Vangelis and cast members watch the Olympic torch pass the Gielgud Theater, London 26 July 2012.
Vangelis (b. 29 March 1943, d. 17 May 2022) was a Greek musician, composer, and producer. He began his music career in the 1960s with the Greek progressive rock band Aphrodite's Child and in the 1970s began composing electronic music. He gained wide mainstream popularity after composing soundtracks to the films Chariots of Fire (1981) and Blade Runner (1982).[1] His solo career discography consists of 23 studio albums, 26 compilation albums, 12 soundtrack albums, and roughly 29 singles. The majority of his film, documentary, theatre, and ballet & dance scores were not released or officially released. He also collaborated with Jon Anderson and as a duo, Jon and Vangelis, released 4 studio albums, 2 compilations, and 13 singles, and with Irene Papas released two studio albums.
His solo studio album Heaven and Hell (1975) was his UK chart debut (#31), while Albedo 0.39 (1976) his first top 20 album. His best selling studio albums are China (1979), certified silver for selling over 60,000 copies by BPI, Voices (1995) selling almost 300,000 certified copies in Germany and Austria, and Mythodea (2001) certified platinum in Greece and silver in Portugal. His compilation albums also had good sales, with Themes (1989) selling over 445,000 copies, Portraits (So Long Ago, So Clear) (1996) selling over a million copies in Europe, and Odyssey: The Definitive Collection (2003) over 110,000 copies. His best selling soundtracks are Opéra sauvage (1979) which reached #42 on the Billboard 200 and stayed in the charts for 39 weeks, Chariots of Fire (1981) which topped the Billboard 200 for 4 weeks and sold 2 million copies worldwide, Blade Runner (1994) which sold over 250,000 copies, 1492: Conquest of Paradise (1992) which topped the charts in Europe and sold 3 million copies worldwide, and Alexander (2004) which was certified platinum in Hungary.
"—" denotes releases that did not chart or receive certification.
Unofficial albums
Strictly not bootleg recordings as they appeared on a label, but they were released without Vangelis' permission and were later withdrawn from the market.
(2007) Blade Runner Trilogy. 25th Anniversary; 3-CD set featuring the remastered 1994 release, previously unreleased music from the film, and new music inspired by the film
(2008) Świadectwo - muzyka filmowa - for the Polish-Italian film Świadectwo by Paweł Pitera
Vangelis - Part 1: "Sanctus" (4:34), "In Aeternitatem" (1:58), "Humanum Est" (3:08); all other tracks by Robert Janson
Limited release albums
(1984) Silent Portraits - LP album in a book of portraits - print run: 600
(1995) Foros Timis Ston Greco - CD album included in a book about Greek painter El Greco - print run: 3,000; later expanded and put in general release as El Greco (1998)
(1998) Microneurosurgery with video tapes - 3 VHS included in a book of Microneurosurgery by Doctor Stergios Tegos
(1984) The Bounty by Roger Donaldson (UK); "Opening Titles" and "Closing Titles" appear in compilation Themes, and "Opening Titles" in Odyssey: The Definitive Collection
(1985) Wonders of Life by Ed Kong (USA, Hong Kong)
(1989) Francesco by Liliana Cavani (Italy, West Germany); iTunes has the "Suite from the Motion Picture 'Francesco' (feat. Dominik Hauser)". An unofficial special limited edition CD was released by Andromeda Music in 2002 (AMO103).
(1992) Bitter Moon by Roman Polanski (France, UK, USA); "Main Theme" appeared in compilations Reprise 1990–1999 and The Collection, while iTunes has the "Suite from the Motion Picture 'Bitter Moon' (feat. Dominik Hauser)"
(1992) La Peste by Luis Puenzo (France/UK/Argentina); "Psalmus Ode" appears in compilation Reprise 1990-1999
(1996) Kavafis (aka Cavafy) by Yannis Smaragdis (Greece); "Main Theme" appear in Odyssey - The Definitive Collection
(1981) Pablo Picasso, Peintre by Frédéric Rossif (France)
(1984) Sauvage et Beau by Frédéric Rossif (France); "Sauvage et Beau" appear in Sauvage et Beau EP (1986) and compilation Portraits (So Long Ago, So Clear).
(1990) Mouseio Goulandri Fysikis Istorias by Giorgos Kolozis (Greece)
(1991) Viaggio in Italia by Gabriella Rosaleva (Italy)
(1992) Cousteau's Rediscovery of the World II by Jacques Cousteau (France)
episodes "Indonésie I: Les Vergers de l'Enfer" and "Indonésie II: Sumatra"
(1998) Microneurosurgery with videotapes: Spinal Space-Occupying Lesions by Dr. Stergios Tegos (Greece); medical publication in 3 videotapes, with nearly 12 hours of music[12]
(2011) Rupture: A Matter of Life OR Death by Hugh Hudson (UK)
