Vicky Leandros announces farewell to the stage

Vicky Leandros announces her departure from the stage – and before that she wants to go on tour again. "I think it's time to stop," Leandros told the "Bild" newspaper. "I turned 70 this summer. That's when you start thinking about the finite nature of life. At some point it has to be over.”

The "I love life" singer went on to say that she wanted to stop on her own terms - "and under no circumstances go on stage with a cane". A total of 13 concerts are planned for the coming year, Semmel Concerts Entertainment announced on Thursday evening.

Leandros, who lives on an estate in Schleswig-Holstein, will initially give two concerts in Hamburg's Elbphilharmonie in March - both are already sold out. In October she will then tour eleven other cities. Their last concert is planned for October 28th in Hanover.

The 70-year-old was born in Corfu and has mostly lived in Germany since 1958. The artist, supported by her father, the musician and producer Leo Leandros, had her first hit at the age of 13. "Knife, Fork, Scissors, Light" sold 50,000 copies.

But it was the song "Après toi" written by Leo Leandros and Klaus Munro that helped the young woman, who was trained in singing, guitar and ballet, to make her breakthrough. That was exactly 50 years ago - in 1972 for Luxembourg at the Grand Prix Eurovision de la Chanson. The single Dann kamst du (Après toi) sold 5.5 million copies worldwide.

But Leandros does not want to retire now: according to "Bild" she is currently working on a cookbook, wants to write her biography and is building a hotel in Athens. She is looking forward to the new phase of life, said the singer now. “My view of the future is thoroughly positive. That's why my farewell tour is also called "I love life". There is so much beauty and encouragement in the title.”