Glykeria Kotsoula, known professionally as Glykeria, was born in 1953 in Agio Pnevma, Serres, Greece. She began her career in 1974 performing in Athens' Plaka music boites and released her debut album Μην Κάνεις Όνειρα (1978) under Lyra Music. In the early 1980s, Glykeria gained momentum with her solo album Τα Σμυρναίικα, featuring traditional songs from Smyrna. Her breakthrough came in 1982 when she represented Greece at the Europalia '82 festival in Brussels. The following year, her live album Με Τη Γλυκερία Στην Όμορφη Νύχτα broke musical sales records in Greece. In 1985, she released the double-disk album Τραγούδι Αισθηματικό, which included hits like "Magisses" and "Pentohiliara". Her international career took off with successful concerts in Israel, where she was proclaimed the most popular foreign singer and awarded the golden key of Jerusalem in 1994.
