Vangelis is largely a self-taught artist. He never took music lessons and was barely able to read or write sheet music. In the 1960s, together with singer Demis Roussos, he was the founder of Aphrodite’s Child, a so-called progressive rock group.
In the 1970s, Vangelis went solo and concentrated more and more on film music. In 1982 he won an Oscar for his film score to “Chariots of Fire”, a year later he was awarded a Golden Globe for his music to “Blade Runner” and in the 90s he had a hit with “Conquest of Paradise”, a song also used in the movie “1492: Conquest of Paradise”, about the discovery of America.
Vangelis also wrote film scores for “Bitter Moon” by Roman Polanski, “Alexander” by Oliver Stone and “El Greco”.
Also known is his collaboration with Yes singer Jon Anderson. As Jon and Vangelis they had a hit with “I’ll find my way home”.
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