Greek Singer Demis Roussos Dies at 69

The musician’s daughter, Emily, confirmed the news to the French newspaper Le Figaro.

Greek-French journalist and presenter Nikos Aliagas, who was close to the late performer, announced through his Twitter account that the death occurred in Athens.

“I just learned of the death of my friend Demis Roussos, on the night of Saturday to Sunday in Athens. Deep sadness for a great artist,” wrote Aliagas.

According to French media, the Roussos family preferred to wait until Monday to announce the news so as not to distract from the elections of the previous day in which the leftist Syriza formation obtained a mandate to form a government.

Greek singer Nana Mouskouri acknowledged being deeply saddened by the death of Roussos, who was a great friend, he told French channel BFMTV.

Born in Alexandria, Egypt, in 1946 into a Greek Orthodox family, Artemios Ventouris Roussos returned to Hellenic lands at age 12 and got his start in the world of music in the 1960s, enjoying the peak of his success in the 1980s, particularly in France.

Roussos formed part of the group Aphrodite’s Child, but after it broke up in 1971, he launched a solo career, releasing his debut solo album “Forever and Ever” in 1973.

Ten years later, he had become an international star with 60 million albums sold worldwide.

Roussos devoted his soft, melodic voice in the service of love, with songs like “Quand je t’aime,” “Mourir au prés de son amour” and “Loin des yeux du coeur.”

He released about thirty albums throughout his career, with songs in Greek, French, German, English and Spanish.

His latest album hit the shelves in 2009, when the musician was 63 years old.

He then decided to take a step back from music and returned to live in Greece.