's Death of Socrates is meant to be a "Greek" painting, imbued with an appreciation of "Greek love," a tribute and documentation of leisured, disinterested, masculine fellowship.^[60]

English Romanticism[link]

It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Romanticism. (Discuss) Proposed since May 2012.

The concept of Greek love was important to two of the most significant poets of English Romanticism, Byron and Shelley. The Regency in England was an era characterized by hostility and a "frenzy of … persecutions" against homosexuals, the most virulent decades of which coincided with Byron's lifetime.^[61] The terms "homosexual" and "gay" were not used during this period, but "Greek love" among Byron's contemporaries became a way to conceptualize homosexuality, otherwise taboo, within the precedents of a highly esteemed classical past. The philosopher Jeremy Bentham, for instance, appealed to social models of classical antiquity, such as the homoerotic bonds of the Theban Band and pederasty, to demonstrate how these relationships did not inherently erode heterosexual marriage or the family structure.^[62]

The high regard for classical antiquity in the 18th century caused some adjustment in homophobic attitudes on the Continent, but not in England.^[63] In Germany, the prestige of classical philology led eventually to more honest translations and essays that examined the homoeroticism of Greek culture, particularly pederasty, in the context of scholarly inquiry rather than moral condemnation. Religious and nationalist sentiments in England overall remained hostile.^[63] An English archbishop, however, penned what may be the most effusive account of Greek pederasty available in English at the time, duly noted by Byron on the "List of Historical Writers Whose Works I Have Perused" that he drew up at age 19.^[64]

Byron in Greek nationalist costume (ca. 1830) with the Acropolis of Athens in the background

Plato was little read in Byron's time, in contrast to the later Victorian era when translations of the Symposium and Phaedrus would have been the most likely way for a young student to learn about Greek sexuality.^[65] The one English translation of the Symposium, published in two parts in 1761 and 1767, was an ambitious undertaking by the scholar Floyer Sydenham, who nevertheless was at pains to suppress its homoeroticism: Sydenham regularly translated the word eromenos as "mistress," and "boy" often becomes "maiden" or "woman."^[66] At the same time, the classical curriculum in English schools passed over works of history and philosophy in favor of Latin and Greek poetry that often dealt with erotic themes.^[67] Byron gives a catalogue in his poem Don Juan:

Ovid's a rake, as half his verses show him,

Anacreon's morals are a still worse sample,

Catullus scarcely has a decent poem,

I don't think Sappho's Ode a good example,

Although Longinus tells us there is no hymn

Where the sublime soars forth on wings more ample;

But Virgil's songs are pure, except that horrid one

Beginning with Formosum Pastor Corydon.^[68]

"That horrid one" by Virgil is Eclogue 2, a bucolic expression of frank homoerotic yearning.

Shelley complained that contemporary reticence about homosexuality kept modern readers without a knowledge of the original languages from understanding a vital part of ancient Greek life.^[69] His poetry was influenced by the "androgynous male beauty" represented in Winckelmann's art history.^[70] Shelley wrote his Discourse on the Manners of the Antient Greeks Relative to the Subject of Love on the Greek conception of love in 1818 during his first summer in Italy, concurrently with his translation of Plato's Symposium.^[71][72] Shelley was the first major English writer to treat Platonic homosexuality, although neither work was published during his lifetime. His translation of the Symposium did not appear in complete form until 1910.^[72] Shelley asserts that Greek love arose from the circumstances of Greek households, in which women were not educated and not treated as equals, and thus not suitable objects of ideal love.^[72][73] Although Shelley recognizes the homosexual nature of the love relationships between males in ancient Greece, he argues that homosexual lovers often engaged in no behaviour of a sexual nature, and that Greek love was based on the intellectual component, in which one seeks a complementary beloved.^[73] He maintains that the immorality of the homosexual acts are on par with the immorality of contemporary prostitution, and contrasts the pure version of Greek love with the later licentiousness found in Roman culture.^[74] Shelley cites Shakespeare's sonnets as an English expression of the same sentiments, and ultimately argues that they are chaste and platonic in nature.^[74]

Victorian era[link]

This section requires expansion.

Throughout the 19th century, upper-class men of same-sex orientation or sympathies regarded "Greek love", often used as a euphemism for the ancient pederastic relationship between a man and a youth, as a "legitimating ideal":^[75] "the prestige of Greece among educated middle-class Victorians … was so massive that invocations of Hellenism could cast a veil of respectability over even a hitherto unmentionable vice or crime."^[76] Homosexuality emerged as a category of thought during the Victorian era in relation to classical studies and "manly" nationalism; the discourse of Greek love during this time generally excluded women's sexuality.^[77] Late Victorian writers such as Walter Pater, Oscar Wilde, and John Addington Symonds saw in "Greek love" a way to introduce individuality and diversity within their own civilization.^[78] Pater's short story "Apollo in Picardy" is set at a fictional monastery where a pagan stranger named Apollyon causes the death of the young novice Hyacinth; it has been observed that the monastery "maps Greek love" as the site of a potential "homoerotic community" within Anglo-Catholicism.^[79] Others who addressed the subject of Greek love in letters, essays, and poetry include Arthur Henry Hallam.^[80]

John Addington Symonds was influenced by Karl Otfried Müller's work on the Dorians, which included an "unembarrassed" examination of the place of pederasty in Spartan pedagogy, military life, and society.^[81] Symonds distinguished between "heroic love," for which the ideal friendship of Achilles and Patroclus served as a model, and "Greek love," which combined social ideals with "vulgar" reality.^[82] Symonds envisioned a "nationalist homosexuality" based on the model of Greek love, distanced from effeminacy and "debasing" behaviors and viewed as "in its origin and essence, military."^[83] He tried to reconcile his presentation of Greek love with Christian and chivalrous values.^[84] His strategy for influencing social acceptance of homosexuality and legal reform in England included evoking an idealized Greek model that reflected Victorian moral values such as honor, devotion, and self-sacrifice.^[85]

