Mr. Demis Roussos (born Artemios Ventouris-Roussos) came to the world on January 15 1946 in Alexandria into a Greek family. After having been raised in Egypt, his immense talent made him a worldwide star.
As a songwriter, musician, and singer, Mr. Roussos travelled the world, performing in several languages, including English, French, Greek, and German. He sadly died at age 69 on January 25, 2015 (https://shorturl.at/yCiUz).
Of note, in 1985, a horrible tragedy happened to Mr. Roussos. He found himself kidnapped, along with other 144 passengers and 8 crew members of the TWA Flight 847, headed from Athens (Greece) to Rome (Italy). The Lebanese hijackers, affiliated with Hezbollah (and later the Amal movement got involved), forced the plane to take a scary detour to… Beirut, devastated by a cruel civil-war. Bambi, 13 years old at the time, recalls this sad story, which she followed closely from out of Beirut.
Contrary to the other passengers, Mr. Roussos was among the lucky ones. First, he remained alive. Second, his ordeal ended after a few days only (https://shorturl.at/dupq7). Mr. Roussos rarely spoke about his saga in Beirut. However, with his notorious sense of humour, he once said on a French TV show, with Mr. Thierry Ardisson, that he may have been released faster “because Lebanese people love music“. Then, he gave the most likely reason: “he was neither Israeli, nor American” (https://shorturl.at/bsJC1).
Anyhow, Mr. Roussos who spread love and nurtured peace with his music, returned to Lebanon in 2013 where he gave a big concert. The “Country of the Cedars” was grateful.
May Mr. Demis Roussos’ memory be eternal. Long live his incredible musical legacy!
