Nino was born in Stockholm, Sweden on 29 June 1981, and shortly after moved with his family to Rhodes. Nino's first experience with music was at age 3, when his parents gave him a piano as a gift. At a young age Nino wrote his first song, titled "Eisai To Pio Omorfo Pou Iprahi" (You are the most beautiful that exists), dedicated to his mother, who he had a sweet spot for. There after, Nino learned how to play Harmonium, guitar (electric classical), drums, harmonica, accordion, and bass by the age of 16. His first real performance was at age 15 live at a night club, were he gained impressions. Nino started to take music seriously at the age 16. After school, Nino moved to Athens to pursued a music career, where he attended various auditions, while also attending college for sound designing at the same time. Shortly after, Nino accepted to perform at a large night club back in Rhodes, and moved back. After a successful concert-series, Nino then went on and performed in Patra.
Career
2002-2003: Fame Story era
After a few years of performing at small venues, Nino decided to audition for the first season of "Fame Story". His participation in Fame Story proved to be successful, making him one of the most popular new images of the greek music scene, with many fans across Greece. He became know for his melodic and special connotation of his voice, for his fresh presence and his strong personality.
2004: After Fame Story & Debut album
After being eliminated from "Fame Story" Nino had many offers from various greek labels, but finally decided to sign with Heaven Music. During the winter season of 2003-2004, Nino appeared along side Anna Vissi, Konstantinos Christoforou, and Hi-5 for a series of concert at club "Diogenis Studio". Follow those appearances, during the early half of 2004, Nino appeared along side Apostolia Zoi, Elena Paparizou, and Thanos Petrelis in a series of concerts at club Thalassa. In July 2004, Nino released his debut album titled Nino, Nino, Nino. The album contained 13 songs, mostly love ballads, along with songs containing folk and pop elements. The music for seven of the songs were penned by the then up-and-coming composer Kyriakos Papadopoulos. Additionally, music was penned by Christoforos Germenis and Takis Damaschis while two songs from the album were also penned by Grigoris Petrakos, who emerged from "Fame Story" also. The lyrics were written by Vasilis Yiannopoulos, while Natalia Germanou wrote the lyrics for the song "Horis Na Se Ksero" (Without knowing) based on an idea of Nino's. The production manager was Antonis Gounaris. The album debuted at No.1 on Greek Album Chart and after 3 weeks it was certified gold selling more than 20,000 copies. The album spawned many airplay hits such as "Kalimera" (Good morning), "Sa Navagoi", "As Telionoume" (Let's end this) and after 3 months of its release it became Platinum. Reception of the album was generally well perceived, while a magazine wrote "The El Nino phenomenon has just reached". For the winter season, Nino appeared alongside Peggy Zina and Kostas Karafotis for a series of concerts at club "Apollon" in Athens.
2005-2006: Ilikrinis and Epireastika
During the first half of 2005, Nino accompanied Peggy Zina for part of her world tour to Australia and the United Kingdom. Following the success of his debut album, Nino started working on his second album. Nino returned in November 2005 with a more mature sounding album titled Ilikrinis (Honest), containing 15 songs. The album featured more laika than his previous album, while he collaborated with many producers such as Christoforos Germenis, Christos Basios, Constantinos Pantzis, Stratos Diamantis, and Marios Psimopoulos. The lyrics were written by Vasilis Yannopoulos, Evi Droutsa, John Bagoulis, Margarita, Giannis Liontos, Christina Soldatou, Andreas Bonatsos and Vasilis Theodorakoglou. Nino collaborated with his idol Stamatis Gonidis who wrote two songs. The first single from the album was "Fovamai" (I'm Scared), which gained substantial airplay. "Gia Na Eimai Ilikrinis" (To be honest) and "Sexy" were further released as radio singles. The album was certified gold.
