Vangelis, 'Chariots of Fire' and 'Blade Runner' Composer, Dies at 79

Vangelis — the Greek musician and composer known best for composing the scores of Chariots of Fire and Blade Runner — has died. Reuters reports that today, the Athens-Macedonian News Agency announced the artist passed away late Tuesday (May 17), citing an announcement from his lawyer's office. A cause of death was not revealed. He was 79.

Across a career of over 50 years, Vangelis came to be recognized for his work with orchestral, electronic, progressive rock and ambient styles, both as a solo recording artist and composer of soundtracks and scores. 

Born Evángelos Odysséas Papathanassíou, the artist began playing piano in his family home at age four, telling Keyboard magazine in 1982, "It was the first instrument I found in the house. Plus all the kitchen stuff, the bottles and pans. I would use them for percussion. I'd put water in glasses to make all these sounds: bing, bing, bing [hums descending scale]. When I was four years old I used to have a bed with tubes on the frame. I would put my bed in pieces, and blow into these tubes and do strange sounds ... But just one instrument, not enough. So I put nails in the piano, played on the strings, banged on the keys, making incredible sounds come out."

Vangelis was largely a self-taught musician, objecting to formal music education. He explained to Keyboard, "I always believed that there are things you never can learn, and I never liked the idea of becoming a computer or a performer performing someone else's compositions. To me, music was more fundamental and more important than the thought of becoming a musician. I never felt like a musician. I don't feel like one now. Music to me is nature. It is not a music school; it is not a kind of job; that to me seems completely schizophrenic. You can learn some technical things in school, but the best thing is to build your own technique. You want to do your own thing, which is the way that you feel."

Developing an interest in jazz and rock in young adulthood, Vangelis acquired a Hammond organ at 18, and would find early success as a member of Greek rock bands the Forminx and Aphrodite's Child. The latter outfit would release three albums with Vangelis playing flute and keyboards, the most acclaimed being final release 666, a conceptual double album based on the Book of Revelation that arrived in 1972 after the band had already broken up. 

"It was too sophisticated for the group," Vangelis would tell UK weekly Sounds of 666 in 1974. "I realized that I couldn't follow the commercial way anymore, it was very boring. You have to do something like that in the beginning for showbiz, but after you start doing the same thing everyday you can't continue."

Vangelis would also begin scoring films concurrently alongside those early band projects, in addition to writing and producing for other Greek artists. In the 1970s, he continued composing for film, television, and theatre projects while making his solo debut with 1972's Fais que ton rêve soit plus long que la nuit (Make Your Dream Last Longer Than the Night), a "symphonic poem" composed in solidarity with demonstrators in the 1968 French student riots.

In the mid-'70s, Vangelis would audition to become a member of English progressive rock band Yes, who were looking to replace departing keyboardist Rick Wakeman. He would ultimately decline, telling Keyboard in 1982, "I never really admired the band very much. I never felt that compatible with them. Yes used to be very good, but I never felt that their music fit well with the way I think. I don't know. To me, Yes was a little bit of patchwork. They've done great things and had a great career, but I never felt like being a part of the group."

Despite saying no to Yes, Vangelis would move to the group's home of London, UK, to build his new musical home, dubbed Nemo Studios. Signing a recording contract with RCA Records in 1975, the first album to come from Nemo was that year's Heaven and Hell. The effort also marked his first collaboration with Yes' then-vocalist Jon Anderson, ahead of the two releasing four records as Jon and Vangelis in the '80s: 1980's Short Stories, 1981's The Friends of Mr. Cairo, 1983's Private Collection and 1991's Page of Life.

Nemo Studios was also where Vangelis composed two of his most renowned collections of film music. His score for Chariots of Fire, the 1981 sports drama directed by Hugh Hudson, won four Academy Awards including Best Picture and Original Music Score. The film's well-known opening theme held the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 for a week in May 1982, remaining the only piece by a Greek artist to top the US charts.


Vangelis recorded, mixed and produced the music for Ridley Scott's Blade Runner at the London studio, and was nominated for nominated for a BAFTA and Golden Globe for Best Original Score in 1983. The synth-heavy score did not receive an official release for over a decade, first arriving in 1994 both omitting much of the film's score, while including compositions not featured in the film.

Vangelis continued to build out his catalogue of scores and solo releases throughout the '90s and '00s, releasing what would be his final studio album, Juno to Jupiter, in September of last year. In 2015, the artist was revealed to be collaborating with Wu-Tang Clan's GZA, having cancelled an entire European tour to get in-studio with the legendary musical mind.

Find tributes to Vangelis from Flying Lotus, El-P, Weyes Blood, Hudson Mohawke and more below.