The efforts among aesthetes and intellectuals to legitimate various forms of homosexual behaviors and attitudes by virtue of a Hellenic model were not without opposition. The 1877 essay "The Greek Spirit in Modern Literature" by Richard St. John Tyrwhitt^[86] warned against the perceived immorality of this agenda. Tyrwhitt, who was a vigorous supporter of studying Greek, characterized the Hellenism of his day as "the total denial of any moral restraint on any human impulses," and outlined what he saw as the proper scope of Greek influence on the education of young men.^[87] Tyrwhitt and other critics attacked by name several scholars and writers who had tried to use Plato to support an early gay-rights agenda and whose careers were subsequently damaged by their association with "Greek love."^[88] The trial of Oscar Wilde marked the end of the period when proponents of "Greek love" could hope to legitimate homosexuality by appeals to a classical model.^[89]

20th and 21st centuries[link]

The legacy of Greece in homosexual aesthetics became problematic, and the meaning of a "costume" derived from classical antiquity was questioned.^[3] The French theorist Michel Foucault (1926–1984), perhaps best known for his monumental work The History of Sexuality, rejected essentialist conceptions of gay history, and fostered a now "widely accepted" view that "Greek love is not a prefiguration of modern homosexuality."^[90]

See also[link]

LGBT portal

• Catamite
• Eros
• Homosexuality in Ancient Greece
• Pederasty in ancient Greece
• Sapphic love
• Uranian poetry

References[link]

Bibliography[link]

• Blanshard, Alastair J. L. (2010). Sex: Vice and Love from Antiquity to Modernity. Classical Receptions. 5. John Wiley and Sons. ISBN 1-4051-2291-9. 
• Cantarella, Eva (1992). Bisexuality in the Ancient World. London: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-04844-5. 
• Crompton, Louis (1998). Byron and Greek Love. London: GMP. ISBN 978-0-85449-263-3. 
• Crompton, Louis (2003). Homosexuality & Civilization. Cambridge: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-02233-1. 
• Davidson, James (2007). The Greeks and Greek Love: A Radical Reappraisal of Homosexuality in Ancient Greece. New York: Random House. ISBN 978-0-375-50516-4. 
• Fone, Byrne (1998). The Columbia Anthology of Gay Literature. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0-231-09670-6. 
• Haggerty, George (1999). Men in Love. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0-231-11043-3. 
• Halperin, David M. (1990). One Hundred Years of Homosexuality and Other Essays on Greek Love. London: Routledge. 
• Kuzniar, Alice (1996). Outing Goethe & His Age. Stanford: Stanford University Press. ISBN 978-0-8047-2615-3. 
• Maccarthy, Fiona (2004). Byron: Life and Legend. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. ISBN 978-0-374-52930-7. 
• Posner, Richard (1992). Sex and Reason. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-80280-3. 
• Symonds, John (2007). A Problem in Greek Ethics: Paiderastia. City: Forgotten Books. ISBN 978-1-60506-389-8. 
• Taddeo, Julie Anne (2002). Lytton Strachey and the Search for Modern Sexual Identity: the Last Eminent Victorian. New York: Routledge. ISBN 978-1-56023-359-6. 
• Tamagne, Florence (2004). History of Homosexuality in Europe, 1919-1939. New York: Algora Publishing. ISBN 978-0-87586-356-6. 
• Vout, Caroline (2007). Power and Eroticism in Imperial Rome. Cambridge University Press. 
• Williams, Craig (1999). Roman Homosexuality. Oxford Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-511300-6. 

Neil Diamond
Neil Diamond, 2007
Background information
Birth name	Neil Leslie Diamond
Born	(1941-01-24) January 24, 1941 (age 71)
Origin	New York City, United States
Genres	Rock, pop, folk, country, soft rock
Occupations	Singer-songwriter
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, piano
Years active	1958–present
Labels	Bang, Uni, MCA, Columbia
Website	neildiamond.com

Neil Diamond (born January 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter with a career spanning over five decades from the 1960s until the present.

As of 2001, Diamond had sold over 115 million records worldwide including 48 million in the United States alone.^[1][2] He is considered to be the third most successful adult contemporary artist ever on the Billboard chart behind Barbra Streisand and Elton John.^[1] His songs have been covered internationally by many performers from various musical genres.

Diamond was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1984 and into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2011. Additionally, he received the Sammy Cahn Lifetime Achievement Award in 2000 and in 2011 was an honoree at the Kennedy Center Honors. He has eight number one hit singles with "Cracklin Rosie", "Song Sung Blue", "Desiree", "You Don't Bring Me Flowers", "Love on the Rocks", "America", "Yesterday's Songs", and "Heartlight".

Diamond continues to record and release new material and maintains an extensive touring schedule as well.

Early life and career[link]

Neil Diamond was born in Brooklyn, New York, to a Jewish family descended from Russian and Polish immigrants. His father, Akeeba Diamond, was a dry-goods merchant. Diamond grew up in several homes in Brooklyn, attending Abraham Lincoln High School.^[3][4]

At Lincoln, the school from which he received his high school diploma, he was a member of the fencing team. He later attended NYU on a fencing scholarship, specializing in saber, and was a member of the 1960 NCAA men's championship team; into his adult life he maintained his swordsmanship skills and continued to warm up with fencing exercises before his concerts.^{[citation needed]} In a live interview with TV talk show host Larry King, Diamond explained his decision to study medicine by pointing out:

I actually wanted to be a laboratory biologist. I wanted to study. And I really wanted to find a cure for cancer. My grandmother had died of cancer. And I was always very good at the sciences. And I thought I would go and try and discover the cure for cancer.

