Evángelos Odysséas Papathanassíou, better known by his stage name Vangelis, is dead. The composer and musician died on May 19, 2022 at the age of 79.
Born in Greece, Papathanassíou was not only regarded as a pioneer of electronic music, but also as one of the most well-known film composers of the 1980s. He created the soundtracks of films such as the sci-fi classic “Blade Runner” or “1492: Conquest of Paradise”. His most successful piece is the score for the 1981 film “Chariots of Fire” — whose classical-symphonic main theme became a classic worldwide as background music for heroic performance shows in sports. For this contribution he received an Academy Award in 1980, beating out, among others, “Raiders of the Lost Ark” by John Williams.
A look at Vangelis’ career
Music wasn’t his only passion: Papathanassíou actually first studied painting. Even if he goes down in history primarily for his work in film and electronic music: the musical work of Evangelos Odysséas Papathanassíou was more diversified. He worked with pop bands and initially devoted himself to genres such as rock and jazz. He played the Hammond organ in his first band, Aphrodite’s Child, and the band’s singer, Demis Roussos, also had a successful solo career after the split.
After he had his first successes as a film composer in Greece, he moved to London. He recorded a series of solo albums throughout the 1970s, beginning with the long-player Fais Que Ton Rêve Soit Plus Long Que la Nuit in 1972. He continued to release music until recently, with his latest album Juno To Jupiter being released in 2021.
Little was known privately about Papathanassíou. He stayed more in the background and rarely gave interviews. He has lived in France since the 1960s. He had also been treated there for a few weeks in the hospital for Covid 19 disease. Whether his death was related to this condition has not been confirmed.