Demis Roussos is the creative pseudonym of the famous Greek singer Artemios Venturis. During his long and successful career, he managed to publish over 40 solo music albums.
Biography and early career
Artemios Venturis was born in 1946 in the coastal Egyptian city of Alexandria. From childhood, he was introduced to music, because his father from his youthful years played various musical instruments, and his mother was a singer.
The boy began to sing from an early age when his mother took him to the local church. There he performed and sang in the choir several times. When Artemios was 11 years old, his entire family had to move from Egypt to the capital of Greece, where he spent the rest of his life. The move was founded by the crisis that reigned in the singer's home country, which prevented his wealthy family from continuing to earn money. In Greece, he began to receive a musical education, learned to play the guitar, organ, trumpet and some other musical instruments.
The young man's real musical career began in 1963, when he founded his own group with two friends. The guys performed at many Greek venues and became quite recognizable personalities within their country. But the period of a military coup in Greece began, and it was very difficult for the young men to promote their creativity. They decided to move to the capital of France - Paris. There they released their first world famous composition - "Rain & Tears".
Solo musical career
Believing in his musical strength and making sure that the group only limits the creative space, Artemios leaves the band, takes the pseudonym "Demis Roussos" and begins a solo career.
Over the years, his work has been very controversial. Some songs, such as "Happy to be on an Island in the Sun", climbed to the top of the world's music charts, and some did not sell in a hundred copies. To keep the interest and attention of the public, the performer arranged real costume show programs at his concerts. In 1986, as part of a world tour, Demis Roussos visited the USSR.
Personal life
The artist was married three times. From the first two wives he had two children - a daughter and a son, in the third marriage there were no children. In 1985, the musician, along with his third wife, was taken hostage by terrorists on a plane that was flying to Rome. The couple, along with other people, were held in Beirut, the capital of Lebanon, for a whole week. But the operation to free the hostages was successful, and the couple returned to normal life.
For a long time, Demis Roussos suffered from obesity. In the late 70s, he weighed about 150 kilograms. After the incident in Beirut, he began to rapidly lose weight and lost a third of his weight. In 1982 he published the book How I Lost Weight.
The musician died in 2015 in the capital of Greece, Athens, where he was buried. The cause of death was pancreatic cancer.