However, during his senior year in NYU, a music publishing company made him an offer he could not refuse: an offer to write songs for $50 a week. This started him on the road to stardom.

1960s[link]

Diamond's first recording contract was billed as "Neil and Jack", an Everly Brothers–type duo comprising Diamond and high school friend Jack Packer *(Jack Parker). They recorded two unsuccessful singles, "You Are My Love At Last" b/w "What Will I Do" and "I'm Afraid" b/w "Till You've Tried Love", both released in 1962. Later in 1962, Diamond signed with the Columbia Records label as a solo performer. Columbia Records released the single "At Night" b/w "Clown Town" in July, 1963. Billboard gave an excellent review to "Clown Town" in their July 13, 1963, issue, predicting it would be a hit. Despite a tour of radio stations, the single failed to make the music charts. Furthermore, sales and Top 40 airplay were disappointing, and Columbia dropped Diamond from the label shortly there after. Diamond was back to writing songs on an upright piano above the Birdland Club in New York City.

Diamond spent his early career as a songwriter in the Brill Building. His first success as a songwriter came in November, 1965, with "Sunday and Me", a Top 20 hit for Jay and the Americans on the Billboard Charts. Greater success as a writer followed with "I'm a Believer", "A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You", "Look Out (Here Comes Tomorrow)", and "Love to Love", all by The Monkees. There is a popular misconception that Diamond wrote and composed these songs specifically for the made-for-TV quartet. In reality, Diamond had written and recorded these songs for himself, but the cover versions were released before his own.^[5] The unintended, but happy, consequence was that Diamond began to gain fame not only as a singer and performer, but also as a songwriter. "I'm a Believer" was the Popular Music Song of the Year in 1966. Other notable artists who recorded early Diamond songs were Elvis Presley, who interpreted "Sweet Caroline" as well as "And The Grass Won't Pay No Mind"; Mark Lindsay, former lead singer for Paul Revere & the Raiders, who covered "And the Grass Won't Pay No Mind"; the English hard-rock band Deep Purple, which interpreted "Kentucky Woman"; Lulu, who covered "The Boat That I Row", and Cliff Richard, who released versions of "I'll Come Running", "Solitary Man", "Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon", "I Got The Feelin' (Oh No No)", and "Just Another Guy".

In 1966 Diamond signed a deal with Bert Berns's Bang Records, then a subsidiary of Atlantic Records. His first release on that label, "Solitary Man", became his first hit. Prior to the release of "Solitary Man", Diamond had considered using a stage name; he came up with two possibilities, "Noah Kaminsky" and "Eice Charry".^[6] But when asked by Bang Records which name he should use, Noah, Eice, or Neil, he thought of his grandmother, who died prior to the release of "Solitary Man". Thus he told Bang, "...go with Neil Diamond and I'll figure it out later". Diamond later followed with "Cherry, Cherry", "Kentucky Woman", "Thank the Lord for the Night Time", "Do It", and others. Diamond's Bang recordings were produced by legendary Brill Building songwriters Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich, both of whom can be heard singing background on many of the tracks.

His first concerts saw him as a "special guest" of, or opening for, everyone from Herman's Hermits to, on one occasion, The Who, which he confirmed on an installment of VH1's documentary series program Behind The Music.

Diamond began to feel restricted by Bang Records, wanting to record more ambitious, introspective music. Finding a loophole in his contract, Diamond tried to sign with a new label, but the result was a series of lawsuits that coincided with a dip in his professional success. Diamond eventually triumphed in court, and secured ownership of his Bang-era master recordings in 1977.

1970s[link]

After Diamond had signed a deal with MCA Records, whose label at the time was Uni (after MCA's parent company, Universal Pictures), he moved to Los Angeles in 1970. His sound mellowed, with such songs as "Sweet Caroline", a US hit in 1969, "Holly Holy", "'Cracklin' Rosie" and "Song Sung Blue", the last two reaching No. 1 on the Hot 100. "Sweet Caroline" was Diamond's first major hit after his slump. Diamond admitted in 2007 that he had written "Sweet Caroline" for Caroline Kennedy after seeing her on the cover of Life in an equestrian riding outfit.^[7] It took him just one hour, in a Memphis hotel, to write and compose it. The 1971 release "I Am...I Said" was a Top 5 hit in both the US and UK, and was his most intensely personal effort to date, taking upwards of four months to complete.^[8]

In 1972, Diamond played 10 sold-out concerts at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles. The August 24 performance was recorded and released as the live double album Hot August Night (the title being the opening words of Diamond's song "Brother Love's Traveling Salvation Show"). That fall, he appeared over 20 consecutive nights at the Winter Garden Theater in New York City; the small (approximately 1,600-seat) Broadway venue provided an intimate concert setting not common at the time. Reportedly, every performance was a sellout.

Hot August Night demonstrates Diamond's skills as a performer and showman, as he reinvigorated his back catalogue of hits with new energy. Many consider it his best work; critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine calls Hot August Night "the ultimate Neil Diamond record ... [which] shows Diamond the icon in full glory".^[9]

The album has become a classic. It was remastered in 2000 with three additional selections: "Walk on Water", "Kentucky Woman" and "Stones". In Australia, the album spent a remarkable 29 weeks at No. 1; in 2006, it was voted #16 in a poll of favourite albums of all time in Australia.^[10] Also, Diamond's final concert of his 1976 Australian Tour (The "Thank You Australia" Concert) was broadcast to 36 television outlets nationwide on March 6.^{[citation needed]} It also set a record for the largest attendance at the Sydney Sports Ground.^{[citation needed]} The 1977 concert Love At The Greek, a return to the Greek Theatre, includes a version of "Song Sung Blue" with duets with Helen Reddy and Henry Winkler, a.k.a. Arthur "The Fonz" Fonzarelli of Happy Days.

