Vangelis, the composer of Chariots Of Fire – one of the film’s most famous songs – has died at the age of 79.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis tweeted “Vangelis Papathanassiou is no longer among us”.
The country’s media said he died on Wednesday in a hospital in France.
Born Evangelos Odysseas Papathanassiou, he has also composed music for many other films and television shows, including Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner.
The 1981 Oscar-winning best film, Chariots Of Fire, gave him his breakthrough.
He earned the best initial score for Iconic musiccomes with famous slow motion scenes.
The opening piano lines and synthesizer use are instantly recognizable to millions of movie fans.
Vangelis had no formal musical training and, after playing with rock bands in Greece, left for Paris at the age of 25 after a coup in his homeland.
He developed a passion for electronic synthesizers – which were new at the time – and used them to create the melodious sounds that have become his trademark.
Vangelis had success in the early ’70s with a prog rock band called Aphrodite’s Child, but became disillusioned with the commercial pressures and retreated to a London studio.
That’s where the Chariots Of Fire music was made.
Followed by the Academy Award for the film’s hit as well as chart success; The score is in part to pay tribute to his father, who was once a sharp amateur athlete.
However, in an interview, he once called it “another piece of music” and it would overshadow his later work.
Among his other highlights were the score for the 1982 classic Blade Runner and the music for the Palme d’Or-winning Missing Man by Greek director Costa-Gavras.
Vangelis also writes for advertising campaigns and forms a duo, called Jon and Vangelis, with Jon Anderson from the prog rock group Yes.
