Almost the whole of Greece is listening to Giorgos Mazonakis right now. The first nine songs on Spotify’s official Top 50 chart in Greece all belong to him, and his voice appears on 28 of the list’s 50 tracks in total. Leading the surge is “Ores Mikres,” which recorded more than two and a half million additional streams within days of the popular singer’s death on Wednesday, September 9.
Close behind is “Oinopnevma Ftheno,” followed by “Aniko se Mena” — the song that has, fittingly, become the anthem most of his fellow artists have chosen to honor him with, even if those who opted for “Ores Mikres” instead, such as Ioulia Karapataki, may have made the more striking impression.
According to official figures from IFPI Greece, his total streams multiplied sevenfold in the first 24 hours after his death. His monthly Spotify listeners nearly doubled, now surpassing 1.4 million. Notably, many of the songs seeing the sharpest posthumous rise in streams and views were released during the final decade of his career — a pattern that may point to how deeply that later repertoire has taken root with a younger audience. It’s also possible that listeners who once dismissed him as “too mainstream” are discovering, through this renewed attention, just how well-crafted some of those songs really are.
The news of his death reshaped his airplay profile within hours, according to Media Inspector data. On September 10 — the first full day after his passing — airplay jumped 253% above the previous daily average. Over the following week, broadcasts rose 148% compared to the equivalent seven-day period beforehand.
The shift wasn’t confined to his best-known hits. Older tracks flooded back onto the airwaves as well: “Thelo na Yiriso sta Palia” saw its daily airplay rate climb nearly ninefold (+798%), “Fevgo gia ‘Mena” rose by 675%, and “Aniko se ‘Mena” by 614%, while “Ores Mikres” itself gained around 295%.
Internationally, Mazonakis climbed to 40th place on Kworb’s Global Digital Artist Ranking.
