Sudden and sad news coming in from Greece today. Agathon Iakovidis, who represented the country at Eurovision 2013 passed away aged 65, after a heart attack.

Agathon Iakovidis was born in 1955 to parents from Asia Minor. Self-educated in musical instruments, he started working professionally with music in 1973 and since then he has been one of the most genuine representatives of the “rebetiko” music genre in Greece. His career started from Thessaloniki, the country’s second largest city, while he moved to Athens in 1981. However, he returned to Thessaloniki in 1987, where he lived until the end of his life.

He has collaborated with big names of the Greek music industry and has performed had been invited to throw concerts all over the world, namely in Europe, the United States and Australia.

Agathon Iakovidis at Eurovision

In 2013, the late Agathonas accepted the proposal of the Greek rock band Koza Mostra to compete at the Greek national selection event for the Eurovision Song Contest, with the song Alcohol is free. They managed to win the event and thus they earned the right to represent the country at that year’s Eurovision, held in Malmö, Sweden. They reached the final, where they ended up in an honourable 6th place with 152 points. This was the best Eurovision result for Greece over the last decade.

We would like to convey our most sincere condolences to the family and fans of Agathon Iakovidis. May his soul rest in peace…

Source: ert.gr