A public funeral is scheduled for Friday for the famous Greek singer Demis Roussos who died at the age of 68 on Sunday night. The death of the internationally acclaimed artist was announced Monday by the Igia clinic in Athens where he had been receiving treatment for an undisclosed illness. The funeral will take place at the First Cemetery of Athens, which is the final resting place of many prominent Greek figures including politicians, writers and artists.
Thought of as a legend of music in Greece and abroad, Roussos was born on June 15, 1946 in Alexandria, Egypt to a Greek father and Egyptian mother with Italian roots. His parents returned to Greece in the early 1960s after losing everything during the Suez crisis. He began his career at the age of 17 with the band The Idols. His fame heightened in 1968 as a member of the band Aphrodite's Child, whose concept album "666" is regarded as a classic. In 1971, Roussos began a solo career with the song "We Shall Dance." His career reached its zenith in the following years with his song "Forever And Ever," topping the charts in 1973 in several countries. During this time, Roussos also continued to collaborate with well-known composer Vangelis who was also his band mate in Aphrodite's Child.
They produced two albums together, "Sex Power" in 1970 and "Magic" in 1977. Other hits of Roussos include "My Friend the Wind," "My Reason," "Someday Somewhere" and "Happy to be on an Island in the Sun." He re-released his songs in different languages and received great success in Europe and Latin America. His LP "Demis" went gold. In September 2013 he received the French Legion of Honor, Grade of Chevalier, France's most important medal of valor, in an event held at the French Embassy in Athens.
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