[5] Tatlian was born in an Armenian family in Thessaloniki, Greece, on 1 August,[citation needed] 1943.
He studied guitar at the Sukhumi Philharmonia and before the age of 16 was already earning money from concerts in nearby republics, in which he performed songs by French and Italian chansonniers.
Around the same time, in the early 1960s, he had his first success, with the song "Street Lamps" ("Уличные фонари"), for which a video was shot and shown on television.
[10] Among the songs Tatlian is most known for are: "Street Lamps" ("Уличные фонари"), "Autumn Light" ("Осенний свет"), "Song About Water Drops [During a Thaw]" ("Песня о капели"), "Old Tower" ("Старая башня"), "Starry Night" ("Звёздная ночь"),[11][12] "Воздушные замки", "Бумажный голубь", "Осенние следы", "Ты поверь",[8] "Самая красивая", "Свет маяка", "Ласточка".
[13] He also was the original performer of the song "Best City in the World" ("Лучший город Земли", about Moscow) composed by Arno Babajanian and best known for the version sung by Muslim Magomaev, who recorded it a year later.