Aphrodite's Child was a Greek rock and pop band formed in 1967, by Evangelos Papathanassiou, later known professionally as Vangelis,, Demis Roussos, Loukas Sideras, and Silver Koulouris (guitar). They initially found success in Europe with hit singles like "Rain and Tears", "End of the World", "I Want to Live", and "It's Five O'Clock", before pivoting to progressive rock with their third and final album, 666 (1972). An ambitious concept album inspired by the Book of Revelation, it later gained critical acclaim and has appeared on a number of lists of the top progressive and psychedelic albums of all time.
Aphrodite's Child in the 1960s. From left: Evangelos Papathanassiou, Demis Roussos, Loukas Sideras
Evangelos Odysseas Papathanassiou, known professionally as Vangelis, was a Greek keyboardist, composer, and producer of electronic, progressive, ambient, and classical orchestral music. He composed the Academy Award-winning score to Chariots of Fire (1981), as well as for the films Blade Runner (1982), Missing (1982), Antarctica (1983), The Bounty (1984), 1492: Conquest of Paradise (1992), and Alexander (2004), and the 1980 PBS documentary series Cosmos: A Personal Voyage by Carl Sagan.
Vangelis at the premiere of El Greco in 2007
Vangelis in 2012 with stars of the stage adaptation of Chariots of Fire
Vangelis receiving his honorary doctorate at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens in 2008