In 1973, Diamond hopped labels again, returning to the Columbia Records for a lucrative million-dollar-advance-per-album contract.^[11][1] His first project, released as a solo album, was the soundtrack to Hall Bartlett's film version of Jonathan Livingston Seagull. The film received hostile reviews and did poorly at the box office. The album grossed more than the film did. Richard Bach, author of the best-selling source story, disowned the film. Both Bach and Diamond sued the film's producer.^[1] Diamond felt the film butchered his score. Despite the shortcomings of the film, the soundtrack was a success, peaking at No. 2 on the Billboard albums chart. Diamond would also garner a Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score and a Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture.^[11] From there, Diamond would often include a Jonathan Livingston Seagull suite in his live performances, as he did in his 1977 "Love at The Greek" concert. In 1974, Diamond released the album Serenade, from which "Longfellow Serenade" and "I've Been This Way Before" were issued as singles. The latter had been intended for the Jonathan Livingston Seagull score, but was completed too late for inclusion.

In 1976, he released Beautiful Noise, produced by Robbie Robertson of The Band. On Thanksgiving night, 1976, Diamond made an appearance at The Band's farewell concert, The Last Waltz, performing "Dry Your Eyes", which he had written with Robertson, and which had appeared on Beautiful Noise. He also joined the rest of the performers onstage at the end in a rendition of Bob Dylan's "I Shall Be Released".

In 1977, Diamond released I'm Glad You're Here With Me Tonight, including "You Don't Bring Me Flowers", for which he composed the music and collaborated with Alan Bergman and Marilyn Bergman on lyrics. Barbra Streisand covered the song on her Songbird album, and later, a Diamond-Streisand duet, spurred by the success of radio mash-ups, was recorded. That version hit No. 1 in 1978, his third song to top the Hot 100. His last 1970s album was September Morn, which included a new version of "I'm a Believer". It and "Red Red Wine" are his best-known original songs made more famous by other artists.

In February 1979, the uptempo "Forever in Blue Jeans", co-written with his guitarist, Richard Bennett, was released as a single from You Don't Bring Me Flowers, Diamond's album from the previous year.

According to Cotton Incorporated, "Neil Diamond might have been right when he named his 1979 #1 hit 'Forever in Blue Jeans': 81% of women are planning their next jeans purchase to be some shade of blue." The song has been used to promote the sale of blue jeans, most notably via Will Ferrell, impersonating Diamond singing, for The Gap. Ironically, Diamond himself had performed in radio ads for H.I.S. brand jeans in the 1960s, more than a decade before he and Bennett jointly wrote and composed, and he originated, the selection.

1980s[link]

A planned film version of "You Don't Bring Me Flowers" to star Diamond and Streisand fell through when Diamond instead starred in a 1980 remake of the Al Jolson classic, The Jazz Singer, opposite Laurence Olivier and Lucie Arnaz. Though the movie was not a hit, the soundtrack spawned three Top 10 singles, "Love on the Rocks", "Hello Again" and "America". For his role in the film, Diamond became the first-ever winner of a Worst Actor Razzie Award, even though he was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for the same role.

Another Top 10 selection, "Heartlight", was inspired by the blockbuster 1982 movie E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial. Though the film's title character is never mentioned in the lyrics, Universal Pictures, which had released E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial and was the parent company of the Uni Records label, by then referred to as the MCA Records label, for which Diamond had recorded for years, briefly threatened legal action against both Diamond and Columbia Records.

Diamond's record sales slumped somewhat in the 1980s and 1990s, his last single to make the Billboard's Pop Singles chart coming in 1986. However, his concert tours continued to be big draws. Billboard Magazine ranked Diamond as the most profitable solo performer of 1986.^[12] In January 1987, Diamond sang the national anthem at the Super Bowl. His "America" became the theme song for the Michael Dukakis 1988 presidential campaign. That same year, UB40's reggae interpretation of Diamond's ballad Red Red Wine would top the Billboard's Pop Singles chart and, like the Monkees' version of "I'm a Believer", become better known than Diamond's original version.

1990s to present[link]

During the 1990s Diamond would produce six studio albums. He would cover many classics from the movies and from famous Brill Building-era songwriters. He also released two Christmas albums, the first peaking at No. 8 on the Billboard's Album chart. Keeping his songwriting skills honed, Diamond also recorded two albums of mostly new material during this period. In 1992, he performed for President George H.W. Bush's final Christmas in Washington NBC special. In 1993, Diamond opened the Mark of the Quad Cities (now the iWireless Center) with two shows on May 27 and 28 to a crowd of 27,000-plus.

The 1990s and 2000s saw a resurgence in Diamond's popularity. "Sweet Caroline" became a popular sing-along at sporting events, starting with Boston College football and basketball games. Most notably it is the theme song for Red Sox Nation, the fans of the Boston Red Sox, although Diamond noted that he has been a lifelong fan of the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers.^[13] The song is also played during the 8th inning of every New York Mets home game and at Washington Nationals home games. The New York Rangers have also adapted it as their own, and play it when they are winning at the end of the 3rd period. The Pitt Panthers football team also plays it after the third quarter of all home games, with the crowd cheering, "Let's go Pitt". The Carolina Panthers play it at the end of each home game when they win. Urge Overkill recorded a version of Diamond's "Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon" for Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction, released in 1994. In 2000, Johnny Cash recorded the album Solitary Man, which included that Diamond classic. Smash Mouth covered Diamond's "I'm a Believer" for their 2001 self-titled album. In the 2001 comedy film Saving Silverman, the main characters play in a Neil Diamond cover band, and Diamond made an extended cameo appearance as himself. During this period, Will Ferrell did a recurring Diamond impersonation on Saturday Night Live, with Diamond himself appearing alongside Ferrell on Ferrell's final show as a "Not Ready For Prime Time Player" in May 2002. "America" was used in promotional ads for the 2002 Winter Olympics. The Finnish band HIM covered "Solitary Man" on their album, And Love Said No: The Greatest Hits.

