Throughout his childhood he was influenced by the musics that were coexisting in Egypt. The sound of Arabic music entered into his life at that time and has continued until today as one of his biggest influences. At the age of ten, he was intrigued by Jazz and learnt to play the trumpet. As a young boy he also attended the choir of the Greek Byzantine church of Alexandria and sang for five years as a soloist.
However, when Artemios reached the age of fifteen, his life changed. It was the time of the Suez Canal crisis. His family left Egypt and immigrated to their homeland Greece. Artemios then had to work to support his family. During the day he attended school and, at night, he played the trumpet in various clubs in Athens. Two years later, his first band, "The Idols" was formed. Artemios played the Bass Guitar and sang backing vocals as well. One day, as the lead singer needed to rest, he asked Artemios to replace him for a few songs. That night, when Artemios sang "The House Of The Rising Sun" and "When A Man Loves A Woman" the audience was amazed. From then on Artemios was asked to sing again and again.
Within a short period, Artemios was making a sound reputation. It was at this time that he met the man who would later become one of his most successful composer, Lakis Vlavianos. From that meeting a new band was born, the "We Five", with Artemios as the lead singer.
In 1968 Artemios’s journey crossed the road of two other top Greek musicians, Vangelis Papatanassiou and Loukas Sideras. Their associationbecame one of the biggest musical events of the seventies in the form of "Aphrodite’s Child". This ambitious band decided to travel to the United Kingdom for better commercial prospects. Artemios--who had now shortened his name to Demis--would be the singer and the bass player, Vangelis the main composer as well as the keyboard player, and Loukas would play the drums.
However, they were refused entry to the United Kingdom for lack of a work permit. Instead, Aphrodite's Child travelled to Paris, arriving just as the city was going through the May 68 revolution. After a few concerts in some trendy Parisian clubs, a major company offered to record a song of theirs, one that was inspired by Pachelbel‘s canon called "Rain And Tears". This first album of Aphrodite’s Child sold over a million copies in France alone.
Nine months later, as Demis first daughter, Emily, was born, "Rain And Tears" was the top single all over Europe and a top 20 single in the United Kingdom. The band experienced a huge success for three years.
They then released their legendary last album “666”, after which, for various reasons, Aphrodite's Child decided to split up.
Since Demis was one of the main elements of the band, the record company offered him a chance to recorded his first solo single, "We Shall Dance", which was released on the album "On the Greek Side of My Mind". This album and the single jumped into the top five of all the national hit parades of Italy, Spain, France, Holland, Germany and Scandinavia.
Some months later, Demis met with his old friend of the "We Five", Lakis Vlavianos. Lakis was then going through an inspired period and wrote many songs which Demis recorded; these turned into a string of number one hits all over the world, including: "Forever And Ever", "My Friend the Wind", and "Velvet Morning".
After his second child, Cyril, was born in 1975, Demis toured the globe for eight years with his second wife and child. In Brazil, he packed a stadium of 150 000 people--an event that was achieved in that particular stadium twice only. (The other previous artist was Frank Sinatra.) In fact, Demis sold enough records to gain a name in the Guinness Book of records among the personalities of show business in the 70’s and the eighties. He was awarded more than a hundred golden, platinum, and diamond albums and cassettes.
His unique dressing style was often considered eccentric but Demis was following his instinct which told him that the music he was performing should match with the combination of looks between the glorious Byzantine Empire and the Arabic Caftan.
In 1978 his instinct told him again that he should retire for a while, thinking of new things concerning his career and life. And so he took his family to an area of the world where he was unknown, Malibu Beach, California. There, Demis lost over 50 kilograms. He returned to Europe and lived a quieter life between England and Greece, alone with his son, Cyril.
On June 14 1985, wile he was travelling from Athens to Rome, a decisive event occurred. Demis’s TWA airplane was hijacked by terrorists. After two days in that plane praying, Demis was held three days in the prison of Beyrouth with his third wife. Like many other survivors, he went through the shock of a traumatic experience. After that, Demis said he had never understood so well the importance of the nations living in peace and how precious life is when you see death so close. He felt more than ever that his contribution for a better tomorrow could be via music and so decided to return to the recording and performance scene.
He recorded twenty songs and compiled an album called "The story of Demis Roussos". With this album, Demis started to world tour again and found a nostalgic audience who had missed his magic voice. In 1986 Demis toured the USSR for three weeks and was invited to join important scientists, writers and artists at the forum for peace and disarmament in Moscow, during February 1987.
Later that year, during a tight TV schedule in Chile, Demis insisted on fitting in a visit to the Earth summit in Rio to get a clearer picture of the environmental problems, which were a main concern for Demis.
Since then Demis had been a regular visitor of the charts with singles such as "Quand je t’aime" and "On écrit sur les murs", and albums such as "Voice and Vision" and "Immortel".
Since 2008, Demis had been living in Greece by the sea. After being one of the most talented singers of his century, Demis was still working on more magical offerings, with the blessing of music and God.
He died aged 68, on the Hygeia Hospital in Athens on January 25, 2015.
Oh Come All Ye Faithfull
Demis Roussos Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Joyful and triumphant,
Oh come ye, oh come ye to Bethlehem.
Come and behold him, born the king of angels,
Oh come let us adore him, oh come let us adore him
Oh come let us adore him, Christ the lord.
