- Born
- Died
- Birth nameEvangelos Odysseus Papathanassiou
- Vangelis was a composer and performer who worked almost exclusively with electronic instruments. With Jean-Michel Jarre and Mike Oldfield in the 1970s, Vangelis was a pioneer in the instrumental music and a main influence in the creation of the musical genre "new age," a style related to spiritual, meditation, relaxing ambient sounds as well as sounds from outer space. He was probably most well known for his Les Chariots de feu (1981), Blade Runner (1982), Le Bounty (1984) and 1492 : Christophe Colomb (1992) soundtracks or for the tracks used in the documentary TV series Cosmos (1980) created, produced and hosted by scientist Carl Sagan. Vangelis was involved in many musical collaborations, most famously with British progressive rock band Yes's founding member Jon Anderson.- IMDb mini biography by: Keith Gregoire <keith@celtech.com>
- Electronic music in an orchestral style
- A self taught musician, Vangelis began composing at the age of four, but could not read or write musical notation.
- Contrary to popular opinion, the "g" in Vangelis is hard, (as in the word, "angle") and not soft (as in "angel")
- He has composed The Official FIFA World Cup 2002 Anthem.
- Was asked by his collaborator to replace Rick Wakeman on keyboards in Anderson's band Yes. Vangelis refused, perhaps for the better, citing that becoming a supporting member of a band would stifle his creativity and style.
- Member of the 'Official Competition' jury at the 44th Cannes International Film Festival in 1991.
- "I function as a channel through which music emerges from the chaos of noise." - September, 1988, "Direct" liner notes.
- Well I think that technology and music have always been together and I think music is science anyway.
- When asked why he had not had children: Because of the amount of travelling I do and the nonsense of the music business, I couldn't take care of a child in the way I think it should be taken care of.
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