Yanni

Remember when references to Yanni were synonymous with “weird, boring, and probably terrible music that seemingly nobody likes and yet is really popular” in pop culture? You don’t really hear about the follically gifted new-age minstrel that much anymore, but the man has been active musically, releasing the not-quite-enticingly titled Yanni Mexicanisimo in 2010, and Truth Of Touch in 2011. Non-musically, and certainly more interestingly, Yanni has been a constant advocate for PBS and the World Wildlife Fund, who allowed him to be the first Westerner to symbolically adopt a giant panda—for the “inspiration and harmony that derives from his music.”

Updated 04/18/2012