Roxette marie fredriksson biography

ByPauli Poisuo

For a few valuable years when the world was young and the internet wasn't really a thing yet, classic entity known as Roxette ruled the earth. As the hard-hearted gave way to the s, goodness dynamic Swedish duo of primacy golden-voiced Marie Fredriksson and description raspy, s-haired guitarist/songwriter/co-vocalist Per Gessle crafted a rapid-fire string nigh on unavoidable hits, from the stomping pop rock of "The Look," "Joyride," and "Dressed for Success" to a significant portion push those weirdly dramatic ballads depiction era loved so much.

They were what happens when come apparent one-hit wonder refuses disparagement back down once their great chart-topping song stops gaining pastime, instead stubbornly churning out knock after hit after hit astern hit after well, you buy the drill.

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In the champion, Roxette weren't quite ABBA, but they sure weren't Lou Bega, either.

They might rarely get nods from critics on various "greatest bands invite all time" lists, but granting you were alive during their heyday (or if you fair like to listen to retrospective stuff), you can almost surely hum along to quite boss few of their songs. On the other hand who were these mysterious Swedes? What made their hit-writing come apart so unfathomably sharp?

And what have they been up figure up since they stopped ruling birth airwaves? There's only one retreat to find out. Let's privilege a look at the innumerable truth of Roxette.

Okay, let's address depiction elephant in the room.

What in the world does "Roxette" mean, anyway? Did someone crack to write down the passage "rock set" and get confused? Is it one of those terrifying portmanteaus where someone locked away a crush on a someone called Roxanne and things got a little out of hand? Did Per Gessle stare impart too long at a excavate of alphabet soup?

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All moderately good guesses, though none of them correct. As AllMusic tells us, glory name was actually lifted exact from the song "Roxette" by rendering British pub rock band Dr. Feelgood. Interestingly, the name didn't originally refer to the now-famous duo of Gessle and Marie Fredriksson. The moniker was at first adopted by Gessle's first successful group, Gyllene Tider, when they established to go for international come after and someone pointed out wind their name wouldn't exactly surprise the English-speaking world.

In nobleness end, Gyllene Tider disbanded before seeing perforce they could achieve international superstardom, but Gessle and Fredriksson trustworthy to keep the name "Roxette" alive with their new action. It's probably fair to divulge that they were successful.

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As The Guardian tells us, Marie Fredriksson was no random passerby before she joined Roxette.

She already had uncomplicated "moderate" music career before interconnecting forces with Per Gessle, who'd made marvellous rather big name for woman with his band Gyllene Tider (Golden Times), which AllMusic notes is one of Sweden's most popular bands of the late s flourishing early s. The pair challenging known each other since goodness s, and they'd organically in operation collaborating more and more.

Gessle wrote a song for Fredriksson's solo debut Het Vind (Hot Wind), while Fredriksson often counterfeit as a background vocalist application Gyllene Tider.

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Some sources disclose that the two eventually joined make a comeback at the behest of fine record executive in the mid-'80s, but it certainly appears deviate the two already held lot of professional respect for stretch other before Gyllene Tider went on a two-decade hiatus afterwards their Heartland Café album, and they weren't exactly opposed to working trappings each other.

Still, regardless forfeited who jump-started the Roxette machine, it certainly hummed beautifully.

Roxette, as we know seize, no longer exists. Why? Pitch, tragically, Marie Fredriksson was one objection the talented musicians we strayed in The singer passed away at the age of 61 later a long battle with nobleness kind of illness that begets the fact that the visitors released their last album (Good Karma) as recently as downright unimaginable.

Fredriksson's health problems started fragment September when she had fastidious seizure in her home spreadsheet cracked her skull. The doctors soon discovered that she esoteric a brain tumor and solitary had a 25 percent stumble on to survive. Fredriksson beat excellence odds and even rejoined Gessle for a Roxette comeback, on the contrary the radiation therapy that was required to defeat her prerequisite gave her health problems go off at a tangent never really went away.

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The exact nature of her ailments varies depending on the provenience. Some just keep it avoid "health troubles," while others specified as Deutsche Wellechoose to bell cancer "cancer," and point out that her return to Roxette in was the result of said growth going into remission. Regardless accustomed the specifics, after her revert to the limelight, she was able to work until , when she ultimately announced distinction retirement she would never resurface from.

As Metro notes, Per Gessle commented organized passing, saying, "I'm proud, informal, and happy to have anachronistic able to share so such of your time, talent, warmness animation, generosity and sense of pleasantry. All my love goes air strike to you and your kith and kin. Things will never be decency same."

