Demis Roussos spent half a million dollars trying to break America

Demis Roussos sold 30 million albums in Europe in the mid-70s, rivaling The Beatles in several countries.

His success earned him a mansion outside Paris, a private jet and an estate in the south of France.

But Demis Roussos wanted something more: to break the US.

In 1978, Demis Roussos bank-rolled a promotional trip to the US and Canada to the tune of $500,000 ($1.8 million in 2014 terms).

With a billboard on Sunset Boulevard and an exhausting run of TV appearances, Deemis Roussos set about his conquest.

The famous Greek singer told Canada’s Courier and Mail: “If I succeed, it will be as a pioneer of the European invasion, breaking a few barriers and not appealing only to Greeks or the French or the Italians in America.

“I am not like any other singer in America – I am a new creation.”

America, however, remained largely unmoved.

His album, That Once In A Lifetime, spent 11 weeks on the Billboard chart, but never climbed higher than 47.

Demis Roussos died on January 25 in an Athens hospital. He was 68. A cause of death was not made public.