Marie Fredriksson
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Marie Fredriksson is best known as the lead singer of the Swedish pop duo Roxette. She was born on May 30, 1958 in Össjö, Sweden. When she was four years old, her family moved to Östra-Ljungby.
[edit] Strul & Mamas barn
From a young age Marie wanted to be a singer, and at a concert in 1978 she met a guy called Stefan and moved to Halmstad to be with him. Marie joined his band Strul, which later became Mamas Barn, but had little success with either. A friend she'd shared a rehearsal studio with, Per Gessle, got her an audition with a famous Swedish record producer, Lasse Lindbom. He signed her up at once, and she began a successful solo career with the albums "Het Vind" and "Den Sjunde Vågen."
[edit] The beginning Het vind
Lasse Lindbom's, a swedish producer (he was the producer of Gyllene Tider) asked Marie to record a duet with him, "Så Nära Nu". He was impressed with Marie's voice, and so he and Per started to push her to start a solo career. Marie finally accepted, and she record her first solo album, "Het Vind", with the production of Lasse. "Ännu Doftar Kärlek" was the first single, and it was big success. The album went quite well, so Marie went on tour with Lasse and the Lasse Lindbom Band, as she didn't have enough self-confidence to tour on her own.
[edit] Den Sjunde Vågen
Lasse, Marie, Per Gessle and Mats "MP" Persson started a band called "Spännande Ostar", which toured during a short time in some clubs. That same year, Marie and Lasse went to the Cannary Islands to write songs for the following Marie's solo album. When they returned to Sweden, they started the recordings, which didn't stop for a long time.
The album was realeased in 1986, under the name "Den Sjunde Vågen" (the name came to Marie's mind after she read the book "Papillion"). "Den Bästa Dågen" and "Silver I Din Hand" were realeased as singles, and the album was a HUGE success, as well as the new tour.
There was a little incident during that tour, when someone in the crowd threw a glass to Marie's head and she had to go to hospital. But Marie recovered and even started a solo tour in 1985.
[edit] Start of Roxette and Efter stormen success
In 1986, she teamed up with Per to form Roxette. They had a lot of success in Sweden with the first single Neverending love, which Marie followed up with another solo album, "Efter stormen." It wasn't until 1989 that Roxette hit it big around the world with the hit "The Look" from their second album "Look Sharp." They followed it up with several more hits, including "It Must Have Been Love" and the successful "Joyride" album.
After the tour "Rock Runt Riket" with Roxette, it was time for Marie to record a new solo album. Once again, she worked together with Lasse Lindbom, both as a producer and as a songwriter. The new album went ahead and was recorded over two sessions, one in May and the other in September of 1987. Marie was worried that her new album would be a total flop but "Efter Stormen" was an instant success!
The new album was followed by another solo tour but this time the songs were performed in more acoustic way than before, creating a whole new atmosphere, making it more in accordance with her slow and melancholy songs.
In February of 1989, Marie released a new single. There would be no new solo album to accompany it this time. Instead, it was linked to the Swedish Tv series "Sparvöga". The song "Sparvöga" was specifically written by Marie as the main theme for this Tv series and the single sold quite well, managing to enter the top ten on the Swedish single charts.
[edit] Den ständiga resan (The Eternal Journey)
In 1992 Marie returned to her solo career, recording the soul searching "Den Ständiga Resan." The extremely personal album reflected a difficult period in Marie's life. "Den ständiga resan" was Marie´s musical self-portrait and was written like a diary, containing very personal songs about her life, feelings and relationships. The song "Ett enda liv" was written about a good friend of Marie´s who committed suicide. When a close friend of Marie´s heard the album, his comment was that it sounded as though she wanted to kill herself. Marie admitted that thoughts of suicide had gone through her head at times, but that was not the intention of the album. When Marie's mother heard the album, she didn't approve of Marie being so open about her feelings either. Marie wrote both the lyrics and the music herself and even produced the album with Anders Herrlin, as a co-producer.
During Roxette's worldwide Joyride tour, Marie met a friend of the band, Mikael Bolyos in Australia. They were engaged within 3 days of meeting each other, and Marie was pregnant within a year. They now have two children, Josefin (born 1993) and Oscar (born 1996).
[edit] I en tid som vår Faith
1996 was a year full of activities: the recording of a ballads album in spanish with Roxette, the recording of a new Marie solo album "I en tid som vår" and the birth of Marie's and Micke's second child, Oscar Mikael. Even in this same year, Frida (from Abba) released a new solo album, “Djupa andetag”, which included a duet of Marie with her, “Alla Mina Bästa År”.
Marie's album contained two 2 single's, some may say her best, "Tro" ,and "I En Tid Som Vår" which appeared in the Colin Nutley film, "Sånt År Livet". The following year there were some Marie appearances: first she joined up with the Nissan Jazz Band again to perform 4 songs to celebrate their 20th anniversary, and a few weeks later, she joined Per in a song at the release party of his new solo album.
[edit] "Äntligen - Marie Fredrikssons Bästa 1984-2000"
In 1998 and 1999, Marie worked with Per in the new Roxette album "Have A Nice Day", and it was the next year, the year 2000, when Marie finally released a greatest hits album under the title "Äntligen - Marie Fredrikssons Bästa 1984-2000".
In 2000 Marie went on to release a greatest hits collection in Sweden which was followed by want was a very successful summer Tour, which was later released with a live cd/dvd package called Äntligen - Sommarturné. The album to date has sold more than 350,000 - two more singles were released from the album, "Äntligen" and "Det som var nu". The album kept the Beatles compilation album "1's" off the number 1 spot, which shows her popularity. The album went on to be the biggest selling album of the year.
