Demis Roussos

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Artemios "Demis" Ventouris-Roussos (15 June 1946 – 25 January 2015) was a Greek vocalist and performer who had an internationally acclaimed career, as a single recording artist and bandleader.

As a band member he is best remembered for his work in the progressive rock music act Aphrodite's Child, but as a vocal soloist, his repertoire included hit songs like ‘’Goodbye, My Love, Goodbye’’, ’’From Souvenirs to Souvenirs’’ and ’’Forever and Ever’’. Roussos sold over 60 million albums worldwide and became "an unlikely kaftan-wearing sex symbol".

Early life

Roussos was born and raised in Alexandria, Egypt, in a Greek family. His father George (Yorgos) Roussos was a classical guitarist and an engineer and his mother Olga participated with her husband in an amateur theatrical Greek group in Alexandria (there were three such groups in the Greek community); her family originally came from Greece. As a child, he studied music and joined the Greek Church Byzantine choir in Alexandria. His formative years in the ancient port city's cosmopolitan atmosphere were influenced by jazz, but also traditional Arab and Greek Orthodox music. His parents lost their possessions during the Suez Crisis and consequently decided to move to Greece.

Personal life

Roussos was married three or possibly four times. He had a daughter, Emily, with his first wife, Monique. With his second wife, Dominique, he had a son, Cyril. Both of Roussos' children are musicians. His third wife, the American model Pamela Smith, now Pamela Roussos-Rațiu (wife of the Romanian businessman Indrei Rațiu, married in 2004), was with him during the 1985 TWA plane hijacking incident. His fourth, and last, wife was a Parisian named Marie.

Roussos listed Mozart and Sting among his favourite composers.

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Musical career

Roussos, a Greek immigrant, was involved in a string of musical groups beginning with the Idols, where he met Evángelis Papathanassou (later known as Vangelis) and Loukas Sideras, his future bandmates in Aphrodite's Child. He formed We Five, a Athens-based cover band that had limited success in Greece, after this.

Roussos first appeared in 1967 in The Aphrodite's Child, with Vangelis and Sideras, first as a guitarist but later on, he became known for his commercial success in France and other areas of Europe from 1968 to 1972. They began to explore London and the international music scene, but they were turned down at Dover due to visa issues. They retreated to Paris, where they decided to remain, in the midst of a record deal with Philips Records. They were postponed due to the general strike of May 1968, but the album "Rain and Tears" was released throughout Europe later this year. The song appeared on the album End of the World in October. Roussos's unusual high tenor was composed by Vangelis and Boris Bergman, a French lyricist. The song was only a minor success in the United Kingdom, but it was also very popular in other countries. Roussos' operatic vocal style aided the band in its international success, particularly on their final album 666, which was based on passages from the Book of Revelation, which became a progressive rock cult masterpiece.

Roussos continued to record sporadically with his former bandmate Vangelis after Aphrodite's Child disbanded. The two released the film score album Sex Power in 1970 (the album has also been attributed to Aphrodite's Child) and later released the 1977 album Magic together. "Race to the End" (also sung in Spanish as "Tu Libertad"), a vocal adaptation of the Oscar-winning film Chariots of Fire's musical theme (scored by Vangelis). Roussos appeared on Vangelis' soundtrack to Blade Runner (1982), "Damask Rose," "Taffey's Snake Pit Bar," and "On the Trail of Nexus 6" (several only available in non-bootleg form on the 29th Anniversary Limited Edition CD set first released in 2011).

Solo career

Roussos began his career with the album "We Shall Dance" in 1971, which was a top ten hit in both the Netherlands and Belgium. He toured around Europe and became a well-known artist, but he was initially unsuccessful. With several hit songs, his solo career hit the mid 1970s. In 1973, his album "Forever and Ever" topped the charts in several countries. It was no. In 1976, he ranked No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart. "My Friend the Wind," "My Reason," "Velvet Mornings," "Goodbye My Love, Goodbye," "Somewhere" and "Lovely Lady of Arcadia were among Roussos' hits, including "My Mother of Arcadia." David Lewis, a Northern Irishman, wrote "Bright to be on a Sun Island in the Sun" in 1975, his first UK single to chart, with the record achieving No. 1 position. On the charts, there are 5 top performers. His fame in the rest of Europe, but not in the United Kingdom, came from BBC TV producer John King, who produced a film called "The Roussos Phenomenon" in 1976. Philips Records released a four-song album of the same name, the first extended play to top the UK singles chart. He was equally popular in Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, and Japan.

