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(CNN) — Vangelis, the iconic Greek composer and musician who was best known for his electronic theme for the Oscar-winning film Chariots of Firedied at the age of 79, leaving a great work recognized throughout the world.
Vangelis gained fame thanks to the composition of the soundtracks of the films “Blade Runner” and “Chariots of Fire” with his characteristic synthesizer sound.
He first rose to fame with the progressive rock group “Aphrodite’s Child” in the late ’60s and early ’70s.
Based in Greece, their controversial sound and subject matter often saw them at odds with the Regime of Colonels that ruled the European country from 1967 to 1974.
“Vangelis Papathanassiou is no longer with us,” Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis wrote on his Twitter account on Thursday.
The prime minister called Vangelis “the pioneer of the electronic sound, the Oscars, the Myth and the greatest hits.”
Composer, musician, arranger and producer Evangalos Papathanassiou, better known as Vangelis, records a song for his new album with 25 children from the Orleans Infants School in Twickenham. (Photo by Fred Mott/Getty Images)
“But for us Greeks, who know that his middle name was Odysseus, it means that he began his great journey in the Chariots of Fire. From there he will always send us his notes, ”the Grecian prime minister continued.
Blade Runner producer Charles de Lauzirika said in a tweet that: “My biggest disappointment in making Dangerous Days was not being able to get Vangelis for an interview.
“His music, not just in Blade Runner, was otherworldly in beautiful and haunting ways that I have no words to describe. She created lush dream states that I still love to lose myself in. RIP,” Lauzirika said.
— With reporting from CNN’s Chris Liakos, Dan Wright and Alex Hardie.