Marie released all her albums in a box set, called "Kärlekens Guld" (Love's Gold). The remastered albums feature previously unreleased songs as well and new packaging.
[edit] Cancer
On September 11 2002, Marie unexpectedly fainted in her bathroom, hitting her head quite severely. After being rushed to hospital, she was diagnosed with a brain tumor. Due to the concussion she received after hitting her head, it was a few weeks before doctors could operate to remove the tumour. After she finally had the surgery, it was found that the tumour was cancerous. Marie then endured months of chemotherapy and radiation treatments. She received some permanent damage to her brain, losing the ability to read and count, some vision in her right eye, and some loss of movement in her right side. During her recovery, she wrote and recorded songs for her first English solo album.
During an already difficult time for Marie, one particularly nasty tabloid in Sweden released a front page headline that Marie had found a second tumour in her breast, which understandably caused a lot of distress to her family. Marie attempted to sue the newspaper, but in the end decided she could not handle the stress and dropped the suit.
Marie's fans decided to support her by sending a book of messages, and also a prayer chain for her. Hundreds of fans joined in prayer to help send healing to Marie. When she heard about this, she was very grateful and sent a message of thanks back to the fans. Marie later said that she became very religious during her illness and no doubt the prayer chain was a great support to her.
In January 2003, Roxette was awarded the "Royal Medal with Blue Ribbon" by the King of Sweden, Carl Gustaf XIV. The ceremony was the first event where Marie appeared after her operation. She appeared wearing a hat to cover her bald head, and seemed very strong in spite of what she'd been through. She walked up unaided to receive her medal and appeared in good spirits.
[edit] The Change
The Change, which was released in October 2004. The album was inspired by Marie's brush with mortality and made mostly in partnership with her husband. The album entered the Swedish chart at No. 1, reportedly selling 30,000 copies in its first week. The first single, "2nd Chance", entered the Swedish singles chart at number 1.
"Making 'The Change' feels like a victory to me. An incredible cool and fantastic feeling that's hard to describe in words," Marie Fredriksson says in a press statement released. For the album Marie and Micke gathered their favorite musicians; Staffan Astner, guitars; Peter Forss, bass; Nicci Notini, drums. Magnus Lindgren and Micke are responsible for most string arrangements on the album. Micke has also produced "The Change" and additionally he plays the keyboards.
In conjunction with the release of "The Change," Marie Fredriksson has started a new publishing company together with her husband Micke Bolyos. MaryJane Music was mainly created "as a home for Marie's solo albums," states the label's website, "but as the musical collaboration between Marie and Mikael continues and expands, don't be surprised if you find other exciting projects with some of their musical friends released on this label."
[edit] "Min bäste vän" (My Best Friend)
2006 was a busy year for Marie. She returned with a new cd in February called "Min Bäste Vän" meaning My Best Friend, a collection of Swedish cover songs. Marie chose songs she loved growing up that she considers to be a part of her. The first single released from this cover album was the song " Sommärang" by one of her favourite Swedish artists, John Holm.
During her illness, one of Marie's greatest creative outlets was drawing. She had always been very private about her artwork, but for the first time Marie exhibited her artwork in a gallery show entitled "After The Change." The display, at Doktor Glas gallery in Kungsträdgården, featured 24 of Marie's charcoal drawings. The exhibition ran from October 21th until October 30th and there was a book released titled "After The Change," featuring reprints of all Marie's drawings.
[edit] Future
Roxette are back again for the 20th anniversary. As a favour to Per on his birthday, Marie offered to be involved in a new project, and recorded two songs for a Roxette album that will celebrate their 20th anniversary. She continues to take it easy, and was recently quoted as saying she has given up the stressful life she lived before her cancer. She works now only when it feels right for her, and enjoys her life with her family. She says that her life used to be full of stress, and now she avoids any kind of stress even if it's positive.
Roxette band mate Per Gessle spoke about a different Marie after surviving against the odds to live. "It was frightening. There are different grades of cancer and of course one lived in suspense. I don't even think the chance was 50/50 for her to make it," Per Gessle says. "It's amazing that Marie has recovered. It's naturally a different Marie today. When something like this happens one reconsiders everything. It doesn't help how many gold records you have hanging on the wall when you get ill," says Gessle. Per explains that "her singing voice is back at full strength, but there are other circumstances. She has a problem reading fast and trouble remembering things. Everything goes a little slower. Maybe it can be worked on, but it takes time."
Marie has said that she has had to learn new ways of remembering things, as she cannot read well. She also has trouble learning new things now, due to the damage in her brain. She keeps a positive attitude, saying that computers can handle everything her brain cannot!
Roxette released a boxset titled "The Roxbox" for their 20th Anniversary, a collection of old songs, rare songs and videos.
Marie continues to work as a musical artist and also drawing/painting. She has mentioned that there may be another art exhibition coming up in the near future, and almost certainly a new album with either Roxette or solo. In the meantime she enjoys her days relaxing, avoiding stress, and most importantly spending valuable time with her children.
[edit] Discography
- Het vind (1984)
- Den sjunde vågen (1985)
- Efter stormen (1987)
- Den ständiga resan (1992)
- I en tid som vår (1996)
- Äntligen - Marie Fredrikssons bästa 1984-2000 (2000)
- Kärlekens Guld (6-CD Box) (2002)
- The Change (2004)
- Min bäste vän (2006)