Roussos appeared on Nana Mouskouri's television show in the United Kingdom in 1973 on one of his first television appearances on The Basil Brush Show. In 1978, he had his first disco hit, "L-O-V-E (Got A Hold Of Me)" (Got Ahold Of Me). In 1980, he had a blast with a copy of Air Supply's "Lost in Love," sung as a duet with Florence Warner.

Roussos' hit streak began in the 1980s, with a number two, "Quand je aime" in 1988 and "On écrit sur les murs" in 1989, as well as golden records for the albums Le Grec and Voice and Vision. His Christmas Album and Greatest Hits also received gold awards in France, Belgium, and the Netherlands. He recorded the song "Young Love," a duet with German singer and songwriter Dr. Jeremy Grier, which was released as a single in Germany and reached No. 1 in 1989. In October that year, 2 on the German music TV show ZDF-Hitparade premiered. He released an album named Demis in 1982, on which Jon Anderson of Yes collaborated, writing one song music and lyrics, writing lyrics on two others, the first one Song For The Free and the other one Race to the end with Vangelis. This song is actually a recap of Vangelis' hit, Chariots of Fire, on which Jon Anderson wrote the Demis lyrics.

Roussos had even more notable introductions in the 1990s. He published "Insight" (also called "Morning Has Broken) in 1993, a general acclaim. "Immortel," "Serenade" and "In Holland" followed him after he partnered with BR Music in the Netherlands to produce "Immortel," "Serenade" and "In Holland."

Roussos continued to record and tour. He toured England in 2002 during a "best of" collection he created, Forever and Ever, the Definitive Collection, sold out. His voice was also noted to have changed with "the trilling vibrato having morphed into a husky, and at times guttural whisper," according to a UK Albums Chart author, who had remained at 17 on the UK Albums Chart, although his voice was still "the trilling vibrato had muttered into a husky, and at times guttural whisper."

In recent years, he has appeared in Russia and the UAE. He performed in a variety of churches around Greece and elsewhere, including France, as a dedicated follower of the Greek Orthodox faith.

Demis Roussos – Live in Brasil, 2006 – almost 30 years after "Você Você e Nada Mais," a Portuguese hit in 1977, he released Demis Roussos – a Brazilian hit. He appeared on the 'Gone Tendre et Têtes de Bois tour, a series of concerts featuring French singers from the 1960s and 1970s, from 2006 to 2008.

Roussos made a comeback in 2009, whenin he released Demis, his last studio album produced by Marc di Domenico, on May 11th. Virgil, Steve Howe's son, appears on this album, plays drums.

Roussos chose the tracks for an official CD compilation of his life's work, including notes by his two children Emily and Cyril, just one month before his death. Demis Rousso Collected, a compilation of Demis Roussos Collected, was first released in March 2015. It became the most popular album on the Belgian charts and ranked at number 61 in the Netherlands, making it the country's highest-selling single.

Demis Roussos appeared on several songs with Michel Elefteriades that were rearranged in an oriental fusion; the project was called Demis Roussos & the Oriental Roots Orchestra. This project was first unveiled at the Mediterraneo Byblos Festival in 2001 and immediately after, it became an international success in the Arab world, which was later staged in Egypt and Qatar. Roussos also wrote, wrote, and arranged the song "The Beast," which was also edited and arranged, as well as the video for it.

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Awards and honours

• Asteroid 279226 Demisroussos, discovered by Russian amateur astronomer Timur Krjačko at the Zelenchukskaya Station in 2009, was named in his honor. The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 14 May 2014 (MPC 88407).