Vangelis RIP (1943-2022)

Vangelis Papathanassiou, the Greek composer of soundtracks for "Blade Runner" and "Chariots of Fire" has died aged 79. The world of music has lost the international artist. The reclusive, mostly self-taught keyboard wizard was a lifelong experimenter, switching from psychedelic rock and synthesizers to ethnic music and jazz. In a career spanning over five decades, Vangelis drew on space exploration, wildlife, futuristic architecture, the New Testament and the 1968 French student riots for inspiration. His Oscar-winning main theme for "Chariots of Fire" beat John Williams' score for the first Indiana Jones film in 1982. It reached the top of the US billboard and was an enduring hit in Britain, where it was used during the London 2012 Olympics medal presentation ceremonies. His work on over a dozen soundtracks included Costa-Gavras' "Missing", "Antarctica", "The Bounty", "1492: Conquest of Paradise", Roman Polanski's "Bitter Moon" and the Oliver Stone epic "Alexander". Born Evangelos Odysseas Papathanassiou on March 29, 1943 in the central Greek coastal town of Agria, near Volos, Vangelis was a child prodigy, performing his first piano concert at the age of six, despite never having taken formal lessons. After studying painting at the Athens School of Fine Arts, Vangelis joined popular Greek rock group The Forminx. But success was cut short in 1967 by the arrival of a military junta that clamped down on freedom of expression. Trying to get to England, he found himself stuck in Paris during the 1968 student movement, and joined fellow Greek expatriates Demis Roussos and Lucas Sideras in forming progressive rock group Aphrodite's Child. The group achieved cult status, selling millions of records with hits such as "Rain and Tears" before disbanding in 1972. Vangelis and Roussos both moved on to successful solo careers. Relocating to London in 1974, Vangelis created Nemo Studios, the "sound laboratory" that produced most of his solo albums for over a decade. He is a pioneer in synthesizer music, along with Kitaro, Jean Michel Jarre, and recently Hans Zimmer.  Listen to some of his incredible soundtracks on this YouTube clip.