She is the daughter of singer, musician and composer Leandros Papathanasiou, also known as Leo Leandros as well as Mario Panas). In 1967 she achieved worldwide fame after gaining fourth place for the country of Luxembourg in the Eurovision Song Contest with the song “L’amour est bleu“, which became a worldwide hit. She further established her career by winning the Eurovision Song Contest in 1972 with the song “Après Toi“, again representing Luxembourg.

On 15 October 2006 Vicky Leandros was elected town councilor of the Greek harbor town of Piraeus on the Pasok list. Her task concerned the Cultural and International development of Piraeus. She was also Deputy Mayor of Piraeus. It was announced in June 2008 that Leandros decided to leave her position in Greek politics with immediate effect stating that she had underestimated the work load and time needed to fulfil her political obligations and that it had become impossible to combine those duties with her singing career.