Yanni is a self-taught pianist who began his musical career by giving recitals for family members. Early in his life, he was also a competitive swimmer in Greece and set a national record in the 50-meter freestyle competition. He later attended the University of Minnesota and earned a B.A. in psychology. After graduation, Yanni chose to try a career in music, although he could not read music and had no formal training. Using his own form of musical shorthand, he began writing original works.
While a student at the University of Minnesota, Yanni joined an up-and-coming local group called Chameleon, which was headed by drummer Charlie Adams. [1] Chameleon earned some modest commercial success touring throughout the Midwest, particularly in the states of Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois and South Dakota. Eventually, Yanni grew tired of the rock and roll lifestyle and focused solely on his instrumental career as a soloist. He moved to Los Angeles and eventually formed a small band including Charlie Adams and John Tesh.
Dare to Dream was released in 1992. It was Yanni’s first Grammy-nominated album and featured "Aria", a song popularized by an award-winning British Airways commercial. A second Grammy-nominated album, In My Time, was released in 1993.
Yanni's breakthrough commercial success came with the release of his album and video, Yanni Live at the Acropolis, which was filmed on September 25, 1993 at the 2,000-year-old Herod Atticus Theater in Athens, Greece,[2] and released in 1994.
This was Yanni's first live album and utilized a full orchestra in addition to his core band. Under the supervision of conductor Shardad Rohani, the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra performed one of its most memorable and, as Shardad Rohani expressed at the end of concert, magical performances ever. Subsequently, the concert was broadcast in the US on PBS and quickly became one of their most popular programs ever. It has almost continuously remained on the charts since its release and is the second best-selling music video of all time, selling more than 7 million copies worldwide.
In March of 1997, Yanni became one of the few Western artists permitted to perform and record at the Taj Mahal in India. Later that year he performed at the Forbidden City in China. From these two events he created his next live album and video, Tribute which was released in 1997.
In 2000, after a two-year sabbatical, Yanni released his first studio album in seven years: If I Could Tell You.
Yanni also toured in 2003/2004 with the debut of the Ethnicity album extending his "One World, One People" philosophy.
He kicked off his 2004/2005 tour at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, Nevada, and his next live album and video, Yanni Live, The Concert Event was released in 2006.
