Born Tamar Mardirossian (Armenian: Թամար Մարտիրոսյան), better known by her artist name Tamar Kaprelian, was born in Scottsdale, Arizona to Armenian parents, but she grew up in Georgia and California. Kaprelian is her mother"s maiden name and she chose it in honor of her grandfather who died a few years before her career began.
She is best known for her single "New Day" and for winning the Cover Contest in March 2008 with "Apologize" by OneRepublic. She was selected to be part of Genealogy, a collective Armenian international music band to represent Armenia in 2015 Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna with the song "Face the Shadow". Tamar is incredibly proud of her heritage and she wants people to know that she is an Armenian.
Her great-grandparents are from Old Armenia.
They met in Egypt and moved to Manchester where they started an Armenian hotel/restaurant. Her interest in music began when she discovered the works of Billy Joel and Paul McCartney, although she also cites classic Disney film songs as an early influence.
Wax Limited produced her song "New Day," which went on to be her first single, and her first album Sinner or a Saint on Interscope records was released August 24, 2010. During 2010, she performed Development"s part of "Like a G6" with The Far East Movement at selected live performances.
Her first European Parliament, California, was released on June 19, 2012.
Tamar represented Armenia in Vienna at the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 along with Essaï Altounian, Vahe Tilbian, Stephanie Topalian, Mary-Jean O"Doherty Basmadjian, and Inga Arshakyan —all with Armenian backgrounds. After the contest, Kaprelian released a collaborative single "The Otherside" credited to Tamar Kaprelian featuring Elhaida Dani, Elina Born, Maria-Elena Kyriakou & Stephanie Topalian.
She became an Armenian citizen along with the other foreign members of Genealogy on 28 April 2015 after being given Armenian passports by President Serzh Sargsyan.
