Yanni was born November 14 1954 in Kalamata(5 miles south of Athens)Greece to Satiris and Felitsa Hrisomallis.
At the age of 14, Yanni broke a national swimming record in Greece and dreamed of becoming an olympic swimmer.
He came to the U.S. in 1972 and attended university of Minnesota, earning a BA in psychology.
After college, Yanni was the keyboardist for a minneapolis-based rock band called Chameleon.
He is now an American citizen, he has his own recording studio, and has sold over 10 million albums.
Being a self-taught musician, Yanni can neither read nor write music, but rather writes his compositions in his own special shorthand. He has perfect pitch and composes all of his own music.
He divides his time between Los Angeles and the Seattle area.