In March 2006, Nino released his third studio album Epireastika (Influenced), which included 11 songs. The cover of the album depicted Nino as a statue after special treatment, while it was notable for differing from traditional album covers that the greek audience was accustomed to until that point. Music was penned by Christoforos Germenis, Dimitris Paraskevopoulos, Vangelis Tountas, Andreas Lambrou, Harry K, Marios Psimopoulos, Evi Droutsa, Philip Elias, Michael Favios and Grigoris Petrakos. Stamatis Gonidis wrote two more songs, while the collaborated successfully for a series of concerts all winter long at club "Thalassa". The first single "Erota Mou" (My love) was a radio hit, while the music video was criticized for being too graphic. The music video depicted Nino and a woman simulating sex and received an X rating (inadequate for minors), the most severe rating on greek television. Though the clip mostly was filmed above waist and did not show any frontal nudity, it is one of the only greek music videos to date to include a rating symbol when played on television. "Epireastika" (Influenced) and "Pethaino" (I die) were also released as singles from the album . Though the album reached number 3 on the greek charts, it is not considered as successful as his past albums as it did not gain a certification.
In September 2006, Nino accompanied Natassa Theodoridou on tour to the United States and Canada. For promotion of the album, Nino appereared along side Elena Paparizou and Pashalis Terzis for a series of concerts at club "Iera Odos" in Athens during the winter season. Following those appearances, the show moved to club "Odeon" in Thessaloniki during the first half of 2007.
2007-present: Thavmata and I Parastasi Arhizei
In May 2007, Nino and his brother were attacked near Thessaloniki's airport. Two people on a motorcycle shot the car in which the two brothers were riding in seventeen times with a Kalashnikov gun. No was injured in the event, and according to police, the incident occurred in the provincial road of Thessaloniki, Nea Michaniona. The motorcycle driver and another passenger approached the car and began to shoot. The driver and the accompanying motorcycle then disappeared while police found seven bullets in the area.
A half year after the release of his third album, Nino released his fourth album titled Thavmata (Miracles) on October 29, 2007. Many well-known producers collaborated with Nino on the album, including Akis Deiximos, Antonis Pappas, Takis Bougas, Nikos Gritsi, Viki Gerothodorou, Nino Vangelis Tountas, Evi Droutsa, Andreas Bonatsos, Stelios Maris and Eleni Giannatsoulia. Nino also had a hand in writing many of the songs himself. For the cover, Nino was photographed on the stage of the club he was appearing at during that time period. The first single was "Thavmata" which received some success on the radio.
On October 31, 2007, Nino appeared with Elena Paparizou for a concert in Cyprus at "Eleftheria Stadium". During the first half-middle of 2008, Nino appeared alongside Chrispa and Andreas Stamos at club "Thalassa" in Athens for the promotion of his album. During the winter season, Nino once again reunited with Peggy Zina and Kostas Karafotis for a series of concerts at club "VOX" in Athens.
At the start of 2009, Nino took a break from music to complete his fulfill service in the Hellenic Army in Rhodes, which was completed in January 2010. Nino took a Leave of absence in June 2009 and performed a cover of the song "I Kissed a Girl" with the band Kokkina Hallia at the 2009 MAD Video Music Awards.
Nino's fifth studio album I Parastasi Arhizei (The show begins) was released on November 22, 2009. The album, originally planned to be released in October 2008, was delayed due to a rift created between Nino and Heaven Music after his unwillingness to renew his contract with the label. Nino's contract with the label ended in November 2009, forcing the label to release the album as stipulated under their contract. The album, which contains 11 songs, was released via Espresso newspaper as a bonus when purchasing the newspaper. Composers on the album include Nino, Konstantinos Pantzis, Stamatis Gonidis, Kostas Spiliotopoulos, Vasilis Theodorakoglou, and Panagiotis Giatrakos. Lyricists on the album include Nino, Stamatis Gonidis, Mihalis Rados, and Vasilis Theodorakoglou. The album was released with no promotion, and will not be further promoted by the label.
On December 11, 2009, Nino officially signed a five-year contract with Greek songwriter Phoebus's new record label. Nino had previously collaborated with Phoebus for a song on Elli Kokkinou's album "Sto Kokkino".
On May 14, 2010, Nino released his first single from his new label titled "Theos" (God), exclusively on Dromos FM. Nino performed the song live on May 19, 2010 at the Playmate 2010 beauty contest aired by Star Channel . The song was later released the next day as a music download on May 20, 2010.
A second single titled "14 Flevari" (February 14) followed on January 27, 2011.