Artemios (Demis) Ventouris Roussos (born June 15, 1946) is a Greek singer....(More)

Artemios (Demis) Ventouris Roussos (born June 15, 1946) is a Greek singer. He was born in Egypt to ethnic Greek parents George and Olga, and raised in Alexandria. His parents lost everything and moved to Greece after the Suez Crisis. His mother, Olga, is better known by her acting name, Nelly Mazloum.[1]. After settling in Greece, Demis participated in a series of musical groups beginning with The Idols when he was 17. After this he joined We Five (not the San Francisco, California folk-rock group), another covers band which had limited success in Greece. He came to a wider audience in 1968 when he joined progressive rock band Aphrodite's Child, initially as singer but later also playing bass guitar. His distinctive operatic vocal style helped propel the band to international success, notably on their final album 666, which became something of a cult classic. After the collapse of Aphrodite's Child, Roussos continued to record sporadically with his former bandmate Vangelis. In 1970 the two released Sex Power (although the album has also been disputably credited to Aphrodite's Child), also recording the 1977 album Magic together. Their most successful collaboration was Race to the End, a vocal adaptation of the musical theme from the Oscar winning film Chariots of Fire, and also sung in Spanish as "Tu Libertad", whilst Roussos also appeared as a guest on the soundtrack to Blade Runner (1982). Roussos also began a solo career following the collapse of the band, beginning with the song "We Shall Dance". Initially unsuccessful, he toured southern Europe and soon became a leading vocalist. His solo career peaked in the 1970s with several hit albums. His single, "Forever and Ever", topped the charts in several countries in 1973. Other hits were "My Friend the Wind", "My Reason", "Velvet Mornings", "Goodbye, My Love, Goodbye", "Someday" and "Lovely Lady of Arcadia". He was mentioned famously at Abigail's Party and made his first appearance on English-speaking TV on the Basil Brush Show. In 1980, Roussos had a hit with a cover of Air Supply's "Lost in Love", sung as a duet with Florence Warner and featuring a tenor sax solo by Dick Morrissey. (Less)