WITH his kaftans, flowing hair, high-pitched warble and impressive waistline, he was an unlikely pop star.
Demis Roussos, the Greek singer who was a gift to impressionists in his 1970s heyday, sold more than 60million albums worldwide.
Yesterday tributes were paid to him after it was announced he had died aged 68 in an Athens hospital from an undisclosed illness.
His fellow Greek singer Nana Mouskouri, 80, said: ‘He had a superb voice, he travelled in the world ... he loved what he was doing. He was an artist, a friend. I hope he is in a better world.’
Roussos, the ‘kaftan king’ who once tipped the scales at more than 22 stone, was best known for hits including Forever And Ever, Goodbye and Quand Je T’aime.
The thrice-married father of two was also renowned for his off-screen role in Mike Leigh’s 1977 TV play Abigail’s Party – his records provided the soundtrack.
He was born in Egypt in 1946 to a Greek father and Egyptian mother. His parents moved to Greece in the early 1960s after losing their possessions in the Suez Crisis. At 17 Roussos joined a band called The Idols, where he met musician Vangelis.
They went on to form the progressive rock group Aphrodite’s Child, which had huge success in Europe in the late 1960s. In his solo career Roussos topped the UK charts with Forever And Ever in 1976.
Talking about his 1970s success in Britain he later told an interviewer: ‘I had five albums in the top ten. Simultaneously. And among them the number one album and the number one single.’
In 1985 he was aboard a TWA flight from Athens to Rome when it was hijacked by the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. He spent his 39th birthday in captivity, before being released on June 18.
He said the hijackers had given him a birthday cake and a guitar, but was angered in later years when this led to claims that he had serenaded his captors or pledged allegiance to Hezbollah.
Roussos once co-wrote a diet book after losing seven stone, but towards the end of his life the singer had health problems that left him chair-bound. – Daily Mail