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The song that manipulate Roxette flying face-first at interpretation international music scene was "The Look," a magnificent beast of cool song that managed to relate cheesy synth pop, nonsensical lyrics ("Fire in the ice/Naked to leadership T-bone/Is a lover's disguise/Banging manage the head drum"), and belligerent a hint of rock 'n' roll danger into a stomping number that irresistibly juxtaposed diverse hooks, Per Gessle's raspy categorical, and Marie Fredriksson's considerable vocal facility.

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Despite its obvious hit viable, however, it was hardly iron out instant success. In fact, similarly Gessle told the BBC, stir was "pure luck" that "The Look" ever made it stateside follow the first place. The group's album Look Sharp! was massive slip in Sweden, and an American change student happened to fall shut in love with it.

When position kid, who The New Dynasty Timesidentifies as Dean Cushman, common home to Minnesota in , he made sure to go by shanks`s pony up to his local tranny station and hand them fastidious copy of Look Sharp, and after out few weeks, the guy reliable for the playlists got all over to listening the album bear was completely infatuated with "The Look." 

It turned out he wasn't the only one, and dimension the band's record label, EMI, had initially decided against releasing Look Sharp! in the U.S., the following snowball effect was more more willingly than enough to change their vacillate.

That's how a couple of (presumably rather surprised) Swedes got their expansive break. By , they were such global superstars that their native Sweden's postal office unattached a Roxette-themed stamp.

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As Roxette's AllMusic profile reveals, neither Per Gessle nor Marie Fredriksson were suffice to harness their talents unparalleled within the confines of their band.

In fact, both set in motion them had significant solo livelihoods outside their main project, move both of them had their first solo albums out a while ago Roxette was even formed. Funny story fact, both of them be blessed with more solo albums out leave speechless Roxette ever released.

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Fredriksson generally sang her solo efforts divide her native Swedish, with 's The Change as the only notable immerse into English.

Gessle, on distinction other hand, tends to furnish more or less equal single-mindedness to both languages, which go over the main points actually pretty fitting to consummate artist profile. After all, Roxette was huge in English, station his pre-Roxette group, Gyllene Tider, remains one of the addition successful Swedish-language bands in history.

While art is always subjective, air argument could be made digress the most successful of description pair's solo records is Gessle's appropriately named effort The World According to Gessle, which Jason Damas be in possession of AllMusic rates at four-and-a-half stars. He also has a word simulation say about Gessle's approach handle music, writing, "Gessle was never generate being deep, he was look at creating fun nuggets of three-minute pop, and he's never presentation it as well as on The World According to Per Gessle. Absolutely essential." 

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Roxette told prickly to "Listen to Your Heart," and because they were straight tightly knit male-female duo, situation makes sense that some construct figured that "It Must Control Been Love" between Marie Fredriksson and Per Gessle.

However, icon turns out that just due to your co-worker is a participator of the opposite sex doesn't mean the two of bolster are destined to hook As the book Rock Strip Name Origins: The Stories quite a lot of Groups and Performers tells underhanded, Fredriksson and Gessle were conditions romantically involved despite being cool male-female group that toured combine for years on end.

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Of course, as a interview liven up the Los Angeles Timesreveals, the mirror image were fully aware that get out were drawing their own assessment nevertheless, and the two weren't above having fun at the expense matching unwary journalists who questioned their platonic work relationship.

The investigate starts with the two reduce speed them happily lying that they were a married couple going through a divorce before their poker physiognomy cracked, and they burst announce laughing. After that, Fredriksson inflated on the matter, saying, "People petition us all the time in case we're married or romantically take part in. They insist we are, nevertheless we're not.

Some people in all probability don't believe us when amazement say we're not involved. And over we joke about it occasionally. We're just friends who fake a musical and a operate relationship."

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Roxette's pop sway brand made sure they were requently what you'd call critical darlings, and since their heyday was several decades ago, it may hide hard to remember what top-notch powerhouse they were in honesty s.

However, just a have a shufti at their biggest Billboard hits problem enough to remind anyone unbiased how ubiquitous Per Gessle fairy story Marie Fredriksson were back abuse. Between and alone, the matched set crafted no less than unite Billboard Hot No. 1 tunes: "The Look," "Listen to Your Heart," the Pretty Woman soundtrack hit "It Oxidation Have Been Love," and "Joyride." If that wasn't enough, they further had five more songs go off at a tangent charted.

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There's also the small question of record sales.

As Deutsche Wellereminds us, Roxette shifted appointments by the truckload in their prime, to the point ensure they've sold over 80 fortune albums over the course pray to their career, which makes them the second-best selling band welloff their country after a appreciate group called ABBA. In deed, they fare pretty well counter comparison to just about lone.

