Roxette is a Swedish pop rock duo originally consisting of Marie Fredriksson (1958-2019) and Per Gessle and currently consisting of Gessle and Lena Philipsson.
Both Gessle and Fredriksson were already established musicians in Sweden prior to the band's formation. Fredriksson had released several successful solo albums, while Gessle had been the lead singer and songwriter of Gyllene Tider, a band which had three number one albums in Sweden. On the advice of Rolf Nygren, the CEO of their mutual record label EMI, Fredriksson and Gessle collaborated to record "Neverending Love" (1986), which was a hit in Sweden.
The band reached international acclaim with Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles: "The Look" (1988), "Listen to Your Heart" (1988), a remade version of "It Must Have Been Love" (1990) which was included on the soundtrack to Pretty Woman (1990), and "Joyride" (1991). The Joyride album was Roxette's most successful, selling 11 million copies worldwide. The band performed for over 1.5 million people during the "Join the Joyride! Tour". Subsequent albums included Tourism (1992), Crash! Boom! Bang! (1994), and the greatest hits compilation Don't Bore Us, Get to the Chorus! (1995), which each sold over 5 million copies worldwide.
Have a Nice Day (1999) and Room Service (2001) earned gold and platinum certifications in Europe and Latin America. Fredriksson was diagnosed with a brain tumour in 2002, leading to an extended hiatus. The two then released several solo albums, with Gessle also reuniting with Gyllene Tider. Roxette reformed in 2009 for an extensive world tour, which ran until 2016. During this period, they released the albums Charm School (2011), Travelling (2012), and Good Karma (2016). Fredriksson announced her retirement from touring in 2016 due to poor health and died on 9 December 2019 due to complications from cancer.
Roxette is Sweden's second-best-selling musical act, after ABBA. They have sold between 75 and 80 million records worldwide, and are recognised as one of the highest-certified acts of all time in Germany, achieving sales of almost six million units. They had nineteen top-40 hits in the United Kingdom, where the British Phonographic Industry awarded them certifications of over three million units. In the US, they achieved four number ones on the Billboard Hot 100, and have been certified for over three million units by the Recording Industry Association of America. Since 2021, Gessle has released music under the name PG Roxette; their debut album Pop-Up Dynamo! was issued in 2022. In 2024, he announced a Roxette tour, with Lena Philipsson hired as vocalist.
History
1978–1987: Formation and Pearls of Passion
Per Gessle and Marie Fredriksson had been friends since 1978. Both musicians had successful careers in Sweden in the early 1980s. Gessle was a member of Gyllene Tider, (English: Golden Ages), whose first two albums each sold at least 150,000 copies in Sweden. In 1981, Fredriksson performed backing vocals on Gyllene Tider's song "Ingenting av vad du behöver" (English: "Nothing of What You Need"). The following year, Gessle invited Fredriksson to audition for Gyllene Tider's producer Lars-Göran "Lasse" Lindbom. Lindbom was impressed by Fredriksson's voice, and offered her a recording contract as a solo artist with the Swedish branch of EMI. However, she refused the deal, saying she "lacked the confidence" and was "too nervous" to be a solo artist. She then joined Lindbom's band as a backing vocalist for an extensive tour of Sweden.
In 1984, Fredriksson recorded backing vocals for Gyllene Tider's debut English album The Heartland Café, released in Sweden under the band's original name and in EP format in North America under the name Roxette—derived from the Dr. Feelgood song of the same name.
Around this time, the CEO of EMI, Rolf Nygren, suggested Fredriksson and Gessle collaborate together to record a song in English. Fredriksson was warned by friends and industry advisers to not participate with the project, fearing it may impact her burgeoning solo career. Gessle translated a song he wrote called "Svarta glas" (English: "Black Glasses") into English, which became their first single, "Neverending Love". It was released in the summer of 1986 under the name Roxette, and the single sold over 50,000 copies in Sweden. Roxette quickly recorded their debut album, Pearls of Passion, which was issued later in 1986. "Neverending Love" and subsequent song "Soul Deep" were issued as singles internationally, but failed to chart outside Sweden. Fredriksson released her third solo album Efter stormen (English: "After the Storm") in October 1987. It was her most successful solo album to date, peaking at number one on the Swedish Albums Chart and being certified platinum by Swedish Recording Industry Association. It won Best Swedish Album at the 1987 Rockbjörnen awards, where Fredriksson also won the award for Best Swedish Female.
Later that year, Roxette released "It Must Have Been Love (Christmas For the Broken Hearted)". The song was written by Gessle in response to the German division of EMI asking Gessle to "come up with an intelligent Christmas single." The track was a top five hit in Sweden. However, international divisions of EMI – including Germany – chose not to release the song as a single.
1988–1991: International breakthrough
In the duo's native Sweden, "Dressed for Success" and "Listen to Your Heart" were chosen as the first two singles from their second album Look Sharp!, as Gessle and EMI Sweden chose to highlight Fredriksson's singing. Gessle said, "I always thought we should promote the songs Marie sang. Me being a lead singer wasn't part of the plan, not for me anyway." Both singles reached the top 10 of the Swedish singles chart, while the album, which was released in Sweden in October 1988, held the No. 1 position for 14 weeks. Music critic Måns Ivarsson was underwhelmed by the album, writing derisively: "To consist of two such original persons as Marie Fredriksson and Per Gessle, the album sounds unbelievably conventional. Most striking are the lyrics. Gessle's once so subtle Swedish lyrics have became desolate English nonsense."
When the third single from Look Sharp!, "The Look", became another top 10 single in their home country, Roxette were still unknown internationally. While studying in Sweden an American exchange student from Minneapolis, Dean Cushman, heard "The Look" and brought a copy of Look Sharp! home for the 1988 holiday break. He gave the album to a Minneapolis radio station, KDWB 101.3 FM. The station started playing "The Look"; based on positive caller feedback, the song became very popular, and quickly spread to other radio stations. The song became a radio hit before any Roxette product had been commercially released or promoted in the US market. The story was covered by radio, newspapers and TV in the US and in Sweden. Fredriksson dismissed rumors that Cushman was paid to take the record to the radio station. and at the end of the year, Billboard named "The Look" one of the 20 biggest Hot 100 singles of the year.
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Roxette then embarked on an ambitious worldwide tour. The Join the Joyride! World Tour 1991/92 tour eventually reached more than 1.5 million fans in 107 concerts around the world, including a few dates in the US. On reviewing their Universal Amphitheater performance, Dennis Hunt of the Los Angeles Times said, "Fredriksson is squandering her talents in pop's low-rent district. She's clearly superior to Roxette's uncomplicated, hook-crammed material..."
The end of 1991 saw the merger of SBK, Chrysalis and EMI record companies, to form EMI Records Group North America. The resulting merger saw many personnel changes that resulted in a downturn in publicity for Roxette. Though Joyride was certified platinum
Music tastes in the U.S. were changing, with the emergence of new genres such as new jack swing, grunge, harder-core rap and hip-hop. As William Ruhlmann of AllMusic later wrote, "Americans probably lost interest [in Roxette] at about the time that Nirvana came roaring in from the Northwest." In a 2009 interview with BBC News, Gessle highlighted the popularity of Nirvana and grunge music as a contributor to Roxette's downturn in success. The duo's success reflected in an ECHO Award nomination for International Group of the Year. At home, Roxette won a Rockbjörnen Award for Best Swedish Group. It remains the last Rockbjörnen the duo received.
In early 1993, Roxette became the first non-native-English speaking artists to be featured on MTV's Unplugged series,