Yanni

For years, world believed that Yanni has no children, but in April 2014, Yanni revealed that he has a daughter, namely, Krystal Ann, and introduced her then 32 year old daughter to the world.

Yanni was born as Yiannis Chryssomallis, on November 14, 1954, in Kalamata, Greece. As a child he developed his own way of writing music and continues to use his own signature 'musical shorthand' to compose pieces even today. He began to play piano as early as six and his parents allowed him to progress at his own pace.

In November of 1972 he moved to the United States to attend the University of Minnesota and majored in psychology. He played in a rock band during this time and discovered that music was his true calling.

Yanni worked with many bands in his early career before moving to Los Angeles to pursue soundtrack composition for movies and theater. In 1977, he played in the band, ‘Chameleon’, with drummer Charlie Adams, whom he would later go on to work with.

He produced his first solo album ‘Optimystique’ in 1980 and developed his unique musical sound. To promote this and other early albums, he went on tour with Charlie Adams and various other band members for several years before permanently relocating to Los Angeles.

His popularity began to grow in the early '90s with several high profile, TV and magazine appearances, including ‘The Oprah Winfrey Show’ and ‘People Magazine’. His relationship with actress Linda Evans helped to increase his visibility, but he soon became a celebrity in his own right.

Yanni's growing popularity launched him to the forefront of the New Age movement that swelled throughout the 1990s. He landed his first Grammy nomination for the 1992 album ‘Dare to Dream’, with his second nomination following the year after.

In 1997, he became one of the few western performers to play at the Taj Mahal and the Forbidden City. He negotiated these breakthrough concerts, completed a sweeping world tour and broke off his long term relationship with actress Linda Evans, and then took a two year hiatus from his musical career.

In September 1993, he recorded his first live album and breakthrough performance, ‘Yanni Live at the Acropolis’, which featured his core band backed by the 60 piece Royal Philharmonic orchestra. The broadcast aired on PBS and was one of their most popular shows of all time, while the music video became the second best-selling music video of all time behind Michael Jackson's ‘Thriller’.