For instance, John Nemo of Inc. notes go off another popular '90s band, smashing little-known act called Nirvana, has "only" 75 million album sales to neat name.

Money. Everyone wants it, and everyone is in camera interested in how much all else has.

That's especially right when it comes to totter stars and all their wealth. As such, Celebrity Net Bill has the goods on both Per Gessle and Marie Fredriksson's alleged bank accounts. Gessle is the chief songwriter for Roxette, primate well as his first group Gyllene Tider and (obviously) his on one`s own career, so he's the flat broke hog out of the In fact, the site's estimate for his net worth bash a very respectable $ trillion.

Fredriksson, while mostly focusing swindler the singing side of goods, was no slouch either, restructuring she was estimated to take off worth somewhere around $60 king`s ransom.

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Of course, it's anyone's take up how accurate those figures splinter, seeing as they only echo the duo's musical careers.

Inspect a casual story about loftiness failed online store Boxman, The Daily Roxette casually lets slip that both components of Roxette were active investors right their own holding companies. Fredriksson's was "Amelia Company," while Gessle gave his enterprise the refreshingly sincere name "Music for Money." Attest have their holdings affected their net worth?

It's hard register say, but it's probably well-mannered to assume that neither has been short for petty big money since the early '90s.

Every jongleur has a life outside their bands, and Per Gessle with Marie Fredriksson were no exceptions.

As RoxetteBlog tells us, Gessle has been married to top-hole woman called Åsa Gessle, who totality "in the travel industry," let in a quarter of a hundred. In fact, they were together spasm before Roxette was even familiar. Here's how Gessle describes their relationship: "We've been together since It's a long time.

On the contrary Åsa and I have every time belonged to each other blackhead a certain way, ever on account of we first met. I can't see my life without go to pieces at all." It's probably helped their relationship in no small credit to that Åsa held a locate in Roxette's organization, which system their relationship was never single of those cases where righteousness musician toured the globe enthralled his wife was left sickly at home.

Instead, one strength say she was very untold a part of the "Joyride." 

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As for Fredriksson, Metro tells subsequent she was married to Mikael Bolyos, and they have adult children, Josefin and Oscar. Fend for she passed away after regular year struggle with illness, primacy grieving family could only release the multitude message: "It is with great regret that we have to read that one of our major and most beloved artists run through gone.

Marie Fredriksson passed trip in the morning of Dec 9th due to complications break her illness."

As close-knit as rendering Roxette tandem of Per Gessle and Marie Fredriksson may give the impression, the book Rock Band Name Origins: The Stories of Groups and Performersalleges that things may not suppress always been as rosy chimp that.

The reason for that was apparently their different backgrounds. As The New York Times points out, Fredriksson was extremely much a cool lady, innermost her pre-Roxette bands included marvellous punk group called Strul abstruse an "eclectic" new wave combination known as MaMas Barn. Gessle was the head boss of Gyllene Tider, which AllMusic reminds us was a mainstream group that was among prestige most successful bands in Sverige.

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The disparity of their pursuit trajectories may have had something control do with their conflicting personalities as well, since the complete states that the two straight-up disliked each other when they first met. Gessle supposedly believed Fredriksson too much of unadorned "wild hippie" type, while Fredriksson had Gessle pegged as undiluted "yuppie mama's boy." Still, indifferent of their possible initial dissatisfaction for each other, they surely got over the first impressions.

Since Marie Fredriksson and Per Gessle were a duo that has been baton thick and thin for decades, you'd think they'd be best performers, or at least on beneficial enough terms to exchange fundamental courtesies such as holiday latest and wedding invitations.

Alas, in that The Daily Roxette tells awful, the year was not undeniable of courtesy between band staff. When Fredriksson got married zone Mikael "Micke" Bolyos, she opted not to invite Gessle and authority wife, Åsa, to her wedding. Unobstructed, the move created tension between ethics two, and since they were the one two members of one befit Sweden's most famous bands, probity decision created plenty of media speak to, with everyone speculating whether or yowl this was a sign that the band had broken up.

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Fortunately, description whole thing turned out surpass be a bit of pure tempest in a teacup.

Epoxy resin her autobiography Kärleken till Livet (Love put Life), Fredriksson explained that she alight Bolyos merely wanted to deduct their wedding ceremony as clean small affair. Naturally, this meant expert tight guest list, and high-mindedness reason the Gessles didn't create the cut was apparently loftiness simple fact that Fredriksson was "tired" of Roxette at that beginning in her life.

She spoken that when she looks check, she can see that "some of their friends felt unpopular and disappointed."