Diamond has always had a somewhat polarizing effect, best exemplified by the 1991 film What About Bob? There the protagonist posits, "There are two types of people in the world: those who like Neil Diamond and those who don't." The character of Bob attributes the failure of his marriage to his fiancee's fondness for Diamond. Another example of this love/hate relationship: the Becker episode "It had to be Ew"^[14] is largely devoted to ridiculing Diamond and his fans.

Diamond continues to tour and record. 12 Songs, produced by Rick Rubin, was released on November 8, 2005, in two editions: a standard 12-song release, and a special edition with two bonus tracks, including one featuring backing vocals by Brian Wilson. The album debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard chart, and has received generally positive reviews; Earliwine describes the album as "inarguably Neil Diamond's best set of songs in a long, long time".^[15] 12 Songs also became noteworthy as one of the last albums to be pressed and released by Sony BMG with the infamous Extended Copy Protection software embedded in the disc. (See the 2005 Sony BMG CD copy protection scandal.)

On December 31, 2005 Diamond appeared on Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve 2006.

In 2007, Diamond was inducted into the Long Island Music Hall of Fame.^[16]

In December 2007, a 2008 UK tour was announced, calling at Manchester on June 7 and 8, Birmingham on June 10 and 11, and London on June 21, 23 and 24. A month later, further UK dates were added, including Hampden Park in Glasgow on the 5th of June, Rose Bowl, Southampton on the 17th of June, and the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff on the 19th of June.

In 2008, Diamond gave filmmaker Greg Kohs permission to use his songs in a documentary. Kohs, a director from Philadelphia, had met a popular Milwaukee, Wisconsin, duo, Lightning & Thunder, composed of Mike Sardina, who did a Neil Diamond impersonation, and his wife Claire. Kohs followed them for eight years and produced the film Song Sung Blue, but needed permission to use Diamond's songs. The movie was sent to the singer in January 2008, at the recommendation of Eddie Vedder, a supporter of the film and of the duo. Although Sardina had died in 2006, Diamond invited his widow and her family to be his front-row guests at his show in Milwaukee, where he told them he was moved by the film.^[17]

On March 19, 2008, it was announced on the TV show American Idol that Diamond would be a guest mentor to the remaining Idol contestants who would be singing Diamond songs for the broadcasts of April 29 and 30, 2008. On April 8, 2008, Diamond made a surprise announcement in a big-screen broadcast at Fenway Park, that he would be appearing there "live in concert" on August 23, 2008, as part of his world tour. The announcement, which marked the first official confirmation of any 2008 concert dates in the US, came during the traditional eighth-inning sing-along of his "Sweet Caroline", which has become an anthem for Boston fans.

On April 28, 2008, Diamond appeared on the roof of the Jimmy Kimmel building to sing "Sweet Caroline" after Kimmel was jokingly arrested trying to sing the song. This was followed on April 30, 2008, by an appearance on American Idol when he sang "Pretty Amazing Grace" from his album Home Before Dark.^[18] On May 2, 2008, Sirius Satellite Radio started Neil Diamond Radio.

Diamond performing at The Roundhouse, London on October 30, 2010

Home Before Dark was released May 6, 2008. On May 15, 2008, the Billboard Hot 200 listed the album at No. 1.^[19] This marked the first chart-topping album of Diamond's storied career. On May 18, 2008, "Home Before Dark" also entered the UK charts at No. 1, his second British No. 1 album, after hitting the summit in 1992 with a compilation album. His 2008 tour was the most successful of any of his previous tours since 1966.

On August 25, 2008, Diamond performed at Ohio State University while suffering from laryngitis. The result disappointed him as well as his fans and on August 26 he offered refunds to anyone who applied by September 5.^[20]

Diamond was honored as the MusiCares Person of the Year on February 6, 2009, two nights prior to the 51st Annual Grammy Awards.

According to posts on Diamond's Twitter page, he is currently^[when?] working on a new album, his third with Rick Rubin. He says he plans to play electric guitar on the album, a first for him. In 2009, Diamond stated that he prefers Gibson and Martin acoustic guitars and confirmed that recently he had been playing Gibson electric guitars.^[21]

Long-loved in Boston, Diamond was invited to sing at the July 4 holiday celebration.

Through his Diamond Music Company, Diamond now belongs to that small group of performers whose names are listed as copyright owners on their recordings.

In August 2008, Diamond allowed cameras to record his entire four-night run at New York's Madison Square Garden and released it in the United States on August 14, 2009, on DVD, one year to the day of the first concert. 'Hot August Night/NYC' debuted at No. 2 on the charts and is exclusively available at Wal-Mart and has sold out at many locations all over the country. Also on the same day the DVD was released, CBS (the former parent of his label, Columbia Records) aired an edited version of the DVD, which won the ratings hour with 13 million viewers. The next day, the sales of the DVD surged and prompted Sony to order more copies to meet the high demand.

On October 13, 2009, he released A Cherry Cherry Christmas, his third album of holiday music.

On September 28, 2010, Diamond was nominated for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

On November 2, 2010, he released the album 'Dreams', a collection of 14 interpretations of his favorite songs by other artists from the rock era.

