STOCKHOLM - Now the new web site of Micke Syd’s has opened. You can see, among other things, videos and Micke’s blog there. Micke also has an e-mail address for you to get in touch with him. The site is in Swedish only. Future plans include a webshop, “where you can buy Syd underpants and drum sticks” claims Micke.

  According to Micke the site is far from finished, he wants it to be a fun place, which sounds promising.

• Micke Syd.se (In Swedish)

  To celebrate the release of Marie Fredriksson’s upcoming album “Min bäste vän” and her birthday today, The Daily Roxette, along with MarieFredriksson.net, are happy to give you a chance to win one of two oversized “Min bäste vän” bath towels! These towels are exclusive promotional items, provided to us courtesy of EMI Sweden.


  In order to participate you have to be a subscriber of The Daily Roxette or MarieFredriksson.net and answer correctly the three questions below.

1. Where did Micke and Marie get engaged?


a. Spain

b. Australia

c. Sweden



2. What is the B-side of “Sommaräng”?


a. Små lätta moln

b. Tro

c. Aftonfalken



3. In what gallery did Marie have her art exhibition last October?


a. Doktor Glas

b. Kunstmuseum

c. Leif’s Lounge

  Send your answers together with your name, mailing address and nickname on The Daily Roxette or MarieFredriksson.net. Make sure that the email address in your profile is up-to-date (as this will be the email address we’ll use to contact you in case you win — and you will have a limited amount of time to respond)! The deadline for entries is June 14 (the album’s release date), and you may only enter once.


  If you aren’t a registered subscriber yet, you can become one - for free! - following the links on the left.


  UPDATE: The winners of the contest are Paula Viippola (Josefin) from Finland and Ron Wienand (enhance) from South Africa.

• MarieFredriksson.net (contest partner site)

Read more…

Today, May 30, our lovely Marie Fredriksson turns 48. The Daily Roxette wishes her happy birthday!


All the best, Lars-Erik, Visa, Thomas & Judith

STOCKHOLM - Swedish tabloid newspaper Aftonbladet has published an extensive interview with Marie Fredriksson today. In the interview, Marie – who is healthy again - tells about her life after the brain tumor and openly explains about the problems she has as a result of the operation she underwent to remove the tumor, “it is still hard to read and I cannot count at all, but who cares! There are computers that can do that for me. Micke and my children help me a lot. Sometimes I can feel like ’damn, I cannot manage this, what is it?’ But it’s getting better. I just have to practice,” she explains, and adds, “I feel incredibly fine and I’m glad that I am alive.” Marie’s children sometimes tease her, “sometimes they are mean to me, they test me a bit and ask ’What is five plus this or that?’ but it doesn’t matter,” laughs Marie.


  She has also changed as a person, “before I took everything for granted. Today I am grateful to be alive. I enjoy time in a completely different way. Before I became sick I worked too much, toured and traveled here and there. Now I take one day at a time,” she says stressing every word strongly. “Every morning I wake up and I think ’Thank God I am alive!’.”


  Marie showed how strong she is when she dared to go to see the Rolling Stones live at the Cirkus in Stockholm when she was still under heavy treatment which made her look totally swollen. “I went there even though it was a horrible time for me. I took a lot of cortisone and I was swollen in the face, it was hard when people looked at me. But at the same time, it was like ’I don’t care! I finally got this far.’ I just didn’t care about that and I went to see the Rolling Stones because I love that band. I tried to put all thoughts about my illness aside and I went there.”

• Aftonbladet’s article

Read more…

STOCKHOLM - Marie Fredriksson will make a guest appearance on this season’s last episode of TV4’s “Bingolotto” on June 5. Other invited artists are Robert Wells, Lill Lindfors, Magnus Johansson and Amy Diamond.

“Bingolotto” runs on TV4 between 20:00 and 23:30 CET. The performance will most probably be availabe afterwards in streaming format on TV4’s website.

• Bingolotto

Dutch newspaper Algemeen Dagblad published the following article today, including a new picture of Per in it’s print edition.

By Stefan Raatgever

AMSTERDAM - With Roxette collegue Marie Fredriksson having recovered from a brain tumor, singer Per Gessle prepares for a reunion of the Swedish pop duo However, he is presently occupied with his nostalgic solo project “Son of a Plumber.”

  The metamorphosis of his appearance is noticeable, especially for people who haven’t seen Per Gessle in a long while. His ’coupe-de-exploded hairdryer’, with which Gessle and his colleague Marie Fredriksson gave their hits “Joyride,” “It Must Have Been Love” and “Listen To Your Heart” some extra volume in the nineties, has disappeared. Gessle has a hip haircut now, wears Prada shoes and looks a lot younger than his age of 47.

  Roxette has been on hold since Fredriksson’s (48) brain tumor, but this will soon change according to Gessle. The two will record a few songs this summer for a new sampler that will be released near the end of 2006.
It has been four years since Roxette worked together.
Fredriksson’s disease made Roxette’s future insecure.

  “There have been times when no one believed Marie was going to survive. She has been in a bad condition,” says Gessle. “Now she’s free of cancer and off her medications, but she has become a different person.”

