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Grigoris Bithikotsis
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Grigoris Bithikotsis passed away
 Grigoris
Bithikotsis was a great popular singer, with personality, prestige
and multi-faceted talent, while he performed non-stop for the last
55 years, thus becoming an inseparable part of the Greek music
culture.
Bithikotsis breathed his last at Igia Hospital, where had been
receiving treatment since January.
According to doctors treating
him, the 83-year-old folk bard had septicaemia and suffered multiple
organ failure.
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The great performer was loved by all Greeks and
his voice was associated with significant moments in contemporary
Greek music history. One of these moments was the uprising of the students of Athens against the Greek Junta.
Grigoris Bithikotsis prevailed as the top popular artist in the Greek music
scene for twenty years (1950-1970), both as a composer, as well
as a singer. His first collaboration with Mikis Theodorakis for
the work "Epitaphios" revolutionized Greek music and established
him as one of the greatest figures of his era, while it opened
the way to some of the most popular music halls in Athens.
In 2002, the President of the Hellenic Republic, Kostis Stefanopoulos,
awarded him the Phoenix Golden Cross for his overall contribution
to Greek culture. In March of the same year, the Greek Ministry
of Culture awarded him an honourary plaque, while it also organized
a concert dedicated to him, during which many musicians and singers
performed his songs.
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Listen to Grigoris Bithikotsis songs:
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