On December 14, 2010, it was leaked by numerous sites that Diamond had been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, along with Alice Cooper, Darlene Love, Dr. John, and Tom Waits. The induction ceremony will be March 14, 2011 at the Waldorf-Astoria hotel in New York City.

On December 20, 2010, Diamond made an appearance on NBC's 'The Sing-Off', performing "Ain't No Sunshine" along with Committed and Street Corner Symphony, two A Cappella groups featured on the show. On May 27, 2011, he appeared on Irish Television in a live recording in front of a celebrity audience.

In December 2011, he appeared at the 2011 Kennedy Center Honors gala to accept the honor.

On November 24, 2011, he appeared in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, riding on a replica Mt. Rushmore float singing a shorten versions of "America" and "Sweet Caroline" to promote tourism for the state of South Dakota.

"The Very Best of Neil Diamond", a compilation CD of Diamond's 23 studio recordings from the Bang, UNI/MCA, & Columbia catalogs was released on December 6, 2011 on the Sony Legacy label.

Personal life[link]

Neil Diamond has been married three times. In 1963 he married his high school sweetheart, school teacher Jaye Posner; they had two daughters, Marjorie and Elyn, before they separated in 1967^[22] and divorced in 1969.^[23] Diamond then married Marcia Murphey, a production assistant; they also had two children, both sons, Jesse and Micah. Diamond's second marriage ended in 1994^[23] or 1995^[22] (sources differ).

On September 7, 2011, the same day he learned he was to be a Kennedy Center Honoree, Diamond announced his engagement to 41-year-old Katie McNeil in a message on Twitter. McNeil is Diamond's manager and was the producer on the documentary Neil Diamond: Hot August Nights NYC. ^[24] On April 21, 2012, Diamond married McNeil in front of family and close friends in Los Angeles, California.^[25]

Diamond was in a relationship with Australian Rae Farley that ended sometime before mid-2008. The two met in Brisbane, Australia, in 1996, and as of 2008 ran his merchandising operation. The album Home Before Dark was written during Farley's struggles with severe chronic back pain, surgery and ongoing recovery. Diamond said, "She had back surgery and it wasn't going well. She was in extreme pain for a year and the surgery did not really work. If anything, it made it worse. And I never left her side. I was within 20ft of her for the entire year that I took writing this album."^[26]

In 1979 Diamond collapsed on stage in San Francisco and was taken to hospital where he endured a twelve hour operation to remove what turned out to be a tumor on his spine. ^[27] He said he had been losing feeling in his right leg "for a number of years but ignored it". When he collapsed, he had no strength in either leg.^[27] He underwent a long rehabilitation process just prior to beginning principal photography for his 1980 film The Jazz Singer.^[26] He was so convinced he was going to die, he even wrote farewell letters to his friends. ^[27]

As of 2008, Diamond still suffered from chronic, and often severe, back pain.^[26]

Discography[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Neil Diamond

• Official website
• Neil Diamond's Band's Official Site

The Greek is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actor Bill Raymond. The Greek is the head of an international criminal organization involved in narcotics and human trafficking.^[1] The Greek is a mysterious figure involved in numerous criminal activities. His given name is never mentioned on the show, and though he is known only as "The Greek", he has stated (in the episode Port in a Storm) that he is not actually Greek. A quiet and unassuming man, the Greek prefers to keep a low profile, operating all of his business through his lieutenant Spiros "Vondas" Vondopoulos. His smuggling organization operated from a small diner in Baltimore for years, and while Vondas would conduct business the Greek would listen in quietly at the counter. Nick Sobotka, upon seeing the Greek identify himself, was amazed that the shadowy figure had been in plain sight the entire time.

Despite his calm appearance, the Greek is cunning and ruthless, and only interested in facts that make him more money. Series creator David Simon has said that The Greek is an embodiment of raw unencumbered capitalism.^[2] Anyone interfering in this process is eliminated immediately, and he prefers to leave victims headless and handless to hinder identification.

The Greek's smuggling operation includes importing sex trade workers, illicit drugs, stolen goods and chemicals for drug processing. He bribes union stevedores to move containers through the Baltimore port for him and uses his muscle, Sergei "Serge" Malatov, to run containers back and forth from the port to his warehouse, a front managed by "Double G" Glekas. The Greek supplies the major drug dealers in East Baltimore with pure cocaine and heroin, using Eton Ben-Eleazer to move his drugs. His chief client is Proposition Joe, but he is also affiliated with smaller drug dealing organizations like those run by "White Mike" McArdle. His sex trade interests in Baltimore include a brothel run by a madam named Ilona Petrovitch, bringing in girls from eastern Europe. He manages to avoid prosecution for his crimes because an FBI counter-terrorism agent named Kristos Koutris tips him off if a criminal investigation gets too close. It is suggested he and Vondas may serve as federal informants.

Biography[link]

Season 2[link]

The Greek began to draw police attention in Baltimore when his contact at the docks, Frank Sobotka, became the target of an investigation. At the same time a container of thirteen dead young women intended for the sex trade was discovered at the docks, triggering a high-profile homicide investigation. The container belonged to the Greek and the girls were killed by a crewman onboard the vessel that had delivered them. The ship's crew had been paying the girls for sex and when one of the girls refused, she was killed. The crewman responsible dumped her overboard and collapsed the air pipe to kill the remaining women. The Greek had Sergei track the crewman down, interrogated him personally, and had Vondas kill him.

As the investigation continued the police were able to link Eton and Sergei to the drug smuggling operation. When police began tracking containers as they left the port, The Greek and Vondas began to close down the operation temporarily by dumping their cell phones and stealing "clean" containers. Persuading Sobotka to keep the smuggling operation going he bought further protection from Agent Koutris by betraying a load of Colombian cocaine, giving him time to destroy incriminating evidence in the warehouse and Glekas' store.

