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 recalled a peaceful and happy childhood without interference from his parents, who let him be involved in his activities, mainly consisting of playing the piano, painting, and constructing things with his hands.

[14] Vangelis developed an interest in music at age four, composing on the family piano and experimenting with sounds by placing nails and kitchen pans inside it and with radio interference.

[10] In 1963, following brief stints in art college and an apprenticeship in filmmaking, Vangelis and three school friends started a five-piece rock band, The Forminx (or The Formynx), named after the Ancient Greek string instrument.

[18][19] The group played covers and original material largely written by Vangelis, whose stage name at this time was Vagos, with English lyrics by radio DJ and record producer Nico Mastorakis.

[21] He wrote the score to several Greek films–My Brother, the Traffic Policeman (1963), 5,000 Lies (1966) by Giorgos Konstantinou, Antique Rally (1966), Frenzy (1966), To Prosopo tis Medousas (1967) by Nikos Koundouros, and Apollo Goes on Holiday (1968).

"[31] Vangelis spent six years in Paris; he was moved by the 1968 French student riots and felt obliged to stay, during which he accepted various solo projects in film, television, and theatre.

Inspired by the 1968 riots, Vangelis wrote a "poème symphonique" to express his solidarity with the students, comprising music with news snippets and protest songs; some lyrics were based on graffiti daubed on walls during the demonstrations.

[31] Several months later Vangelis returned to England to audition with the progressive rock band Yes, after singer Jon Anderson had become a fan of his music and invited him to replace departing keyboardist Rick Wakeman.

[40] The first of these was Heaven and Hell (1975), a concept album based on duality that features Anderson singing lead vocals on "So Long Ago, So Clear" and the English Chamber Choir.

[43] The album was followed by the UK top 20 Albedo 0.39 (1976), Spiral (1977), and the spontaneous Beaubourg (1978), each having their own thematic inspiration including astronomy and physical cosmology, Tao philosophy, and Vangelis' visit to the Centre Georges Pompidou, respectively.

[46] In contrast, 1980 saw the release of See You Later, a much more experimental and satirical album of concept pieces and unusual pop songs with vocal contributions from Pete Marsh, Cherry Vanilla, and Yes singer Jon Anderson, as well as a rare example of Vangelis singing himself (deliberately badly).

[8][54][55] Vangelis' music was brought to a wider audience when excerpts from Heaven and Hell and Albedo 0.39 were used for the soundtrack of Carl Sagan's 1980 television documentary series Cosmos: A Personal Voyage.

[60] Critics wrote that in capturing the isolation and melancholy of Harrison Ford's character, Rick Deckard, the Vangelis score is as much a part of the dystopian environment as the decaying buildings and ever-present rain.

[62] This, in turn, was resolved in 2007 when a box set of the score was released to commemorate the film's 25th anniversary, containing the 1994 album, some previously unreleased music cues, and new original Vangelis material inspired by Blade Runner.

[51] In 1983 he wrote the music for Michael Cacoyannis' staging of the Greek tragedy Elektra which was performed with Irene Papas at the open-air amphitheater at Epidavros in Greece.

[82][83][84] On 11 December 2011, Vangelis was invited by Katara Cultural Village in Qatar to conceive, design, direct, and compose music for the opening of its outdoor amphitheater.

The event was witnessed by a number of world leaders and dignitaries participating in the 4th Forum of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations held in the city of Doha.

British actor Jeremy Irons performed in the role of master of ceremonies, and the event featured a light show by German artist Gert Hof.

[113][114] Although a very private person, according to many accounts he was an "inordinately approachable", "really nice" and "humorous" man, who enjoyed long friendly gatherings, was fascinated by Ancient Greek philosophy, the science and physics of music and sound, and space exploration.

For example, in the Oliver Stone film Alexander, Vangelis conducted an orchestra that consisted of various classical instruments including sitars, percussion, finger cymbals, harps, and duduks.

[129]While acknowledging that computers are "extremely helpful and amazing for a multitude of scientific areas", he described them as "insufficient and slow" for the immediate and spontaneous creation and, in terms of communication, "the worst thing that has happened for the performing musician".

By the mid-1970s, when based at his Nemo Studio in London, he was also using Elka Tornado IV Reed and Farfisa Syntorchestra organs, a Selmer Clavioline, a Hohner Clavinet D6, a Fender Rhodes 88 electric piano, a GR International Bandmaster Powerhouse 8-track drum machine, a Moog Satellite, and various synthesizers by Roland (SH-1000, SH-2000, and SH-3A) and Korg (MaxiKorg 800DV, MiniKorg 700, and 700s).

[133] Both grand pianos, the Roland SH-3A and the Rhodes 88 were retained for Vangelis' active late 1970s and early 1980s setup, which also featured newer synthesizers by Yamaha (CS-40M and GS-1), ARP Instruments (Pro Soloist, 2500, Odyssey), Oberheim Electronics (two, four and eight-voice Polyphonic Synthesizers), Sequential Circuits (Prophet-5 and Prophet-10), Roland (Jupiter-4, ProMars Compuphonic and the modular Systems 101, 102, and 104), a Korg Polyphonic Ensemble, an RSF Kobol Black Box, and a MiniMoog.

[133] Vangelis' favourite keyboard was the Yamaha CS-80 polyphonic synthesizer, which he began using from 1977 and which allowed him to employ a distinctive and expressive vibrato technique by varying the pressure exerted on the key.

"[15] For the mid-1980s, Vangelis retained his Roland modular systems and ProMars Compuphonic synthesizers, but added the SH-101 and JX8-P models, and the MKS-80 Super Jupiter rack mount module, as well as a Yamaha GS-1.

[133] For his final period at Nemo in the late 1980s, Vangelis also retained the Emulator II; the Prophet 10 (enhanced by the VS module); the GS-1, his grand pianos, and the CP-80 in active service along with the Roland ProMars Compuphonic, JX8-P, and VP-330 VocoderPlus (while mostly retiring the Fender Rhodes).

[133] In 1988, Vangelis closed Nemo Studio and embarked on the more nomadic lifestyle he would continue for the rest of his life, moving between homes and hotels in different countries according to whim and circumstance.

[134] For the last part of his career, Vangelis used a custom keyboard set-up with built-in volume and mixing pedal controls, enabling him to improvise, play, arrange, and orchestrate his music live without overdubbing or needing to move from one sitting position.

Five years later, in 2008, the board of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens voted to award Vangelis an honorary doctoral degree, making him a professor emeritus at their Faculty of Primary Education.