MARIE FREDRIKSSON, 'SÅ LÄNGE DET LYSER MITTEMOT'

Marie Fredriksson

Today, The Grandma has been talking with The Watsons about Marie Fredriksson, the Swedish pop singer, songwriter, pianist and painterwho was born on a day like today in 1958. She was the lead vocalist of pop rock duo Roxette, which she formed with Per Gessle. They were one of the most popular pop singers in the 90's.

The Watsons must start to create a song for Rennette Watson and read about Marie Fredriksson is always a great source of inspiration.

Gun-Marie Fredriksson (30 May 1958-9 December 2019) was a Swedish pop singer, songwriter, pianist and painter, who was best known internationally as the lead vocalist of pop rock duo Roxette, which she formed in 1986 with Per Gessle.

The duo achieved international success in the late-1980s and early-1990s with their albums Look Sharp! (1988) and Joyride (1991), and had multiple hits on the Billboard Hot 100, including four number ones.

Fredriksson had a successful career in her native country prior to forming Roxette. She was a member of punk group Strul, a band which created their own music festival in 1979. Strul's dissolution led to the creation of her next project, the short-lived MaMas Barn, after which she began releasing solo work. Her first album, Het vind, was issued in 1984, followed by Den sjunde vågen in 1986 and ...Efter stormen in 1987.

More information: Roxette

Roxette's international breakthrough coincided with a period of inactivity for Fredriksson as a solo artist, punctuated only by the release of the non-album single Sparvöga in 1989. Subsequent solo albums included Den ständiga resan (1992) and I en tid som vår (1996).

In 2002, after fainting at home, Fredriksson was diagnosed with a brain tumour. During her rehabilitation, she continued to record music as a solo artist, resulting in The Change in 2004 and Min bäste vän in 2006, as well as the non-album single Där du andas in 2008 -her first and only solo number one single in Sweden.

She and Gessle later reunited to record more albums as Roxette, and the pair embarked on a worldwide concert tour. She also continued to record as a solo artist in her native Sweden, releasing Nu! in 2013.

Gun-Marie Fredriksson was born on 30 May 1958 outside the small Swedish village of Össjö. She was the youngest of five children born of Charles Gösta Fredriksson and Inez Dagmar Fredriksson. 

Marie Fredriksson

When she was four years old, her parents sold their farm and relocated to Östra Ljungby, where Gösta took a job as a postman and Inez became a factory worker. Three years later, her oldest sister Anna-Lisa was involved in a fatal traffic collision; her car was crushed by a tanker truck while she was travelling to purchase a dress for her engagement party. Marie explained: She was 20 -and I can barely remember her today. But I remember the grief, how the family was torn apart. Completely. After that I had to fend for myself. I was only seven years old.

Her interest in music continued to grow throughout her teens, as she discovered artists such as The Beatles, Joni Mitchell, Jimi Hendrix and Deep Purple. She enrolled in a music school in the Svalöv Municipality at the age of seventeen, where she befriended students from the theatre department by composing music for their amateur plays. Since no other vocalist in the school could emulate Fredriksson's vocal range, she joined the cast of a musical she co-wrote. This musical toured throughout Sweden, with its run culminating in a performance in Stockholm for Prime Minister Olof Palme.

After graduating from music school in 1977, Fredriksson moved to Halmstad, where she worked in theatre before becoming involved in the local indie music scene. She formed punk group Strul in 1978 with then-boyfriend Stefan Dernbrant -the band consisted of an extensive and fractious lineup of musicians, the majority of whom would leave after a single performance; Per Gessle and Mats Persson of Gyllene Tider were briefly members.

Fredriksson agreed to embark on a solo career in late 1983, recording her debut album from December 1983 to June 1984, with Lindbom as co-writer and producer. Ännu doftar kärlek was issued as her debut single in May 1984, becoming a top twenty hit on Sverigetopplistan, Sweden's national record chart. 

More information: Roxette Blog

Her debut album, Het vind was released in September, and also peaked within the Sverigetopplistan top twenty. The album was promoted by a three-month double bill concert tour, featuring Fredriksson performing as a solo artist alongside Lindbom's eponymous band. The title track was issued as the second and final single in October, b/w a Swedish version of Cyndi Lauper's All Through the Night, retitled Natt efter natt.

Her first solo tour took place from March to June 1985, after which she performed vocals for Spännande Ostar.

Five years later, Roxette published their debut album, Pearls of Passion, was a major success upon release in October 1986, peaking at number two and eventually selling over 200,000 copies, but it failed to chart internationally. Roxette embarked on their first tour in the summer of 1987, Rock runt riket.

Roxette released their second studio album, Look Sharp!, on 21 October 1988. Once again, it was an immediate commercial success in Sweden, selling over 140,000 copies within ten days of release, but failed to chart internationally. 

Marie Fredriksson

The Look was issued as the third single from Look Sharp! in Sweden, and was a top ten hit upon release in January 1989. The following month, the track unexpectedly entered the Billboard Hot 100, despite the duo not having a recording contract in the US; the local branch of EMI had previously rejected Roxette as unsuitable for the American market.

The single's parent album eventually sold over 9 million copies worldwide. Listen to Your Heart was the band's second number one on the Hot 100, while the album's final single, Dangerous, spent two weeks at number two. Fredriksson ended 1989 performing on-stage as part of The Husbands, a cover band formed by Lasse Lindbom and Niklas Strömstedt.

In 1990, Fredriksson contributed a cover of the Evert Taube composition Så skimrande var aldrig havet to the tribute album Taube. The same year, Touchstone Pictures approached Gessle to compose a song for the upcoming film Pretty Woman.

Fredriksson returned to solo work following the recording of Roxette's fourth album, Tourism.

Fredriksson and Gessle collaborated on a new Roxette album throughout 1997 and 1998; Have a Nice Day was eventually released in February 1999.

In 2001, Roxette released their seventh album, Room Service. Even though Ilbert was not present for this album's recording, Marie later said she lost all desire to continue Roxette, and would appear at the recording studio as infrequently as possible; she instructed her taxi driver to wait outside while she recorded vocals for Milk and Toast and Honey.

More information: The Local

On 11 September 2002, Fredriksson complained of feeling unwell after jogging with her husband. Scans later indicated she had a brain tumour in the back of her head.

Där du andas was released in August 2008 as the theme song to the film Arn -The Kingdom at Road's End, and became Fredriksson's first number one single in her home country.

The duo reunited for a private performance at the Wedding of Victoria, Crown Princess of Sweden, and Daniel Westling at Stockholm Palace on 18 June 2010. Roxette then embarked on a seven-date tour of Europe in the summer of 2010.

Roxette's tenth studio album, Good Karma, was released in June 2016, and was due to be promoted with a European tour celebrating the duo's 30th anniversary.

Fredriksson released three non-album singles after she announced her retirement from touring: Alone Again and I Want to Go in 2017,  and Sing Me a Song in 2018.

Fredriksson died on 9 December 2019 at the age of 61, following a 17-year-long battle with cancer after her 2002 brain tumour diagnosis. A private funeral, with only her immediate family in attendance, took place at an undisclosed location.

More information: The Guardian

Take advantage of every moment,

live in the present.

Marie Fredriksson