Stelios Kazantzidis was one of the most prominent Greek singers. He was of Pontian and Asia Minor roots. A leading singer of Greek popular music, or Laïkó, he collaborated with many of Greece's foremost composers.

Laïko or laïkó is a Greek music genre composed in Greek language in accordance with the tradition of the Greek people. Also called "folk song" or "urban folk music", in its plural form is a Greek music genre which has taken many forms over the years. Laïkó followed after the commercialization of Rebetiko music. It is strongly dominated by Greek folk music and it is used to describe Greek popular music as a whole. When used in context, it refers mostly to the form it took in the period from the 1950s to the 1980s.