Singer-songwriter Lavrentis Machairitsas dies aged 63
Singer-songwriter Lavrentis Machairitsas has died aged 63, apparently of heart failure.
Machairitsas, who had been vacationing at his summer home in the area of Ptelos, Magnisia, was transferred to Volos hospital early on Monday morning and passed away at 6.30 a.m.,
The singer-songwriter recently performed with Nikos Portokaloglou and the pair had been schedueld to reappear together on Tuesday at the Herod Atticus for a charity concert for children.
After becoming involved in music at an early age and forming his first band, P.L.J., at the age of 20, Machairitsas started songwriting in his early 30s. Since then he collaborated with most of Greece's top artists including Maria Farantouri, Giorgos Dalaras, Dionysis Savvopoulos, Dimitra Galani, Dimitris Mitropanis, Vassilis Papakonstantinou and Eleftheria Arvanitaki.
Paying his respects in a message on Twitter, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis described Machairitsas as "a great songwriter" and "a wonderful person." "His music will be with us always."