Demis Roussos

Lore & Background

Roussos was born and raised in Alexandria, Egypt, in a Greek family. His father was an engineer and amateur musician, and his mother participated in an amateur theatrical Greek group. As a child, Roussos studied music and joined the Greek Church Byzantine choir. His family lost their possessions during the Suez Crisis in 1956 and moved to Greece. After settling in Greece, he joined the Idols at age 17, where he met Vangelis and Loukas Sideras, his future bandmates in Aphrodite's Child. His operatic vocal style helped propel Aphrodite's Child to international success, notably on their final album 666, based on the Book of Revelation.

Reader's Guide

Roussos began a solo career in 1971 with 'We Shall Dance', a top ten hit in the Netherlands and Belgium. His solo career peaked in the mid-1970s with several hit albums; 'Forever and Ever' topped charts in several countries in 1973 and was No. 1 in the UK in 1976. He continued recording and touring into the 2000s, collaborating with Vangelis on the film score album Sex Power and the album Magic, and guested on Vangelis' Blade Runner soundtrack. In 1985, he was among the passengers of TWA Flight 847, which was hijacked; he was released after five days. Roussos died in 2015 from stomach, pancreatic, and liver cancer. His funeral was held at the First Cemetery of Athens.

Did You Know?

• Roussos was among the passengers of TWA Flight 847, hijacked in June 1985, and was released after five days.
• He co-authored the book 'A Question of Weight' in 1982 about his struggles with obesity.
• His final studio album, 'Demis', was released in May 2009.

The 1990 Monte Carlo Recognition

In 1990, Demis Roussos was honored as the World's Best-Selling Greek Artist at the World Music Awards, one of the most internationally recognized music ceremonies of its era. The event, established just the year before in 1989, operated under the patronage of Albert II, Prince of Monaco, and was co-founded and executive-produced by John Martinotti. For most of its run, the ceremony took place in Monte Carlo, lending it a distinctly glamorous European setting. The awards were designed to spotlight the highest-selling musicians across multiple categories and from each major territory around the globe. For Roussos, this recognition placed him among a roster of artists whose commercial success had crossed national borders, affirming his status as Greece's most marketable voice in the international music landscape at that moment.

A Stage Shared with Global Icons

The 1990 ceremony that recognized Roussos also celebrated a remarkably diverse field of international talent. In the same year, artists from Africa, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, the Netherlands, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Asia, Latin America, Norway, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom all received territorial honors. Notable names included Ofra Haza from Israel, Luis Miguel representing Latin music, and the Spanish group Mecano. The evening also featured Legend Awards honoring Bob Geldof and Chris de Burgh for outstanding contributions to the music industry, alongside David Bowie for his lifelong contribution. This constellation of names underscored the breadth of the ceremony's reach and positioned Roussos's Greek distinction within a genuinely global conversation about who was moving the most records that year.

Greece's Sustained Spotlight

Roussos's 1990 distinction was not an isolated flash for Greek music on this particular stage. In the following year, 1991, Nana Mouskouri claimed the Best-Selling Greek Recording Artist honor, and she repeated the achievement in 1992 as Best-Selling Greek Artist. Then in 1993, Yanni took the World's Best-Selling Greek Artist title. This consecutive four-year run of Greek recipients, from Roussos through Mouskouri to Yanni, demonstrated that Greece consistently produced artists whose commercial appeal resonated beyond their home market. For Roussos specifically, being the first Greek artist recognized at the ceremony in its early years gave his achievement a pioneering quality. He set the precedent that a Greek voice could stand alongside the best-selling acts from every other major territory represented at the Monte Carlo event.

The Trophy and the Ceremony's Long Arc

When Roussos accepted his 1990 honor, the physical award he received would have been the golden treble clef with a globe at its center, the design used between 1990 and 1994. The ceremony itself had only existed for two years at that point, having debuted in 1989, yet it already carried the weight of royal patronage and a Monte Carlo venue. Over its full run, the World Music Awards would continue until 2014, with its trophy evolving into a gold-plated Atlassian figure holding the Earth aloft from 1995 onward. In 2014, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry launched its own Global Recording Artist of the Year award, absorbing portions of what had been the ceremony's core categories. Though the original event has not been held since, its website remains active, and the recognition Roussos received in that early 1990 edition endures as a documented milestone in his career.