The Greek recognized that the investigation was too extensive to stop and made plans to leave, sending Vondas to assure Proposition Joe that supply of drugs would continue albeit with new faces. He attempted to buy Sobotka's silence with promised legal aid for his son, but when he learned from Koutris that Frank was planning to turn informant he had the union man killed. Although Frank's nephew Nick Sobotka was able to identify The Greek in a photo and Sergei was pressured to give up the location of his hotel suite, Vondas and the Greek had already boarded a flight to Chicago. Aware that the Greek and Vondas were gone, the police left the investigation behind and moved on to the drug dealers he supplied.

Seasons 4 & 5[link]

The Greek continued to supply "Proposition Joe" Stewart, who formed an organization with other drug dealers called the New Day Co-Op to provide The Greek's product to them in exchange for reduced violence and sharing of territory. When Omar Little steals an entire shipment of heroin from the Greek's men as it is being delivered to Stewart's people, Marlo Stanfield demands a meeting with Spiros "Vondas" Vondopoulos in order to allay his fears that Stewart was responsible.^[3][4] Once Stanfield is satisfied, he waits for the Major Crimes Unit's investigation into his activities to cease and then moves to establish a direct relationship with Vondas and the Greek. After getting in communication with Vondas through former soldier Sergei,^[5][6] Marlo eventually sells himself as Joe's replacement by convincing the Greek that he requires an insurance policy in the form of a replacement for Proposition Joe, in the event that anything should happen to him. Realizing that Stanfield will move against Stewart regardless of his approval, the Greek accepts Marlo's proposal to act as an "insurance policy," knowing that it will mean Joe's death.^[7][8]

After Stewart's murder, Stanfield meets with Vondas to initiate their new business relationship.^[9][10] Stanfield's tenure proves short lived when he is forced into retirement by an investigation, and the other Co-Op members purchase the connection from Stanfield. In the closing scenes of the series finale, Slim Charles and Fat-Face Rick take over meeting with Vondas while the Greek listens quietly in the background.^[11][12]

References[link]

Ivi Adamou Ήβη Αδάμου
Ivi Adamou (Cd Single: La La Love)
Background information
Birth name	Ivi Adamou
Also known as	Ivi
Born	(1993-11-24) 24 November 1993 (age 18)
Origin	Paralimni, Cyprus
Genres	Pop, dance
Occupations	Singer
Instruments	Vocals, Piano
Years active	2009–present
Labels	Sony Music Greece
Website	www.iviadamou.com

Ivi Adamou (Greek: Ήβη Αδάμου, pronounced [ˈivi aˈðamu]; born 24 November 1993) is a Cypriot singer who rose to recognition in Greece and Cyprus following her participation in the second season of the Greek version of The X Factor, where she was under the mentorship of Giorgos Theofanous. Adamou secured a recording contract with Sony Music Greece and released her debut extended play Kalokairi Stin Kardia, which was certified gold. In the same year she collaborated with the Spiros Lambrou Choir and released the holiday EP Christougenna Me Tin Ivi Adamou, released as Christmas with Ivi Adamou abroad. Ivi Adamou represented Cyprus in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 with the song La La Love.^[1]

Early life[link]

Ivi Adamou was born on 24 November 1993 in Paralimni, Famagusta, Cyprus to a Greek Cypriot father and a Bulgarian mother.^{[citation needed]} Music theory, voice and piano allowed her to acquire the suitable skills to win prizes in several local song competitions. Specifically at the age of 9, her participation in a competition in Larnaka won her a first place finish with the song "Kaka Paidia" by Anna Vissi.

The X Factor[link]

In 2009–2010, she took part in the second series of the Greek version of The X Factor ending in the 6th place. She lists Beyonce as her biggest influence, as well as Christina Aguilera and Whitney Houston.

Performances in The X Factor (Greece)[link]

• Week 1 (30 October 2009): "Just Dance" – Lady Gaga
• Week 2 (6 November 2009): "Just Like a Pill" – Pink
• Week 3 (13 November 2009): "Because of You" – Kelly Clarkson
• Week 4 (20 November 2009): "Papa Don't Preach" – Madonna
• Week 5 (27 November 2009): "When I Grow Up" – Pussycat Dolls
• Week 6 (4 December 2009): "Hurt" – Christina Aguilera
• Week 7 (11 December 2009): "Halo" – Beyonce
• Week 8 (18 December 2009): "All I Want for Christmas Is You"/"Xristougenna" – Mariah Carey / Despina Vandi
• Week 9 (31 December 2009): "Celebration" – Madonna
• Week 10 (8 January 2010): "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" – Arrows / Joan Jett / Britney Spears
• Week 11 (15 January 2010): "Hush Hush" – Pussycat Dolls
• Week 12 (22 January 2010): "The Voice Within" – Christina Aguilera

Post-The X Factor[link]

While Adamou was not a finalist in The X Factor with her sixth place finish, she did manage to obtain a record deal with Sony Music Greece, an affiliate of the show. Her elimination was the source of a publicized dispute- both on air during The X Factor and in the press- between representatives of Sony Music Greece and Theofanous.

Adamou's debut extended play, Kalokairi Stin Kardia, was released in June 2010 and generated the singles "A*G*A*P*I*" (Love), "Sose Me" (Save me), and "To Mistiko Mou Na Vreis" (Find my secret). It was certified gold for shipments of six thousand units.^[2] She was featured on hip hop group Stavento's hit summer single "San Erthei I Mera", remaining in the top five of the Greek Airplay Chart for 20 weeks, and selling 60 thousand legal downloads.^[3] She toured Greece along with Stavento over the summer 2010. Also that year she collaborated with the Spiros Lambrou Choir and released the holiday EP Christougenna Me Tin Ivi Adamou, released as Christmas with Ivi Adamou abroad. She also sang in 2009 for the Cartoon Winx Club the Song "Believix" in its greek version.

