George Dalaras (Γιώργος Νταλάρας, 29 September 1949) is a Greek musician and singer. He is one of the most prominent figures of Greek musical culture. In October 2006, he was selected as a Goodwill Ambassador for the UN Refugee Agency. He was born in Piraeus. His first memories of music were the basic forms of Greek music, such as traditional, folk, rebetiko, laïka, which influenced him as an artist. In addition, he has performed many other music genres in several different languages, such as pop, rock, latin, contemporary, byzantine music, classical, opera etc. He has collaborated with many Greek and foreign artists (composers, poets, maestros, musicians, etc). In all, he has released almost 90 personal albums and has collaborated in more than 140 others as musician, singer or producer. He is the Greek artist who has performed the biggest concerts of all time, both in Greece and abroad. He has performed at some of the most famous concert halls and stadiums all over the world, and has collaborated with many of the most renowned symphonic orchestras of the world. He has received several honors and awards, including the "Kennedy" Award and the UNESCO Goodwill Ambassadorship. Early career Dalaras' first song, "Προσμονή" (Prosmoni, "expectation"), was recorded in 1967. The single never reached any popular status, in fact it was barely released. Dalaras even had to struggle to get into the studio, as ironically the day he began his studio career was the day that the Greek military junta took over the streets of Athens, and the roads were littered with tanks. After several appearances on various recordings as a guest singer, his debut album was released in early 1969, a self-titled album released on the Minos label. The recording included many compositions by Stavros Kouyioumtzis, who in the early years proved a fountain of help towards Dalaras achieving musical success. As Dalaras has said in various interviews, he owes the fact that he became a singer to Kouyioumtzis, who composed Dalaras' first songs. His relation with Kouyioumtzis remained friendly until the sudden death of the composer due to a heart attack in March 2005. The biggest hit of the record, "Που 'ναι τα χρόνια" (Pou 'ne ta chronia, "Where are the years?"), is still sung today, and is regarded as a mainstay in Dalaras' large repertoire. In 1970, he released the album "Να 'τανε το 21 " (Na 'tane to ikosi-ena,