Dionysis Savvopoulos was a Greek music composer, lyricist, singer, producer, and writer. Born 2 December 1944 in Thessaloniki, Greece - Died 21 October 2025 in Athens, Greece.
He is considered the inspirer and pioneer of the school of the Greek singer-songwriters. His overall work forms a hybrid synthetic idiom, in which organic elements of Western classical music, Greek traditional and Byzantine modalism, rebetiko song, as well as the Anglo-Saxon folk and rock aesthetics of the 1960s coexist. He wrote songs with political, romantic, and satirical content. He became very popular, both in Greece and abroad.
In 1963, he hitchhiked on a red Volvo truck to Athens, terminating his law studies in favour of his career in music (the title of his debut album, "Φορτηγό", is an allusion to his hitchhiking experience). He took various odd jobs, including working as a nude model for students in the Athens School of Fine Arts and as a journalist in a newspaper. He often slept on benches.
From 1964 to 1966, he appeared in various night clubs, singing and playing his guitar. His cut a demo of four songs, recorded at Columbia Studio, with vocals by himself after Lyra director Alékos Patsifás insistence. That demo resulted in his first record release, "Ο Διονύσης Σαββόπουλος Με Την Κιθάρα Του Στα Τραγούδια Του".
He was noted for being politically active throughout his career in music. During the military junta, he was imprisoned twice for his political convictions, in August and September 1967. During his imprisonment he wrote the songs "Η Δημοσθένους Λέξις", "Η Θεία Μάρω" & "Θαλασσογραφία". After his release from prison, he married Άσπα Σαββοπούλου on 28 October 1967 and they immediately left for Paris, France (he with a fake passport). Later, in 1968, they moved to Milan, Italy and in October of the same year they returned to Greece due to his wife's pregnacy. The adventures abroad, along with songs written and completed in the immediate aftermath, formed the material for his second album, "Το περιβόλι του τρελλού".
Between December 1968 and 1971/2, he appeared at 'Rodeo' club and then, for two years (1971/2-1973/4) at Κύτταρο club, where he turned his appearances into a kind of multi-show. (Although never a member of Μπουρμπούλια, Savvopoulos found their name and they were his backing band from 1969 until 1972, playing in two of his records "Το Περιβόλι Του Τρελλού" (uncredited) and "Μπάλλος" (credited). They were his backing band at the 'Rodeo' club).
On 3 October 1976, he refused on stage to accept the award for best music for Παντελής Βούλγαρης' film "Happy Day", which was awarded to him by the jury of the Thessaloniki Film Festival.
In April 1983, he released his most commercially successful album, Τραπεζάκια έξω.
On 19 September 1983, he gave a concert at the Olympic Stadium, Athens, the first ever concert given at that venue.
He later became head of the Εταιρεία Γενικών Εκδόσεων Α.Ε.'s music production, introducing Βαγγέλης Γερμανός, Οπισθοδρομική Κομπανία, Ελευθερία Αρβανιτάκη and others to the public.
In 1986, he collaborated with ΕΡΤ (Ελληνική Ραδιοφωνία-Τηλεόραση) to produce the TV show "Ζήτω το Ελληνικό Τραγούδι".
His next album, Το κούρεμα, which was accompanied by a change in his political beliefs, caused a lot of negative reactions and criticism. His fanatical audience stopped following him and his appearances at the club 'Zoom' were held in front of a maximum of twenty people who disapproved of him and threw ten-drachma coins at him on stage. That situation forced him to leave for several months in New York City, where he appeared twice a week at the club 'Θίασος' in Manhattan. Upon his return, he appeared for two years on the stage of the club 9/8 amidst universal acceptance by the audience.
At the invitation of ΕΡΤ, he performed his song "Πρώτη Τού Δύο Χιλιάδες" right at the midnight of 1/1/2000 at the Herod Atticus Odeon, backed by the Συμφωνική Ορχήστρα Δήμου Αθηναίων.
On 24 November 2017, he was honoured by the Αριστοτέλειο Πανεπιστήμιο Θεσσαλονίκης, awarded an Honorary Doctorate of the Department of Philology of the School of Philosophy, in recognition of his long and distinguished contribution to Greek music and lyricism.
Grécia· Thessaloniki