[6][7] His formative years in the ancient port city's cosmopolitan atmosphere were influenced by jazz, but also traditional Arabic and Greek Orthodox music.

[9][failed verification] After settling in Greece, Roussos participated in a series of musical groups beginning with the Idols when he was 17, where he met Evángelos Papathanassíou (later known as Vangelis) and Loukas Sideras, his future bandmates in Aphrodite's Child.

[11] Roussos's operatic vocal style helped propel the band to international success, notably on their final album 666, based on passages from the Book of Revelation, which became a progressive rock cult classic.

Their most successful collaboration was "Race to the End" (also sung in Spanish as "Tu Libertad"), a vocal adaptation of the musical theme from the Oscar-winning film Chariots of Fire (scored by Vangelis).

Roussos also guested on Vangelis' soundtrack to Blade Runner (1982),[12] on the tracks "Tales of the Future", "Damask Rose", "Taffey's Snake Pit Bar", and "On the Trail of Nexus 6" (several only available in non-bootleg form on the 29th Anniversary Limited Edition CD set released in 2011).

His first UK single to chart was in 1975: "Happy to Be on an Island in the Sun", written by Northern Irishman David Lewis, with the record reaching No.

[2] His popularity in the rest of Europe, but not the UK, came to fascinate BBC TV producer John King who made a documentary titled "The Roussos Phenomenon" in 1976.

[17] Roussos' run of hits was maintained in the 1980s mainly in France with a number two "Quand je t'aime" in 1988 and "On écrit sur les murs" in 1989, along with golden records for the albums Le Grec and Voice and Vision.

In 1989, he recorded the song "Young Love", a duet with German singer and songwriter Drafi Deutscher, which was released as a single in Germany and reached No.

[citation needed] A committed follower of the Greek Orthodox faith, he sang as a guest in a number of churches in Greece and worldwide, including France.

[22][23] Roussos staged a comeback in 2009, wherein he recorded his final studio album, Demis, produced by Marc di Domenico [fr], released on 11 May.

Just one month before his death, Roussos selected the tracks for an official CD compilation of his life's work, including notes by his two children Emily and Cyril.

[26][27][28][29] This project was first presented at the Mediterraneo Byblos Festival in  2001[30][31][32][33][34][35] and shortly after became an international success in the Arab world[36] later being staged again in Egypt and Qatar.

[39] In 1982 he co-authored the book A Question of Weight with his close friend, the photographer Veronique Skawinska, in which he dealt candidly with his struggles with obesity.

His death was confirmed a day later by a friend, the journalist Nikos Aliagas, who tweeted the news on 26 January 2015 in both Greek and French.

Fellow Greek singer Nana Mouskouri paid tribute to Roussos on the French radio station RTL, saying "He had a superb voice, he travelled in the world ... he loved what he was doing...

On the day of Roussos' death, actress Alison Steadman was interviewed by BBC Radio 4's PM and discussed the significance of the music in the play.

[citation needed] Among Demis Roussos's most famous songs are "We Shall Dance" (released as a single in 1971), "My Reason" (1972), "Goodbye, My Love, Goodbye", "Velvet Mornings", "My Friend the Wind", "Lovely Lady of Arcadia" (1973), "Someday Somewhere" (1974), "My Only Fascination" (1974), "From Souvenirs to Souvenirs" (1975), "Quand je t'aime" (1987), "On écrit sur les murs" (1989).