Born in Thessaloniki into a family of Pontian origins, Nikolaou began his career as a singer in 1970, performing in the stage musical Dilina.

[2] In 1973 she started collaborating on stage and in studio with Vassilis Tsitsanis.

[3] She got her breakout thanks to the collaboration with Yannis Markopoulos in three successful albums released between 1974 and 1975.

[3] In 1977, she released her first solo album Χαμόγελο της Λιζέτας ("Smile of Lizeta"), which included songs by Tsitsanis, Markopoulos, Giannis Spanos, and Dimos Moutsis.

[2] She died from the consequences of a fall from a shop staircase in which she severely hit her head on 11 August 2023, at the age of 74.