Vangelis, the electronic music pioneer best known for his soundtracks to both Chariots of Fire and Blade Runner, has died. Representatives have not offered a cause of death, although they confirmed he passed at a hospital in France on Tuesday. He was 79.
Born Evangelos Odysseas Papathanassiou in Greece, Vangelis is widely considered one of the most recognizable names and sounds in electronic music. Almost entirely self-taught, Vangelis first earned acclaim for the prog-rock bands, the Forminx and Aphrodite’s Child, before setting out on his own solo career. In 1982, he provided the Academy Award-winning main theme and soundtrack for Chariots of Fire, which tells the story of British runners’ victories at the 1924 Olympics. The following year, Vangelis composed the score for Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner, a project that offered a sonic template not only for the film itself, but the wider science-fiction noir and cyberpunk genres to come.