  Fredriksson avoids publicity, spends a lot of time with her husband and two children and records now and then in her home studio. “That’s why it surprised me when Marie asked me on my birthday if there would be a need for new songs during Roxette’s 20th anniversary year.”

  Gessle considers the future existence of Roxette to solely depend on Fredriksson. “No, it’s not hard. I’ve accepted it. The decisions are up to her. I’m up for anything – a tour, a new album – but I don’t expect anything. Every small step forward is good news to me.”

  In the meanwhile he concentrates on other projects, such as the solo double-album Son of a Plumber, on which Gessle (the son of a plumber) wrote numbers in the style of the era in which he got to know music: the early seventies. The songs which are full of atmosphere still rely heavily on melody, but differ greatly from Roxette’s well-produced pop.

  All of this placed Gessle in a new situation, receiving positive reviews for the first time. “All my life I’ve been ’accused’ of making commercial music. Though many people bought my records which received a lot of airplay, the press never was enthusiastic. Now a serious magazine like Rolling Stone gives nothing but praise. I can only laugh about that, since this is probably going to be my worst-selling record ever.”

  The album Son of a Plumber is released [in the Netherlands] today.

Harriej contributed to this article. Translation by Colin van der Bel.

• Algemeen Dagblad article (in Dutch)
• Scan of photo appearing in print edition

STOCKHOLM - The first single off Marie Fredriksson’s coming album “Min bäste vän”, “Sommaräng”, entered the official Swedish single chart at #21 this week. The single was released on May 17 and the album hits the stores on June 14.


Animalkingdom and Sweepi contributed to this article

• Listen to Sommaräng

STOCKHOLM - Yesterday the “Nobel Prize” of music was presented for the 15th time, namely the Polar Prize. The winners this year were British rock group Led Zeppelin and Russian conductor Valery Gergiev. Per Gessle and Marie Fredriksson with their s.o. attended the cermony.

  Others who have received this prize include Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen.

STUTTGART - Per Gessle’s promo efforts outside of Sweden are paying off. His solo-project Son Of A Plumber is attracting more and more interest. On the SWR3-charts, a show of the biggest radio-station in Baden-Württemberg, the single “Jo-Anna Says” has climbed to #3!

• SWR3 chart

STOCKHOLM - Today Swedish tabloid Aftonbladet published an interview with Marie Fredriksson, in regard to her new album “Min bäste vän” and Roxette’s 20th Anniversary.


  Marie explains that nowadays she takes things very easy and enjoys spring after a long dark winter, “Weather is so nice now, so I love to be outside, enjoy the sun and see everything blossom,” tells an enthusiastic Marie, “I don’t work every day, I take it easy. One day I may write, the other day I draw. But above all, I try to take it nice and slow.” Marie tells Aftonbladet reporter Jens Peterson that she has gotten over the illness and treatment and that she has learned to relax and not live under stress anymore.


  The reason behind her new album is similar to Per’s story about Son of a Plumber. “I started to long for those old albums and started listening to them again. I re-discovered many favorite songs from that time. John Holm, Pugh Rogefeldt and the Hoola Bandoola Band.” Marie didn’t feel inspired to write something new herself, so she decided to make this album with covers. “We wanted to have 10-11 songs on the album, so it was hard to decide which songs were going to make it,” laughs Marie.


  Marie also explains that she enjoys singing more than ever, “I have never felt so secure and calm when I sing. It is a gift I had since I was born, but now I’m not so stressed about it anymore. If I have to record [an album], then I’ll do it my way. It can take a long time or it can be fast, but it has to be under my conditions. I don’t compromise.”


  And, of course, she still has place for drawing. “I enjoy it very much. It is totally different to recording an album. I always wanted to draw, but I never had the time for it. Suddenly it felt like I had to draw, like when I was young. The ideas come so naturally.” Marie started drawing with charcoal and last year made an exhibition of those drawings, but now she reveals that she has started to work with some colors and in bigger format. To the question if we’ll get to see these paintings soon, Marie answers, “Yes, I hope!”


  Marie’s children think her art and music are fantastic. “It is great because they say what they think, what they like and what they don’t like. Oscar also draws and is very creative. Josse as well. It is fun that they are interested, listen and give their opinion about it.”


  Regarding Roxette, Marie talks shortly about the new songs that she and Per will record this summer. “We will make one song for sure. Then we’ll see how it works, maybe we make one more.” But so far, no tour is in view. “No, I want to relax.”



  Marie’s comments about the songs featured in the album:

“Sommaräng”, “Din bäste vän” and “Den öde stranden” by John Holm:


“John Holm has a big place in my heart. His lyrics are so pure and simple, they go straight to [your heart].



“Guldgruva”, “Här kommer natten” and “Aftonfalken” byPugh Rogefeldt:


I took the songs that I like the most. Many memories from my teenager years.



“Vem kan man lita på?” and “Man måste veta vad man önskar sig” by Mikael Wiehe (Hoola Bandoola):

“I liked Hoola Bandoola. I don’t wonder if the lyrics are right or left winged anymore.”

  Update May 16: The album sleeve of “Min bäste vän” has been added.

• Article in Aftonbladet