Jiannis Pavlidis was born in Sweden. He lived in Stockholm from 1981-1990 and studied with Alvaro Is Rojas (formerly with Josephine Baker, Grady Tate, Joe Farrell) and Ola Bengtson (head of Jazz Department, Stockholm Royal Academy).
Through 1990-1994 he attended the Berklee College of Music having partial scholarship. He graduated with Magna Cum Laude and won the Professional Performance Achievement Division Award and studied guitar with Jon Damian and attended classes under the direction of Rick Peckham, Hal Crook, Fred Lipsius (Blood Sweat and Tears), as well as having external private lessons with Jerry Bergonzi.

He started working professionally in 1983 and since then he has performed across various music genres Sweden, USA, Serbia, Greece, Cyprus and England, with numerous appearances in live music venues, on Greek national TV and international festivals. Since 2003 he holds a MMus (Masters in Music Performance) through Leeds University.

Currently he is teaching as a principal lecturer on BA Jazz, BA Pop (principal studies, ensembles) at Leeds College of Music (2003-present). Many of his former students are pursuing a successful career within the UK music industry.

He has performed world renowned artists, such as Dave Liebman, Adam Nussbaum, Greg Hutchinson and Ari Hoenig.

His first album "Foreverlost" was released in 2008.