Nikos Xylouris, also known as the nicknamed Psaronikos or the honorary designation Archangel of Crete, was a Greek musician and singer.
He was born on July 7, 1936, in the mountain village of Anogia Mylopotamos, Rethymno, Crete, from a family with musical tradition and many musicians of Lyra. His brothers are the well-known musicians of Cretan music, Antonis Xylouris (Psarantonis) and Giannis Xylouris (Psarogiannis).
At a young age, with the help of his teacher, he managed to persuade his father to buy his first Lyra and quickly began playing at weddings and festivals. In 1953, he decided to move to Heraklion, where he found work in a fun center called “Castle”. At that time, the music followed more European streams, such as tango, waltz, rumba, samba, etc, musical species unknown to Xylouris, which made it difficult for him to be known.
On 21st of November 1958, he marries his wife Urania Melambianaki. In the meantime, its upward course continues. Its purpose is to learn the world of the songs of Crete outside its borders. In November 1958 he recorded his first record with the company “Odeon” under the title “A Woman in black that passes”, taking as a salary of 150 drachmas! The record is successful and his company helps him to make others, by taking him out of the difficult days.
In 1966, the state chooses and sends Nikos Xylouris to a local music competition in Sanremo, Italy, where among the dozens of bands from all over the world he receives the first prize for his interpretation of the syrtaki, played with the Lyra. The famous player of Lyra of Crete, after much effort and effort, opens his wings and becomes known all over Greece.
During the dictatorship, he began appearances with Giannis Markopoulos at Buath “Ledra” and his voice became a symbol of resistance. During those years he collaborated with songwriter Thanassis Geafalia in the plaid boot and concerts all over Greece. His voice and ethos marked the years of the junta, the resistance to it, and the early years of the political changeover.
At the peak of his career, Nikos Xylouris realized he had cancer and, more specifically, tumor in the lungs with metastasis in the brain. After a big fight, multiple surgeries, a trip to New York’s Memorial Hospital and a lot of hassle lost the battle at the Piraeus Anti-Cancer Hospital on February 8, 1980, just 43 years old.
