Vangelis

Born Evangelos Papathanassiou in Agria and raised in Athens, Vangelis cut his teeth in '60s rock bands, most notably Aphrodite's Child, whose 1972 album 666 became a progressive-psychedelic landmark. He settled in Paris, scoring Frédéric Rossif's animal documentaries, then moved to London in 1975 and built Nemo Studios, releasing a run of ambitious solo albums for RCA. The late '70s brought a side project with Yes singer Jon Anderson, but 1981 delivered the break: his Chariots of Fire score won the Academy Award, and its title theme hit number one in the U.S. A year later came Blade Runner, a…