The Oscar-winning keyboard whizz behind some of the most memorable movie music has died. Vangelis was 79.
Born Evángelos Odysséas Papathanassíou in 1943, Vangelis grew up in Athens and formed his first band in 1963, called the Forminx, who were best known for covering the pop music of the time, most notably The Beatles.
When the band split in 1966, Vangelis shifted to become a writer and producer for hire, working on scores for Greek films. To have a crack at building his own career, he moved to Paris, forming prog rock quartet Aphrodite's Child alongside fellow Greek expats such as Demis Roussos.
Yet Vangelis tired of the world of commercial pop and once Aphrodite's Child disbanded, he switched back to scoring movies and TV shows, while also becoming a solo artist and moving once again, this time to London. His work of the time, including album 'Heaven And Hell' made it into the Top 40 and that music in particular was used to score Carl Sagan's Cosmos TV series.
Continuing his score work, it was in the 1980s that the composer saw the height of is success, and he won an Oscar for the soundtrack to 1981's Chariots Of Fire. The music has become synonymous and well-used. It also caught the attention of Ridley Scott, who had him work on the score for Blade Runner, which helped bring to life the future Los Angeles seen on screen.
He worked again with Scott on 1492: Conquest Of Paradise, and would contribute music to a variety of movies including The Bounty, Francesco, Alexander and Bitter Moon. His most recent score was for 2007's El Greco, a biopic of the Greek artist. Along with his screen work, he was commissioned by a number of sporting bodies to soundtrack major events, including 2000's Sydney Olympic Games, the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea, and the 2004 Olympics in Athens.
"Music is the most multidimensional knowledge we have," he once said. "It's as specific as nature can be. Any form nature takes contains a specific sound combination. Music is a language. It's a memory of the cosmic system, a memory of past and future. Above all it's science not entertainment." It might have been science for him, but he also made it high art.