Eurovision Song Contest 2012[link]

Ivi Adamou was chosen internally by Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation to represent the country in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 in Baku, Azerbaijan. In a special TV programme in January 2012 to select the song to represent Cyprus called A Song For Ivi, Ivi performed three songs: Call The Police, You Don't Belong Here, and La La Love. La La Love was the winner, and will therefore be the song representing Cyprus in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012.^[1] At the running order draw, Cyprus was drawn to perform 12th in the first semi-final on 22 May, 2012 and then successfully reached the final^[4] where it finished in 16th place.

Discography[link]

Studio Albums[link]

• * denotes unknown or unavailable information.

EPs[link]

• * denotes unknown or unavailable information.

Singles[link]

• "A*G*A*P*I*" (Crashing Down)
• "Sose Me" (Lights On)
• "San Erthi I Mera" (Stavento feat. Ivi Adamou)
• "To Mistiko Mou Na Vreis" (I Can't Help It)
• "Krata Ta Matia Sou Kleista" (Melisses Feat. Ivi Adamou)
• "Kano Mia Euxi"
• "Voltes St Asteria"
• "La La Love"
• "Madness"

Music videos[link]

2010[link]

• "A*G*A*P*I*"
• "I Vasilissa Ton Okeanon" (Soundtrack Barbie's Movie, March 2010)
• "San Erthi I Mera" (with Stavento)
• "I Vasilissa Tis Modas" (Soundtrack Barbie's Movie, September 2010)
• "Sose Me"
• "To Mystiko Mou Na Vris"

2011[link]

• "Krata Ta Matia Sou Kleista" (with Melisses)
• "San Ena Oniro" (with Giorgos Papadimitrakis)
• "Kano Mia Efhi"^[5]
• "Voltes St' Asteria"

2012[link]

• "La La Love"
• "Madness" (with tU)^[6]

Tours[link]

• Summer 2010: Stavento + Ivi Adamou (more than 50 places in Greece & Cyprus)
• Summer 2011: Melisses + Ivi Adamou (more than 40 places in Greece & Cyprus)

Concert Series[link]

• Posidonio Music Hall (Athens) – Panos Kiamos, Kostas Martakis, Ivi Adamou (August 2011 – January 2012)

References[link]

1. ^ ^{a b} Roxburgh, Gordon (January 25 2012). "It's La La Love for Cyprus". eurovision.tv. http://www.eurovision.tv/page/news?id=45033&_t=its_la_la_love_for_cyprus. Retrieved 2012-04-10. 
2. ^ http://www.mad.tv/section/news/47321/news/%CE%A7%CF%81%CF%85%CF%83%CE%AE_%CE%B7_%CE%89%CE%B2%CE%B7_%CE%91%CE%B4%CE%AC%CE%BC%CE%BF%CF%85!
3. ^ The X Factor. Season 3. Episode 2. ANT1. Airdate: 5 November 2010
4. ^ Escudero, Victor (March 20 2012). "Results of the 2012 Running Order Draw". eurovision.tv. http://www.eurovision.tv/page/news?id=49623&_t=results_of_the_2012_running_order_draw. Retrieved 2012-04-10. 
5. ^ Kano Mia Efhi (Video Clip) 20 July 2011
6. ^ The song was selected from the Amita Motion Music Manager

External links[link]

• Official website
• Ivi Adamou on Facebook
• Ivi Adamou on Twitter
• Ivi Adamou's channel on YouTube

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Ivi Adamou

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (March 2012)

Giorgos Mazonakis (Greek: Γιώργος Μαζωνάκης) (born on March 4, 1972 in Nikaia, Greece) is a modern Laika and pop Greek singer.

Biography[link]

Giorgos Mazonakis born and raised in the neighbourhood of Nikaia, Athens. He grew up listening to traditional folk songs of Stratos Dionysiou, Yiannis Parios, Marinella and Haris Alexiou. Very quickly, at the age of 15, he realized his desire to become a singer. For the first time he sang at a nightclub in Patras, where in the summer of 1992 was discovered by executives of PolyGram Greece.

Giorgos Mazonakis' temperament, his unique interpretation and innovative views, changed the way of nightlife, with highly successful appearances at famous nightclubs in Athens.

At the same time, Mazonakis has made many appearances throughout Greece, Cyprus, Germany, Australia, and in several U.S. states including: New York, New Jersey, Atlantic City and Chicago. Also one of best hits was released in Italy on the occasion of the success there made the song "Mou Leipeis" (I miss you) song in an automobile ad campaign.

In 2002 the popular singer sang two songs of Stamatis Kraounakis on the soundtrack of the film by Nikos Panagiotopoulos titled Varethika Na Skotono tous Agapitikous Sou (I'm tired of killing your Boyfriends).

Mazonakis and Greek fashion house Deux Hommes collaborated at MadWalk by Vodafone. The Hurriyet, the largest circulation newspaper in Turkey, chose the nightclub Votanikos and George Mazonakis to present the nightlife of Athens. Mazonakis completed his appearances at Votanikos in March 2011 will visit Turkey after preparing a collaboration with a Turkish songwriter, continuing the cooperation that began with major Turkish songwriters in his latest album titled Ta Isia Anapoda.

Discography[link]

Studio albums[link]

All the albums listed underneath were released and charted in Greece.

Live albums[link]

CD singles[link]

Compilations[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• On MySpace