Sing all ye citizens of heav'n above.
Glory to God, in the highest
Yea, Lord we greet thee,
Born this happy morning,
Jesus, to thee be glory giv'n
Word of the father, now In flesh appearing
Adeste fideles, laete triumphantes
Venite, venite in Bethlehem.
Natum videte, Regem anglelorum
Venite adoremus
Venite adoremus,
Venite adoremus,
Dominum.
The lyrics to Demis Roussos's version of "Oh Come All Ye Faithful" convey a message of joyful adoration and celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. The opening verses urge all the faithful to come to Bethlehem and behold the newborn king of angels. The repetition of the phrase "oh come let us adore him" emphasizes the importance of recognizing the miraculous event that has taken place. The chorus is an invitation to worship and honor Christ the lord.
The following verse is a call for the heavenly choirs to join in singing with exultation as citizens of heaven above. This is followed by the proclamation of glory to God in the highest. The verse continues with the recognition of Jesus as the word of the father, now in flesh appearing. The final verse is written in Latin, as a reminder of the long history of this song and its timeless message. The Latin phrase "Adeste fideles, laete triumphantes" means "Come, faithful ones, joyful and triumphant," and then encourages all to come to Bethlehem to worship the new king of the angels.
Overall, the lyrics to "Oh Come All Ye Faithful" express a sense of awe, reverence, and joy in the birth of Jesus Christ, and call on all who believe to join in the celebration and adoration of the savior.
Line by Line Meaning
Oh come all ye faithful,
Come to Bethlehem, all you who believe and have faith,
Joyful and triumphant,
Come in a state of happiness, joy and triumph,
Oh come ye, oh come ye to Bethlehem.
Come to Bethlehem and be present,
Come and behold him, born the king of angels,
Come and witness the birth of the king of angels,
Oh come let us adore him, oh come let us adore him
We should worship and adore him,
Oh come let us adore him, Christ the lord.
Let us worship and adore Christ the lord,
Sing, choirs of angels, sing with exultations,
Sing with great enthusiasm and joy, choirs of angels,
Sing all ye citizens of heav'n above.
All citizens of heaven above should sing along,
Glory to God, in the highest
Give the highest glory to God,
Yea, Lord we greet thee,
We welcome you, Lord,
Born this happy morning,
Born on this joyful morning,
Jesus, to thee be glory giv'n
We give the glory to you, Jesus,
Word of the father, now In flesh appearing
The word of the father has appeared in the flesh,
Adeste fideles, laete triumphantes
Come faithful, and joyful in triumph,
Venite, venite in Bethlehem.
Come, come to Bethlehem,
Natum videte, Regem anglelorum
Behold the birth of the king of angels,
Venite adoremus
Come, let us adore him,
Venite adoremus,
Come, let us adore him,
Venite adoremus,
Come, let us adore him,
Dominum.
Christ the Lord.
Contributed by Luke W. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Lavínia Antonietti
Muita paz e luz Demis Roussos onde estiver. Eterno em nossos corações.
Lavínia Antonietti
Belissimo único maravilhoso encantador....
Maria Das graças
Que lindo são esses inos que ele canta.
renzo stellini
e tutte queste bellissime canzoni di DEMIS ROUSSOS di album ( COME ALL YE FAITHFUL FULL ) mi sono entrate dentro al mio grande cuore da RENZO STELLINI
AGNESE
Non conoscevo questo bel video di DEMIS❤❤❤Grazie!
renzo stellini
mi viene una grandissima PELDOCA a sentire queste bellissime canzoni di DEMIS ROUSSOS ( COME ALL YE FAITHFUL FULL ) ALBUM mi sono entrate dentro tutte queste canzoni dentro al mio grane cuore da RENZO STELLINI
Anna Maria Zora
Grazie Demis Rousseaus 🙏❤️ sei un grande uomo, grande anima, Angelo che canti in Paradiso
Stefania Brondo
ciao DEMIS amore caro ai dolce voce canzoni religiose belle come te solo tu potevi cantare si perisce l' amore con cui le canti sono bellissime cantate da te sono totalmente favolose una poesia che arriva direttamente al cuore senza permesso perché è veramente amore questo allo stato puro come la musica che ai creato bellissima condita con la tua voce dolcissima e con un grande cuore che ai soltanto tu sai dare quel amore che manca a gli umani e che ora non c'e' neanche il rispetto per gli umani e per il mondo che ci circonda sappiamo solo odirci e farci la guerra puoi capire preche' la tua musica racconta solo ( Amore) quello che ci dovrebbe essere tra noi umani ciao amore caro bacio 🌍🌛🌌🌠✨🌟🙋♀️☀️💋💕😭🌼🌹🦋🌻🥀🌷🐝⛲🐦💖🐕🍀🐇💐💯😘🐈
renzo stellini
ciao a tutti i miei amici e alle mie amiche su YOUTUBE io vi dedico a voi queste canzoni di ( COME ALL YE FAITHFUL FULL ALBUM ) di DEMIS ROUSSOS che voi mandate a me dal mio canale su YOUTUBE i vostri comenti e mandate ancora i vostri comenti sul mio canale su YOUTUBE poi io vi rispondo ciao da RENZO STELLINI