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

STOCKHOLM - “If someone had told me as a newly-hatched 19-year-old pop star that I’d release my first solo single at the age of 45, and that it would have a title mentioning one of Sweden’s best soccer player of all time, you can easily say I would’ve smiled (widely).” says Micke Syd in a press statement today.

  Micke will release his new single “Du och jag och Glenn Hysén” (“You and I and Glenn Hysén”) in time before the World Championship in soccer starts June 10. Micke describes the song, which comes in three different versions, as “very related to mine and MP’s Gyllene Tider history.” Furthermore Mighty Mike tells us that the song is about the dreams one has as youngster; dreams about becoming a star in, for instance, Deep Purple or Toto.

  “Deep Purple didn’t happen, but four guys from Simlångsdalen, Åled and Harplinge did, so all turned out well after all.” Micke still has soccer dreams, he longs for a phone call from HBK’s coach Janne Andersson, “But he seems to have lost my number…”

• Du och jag och Glenn Hysén
• Micke Syd.se (Coming soon)

STOCKHOLM (UPDATED) - Today EMI released a preliminary concept cover for “Min bäste vän,” Marie’s new album that will be released on June 14. The actual cover is expected to vary somewhat, with changes to the text and, perhaps, to a different but similar photograph.


  Marie will present “Sommaräng,” the first single off this album, on May 14 on SVT’s “TV-huset” program. The single will hit the stores on May 17. Additional promotional appointments are expected in the next weeks.


  Update May 9: “Sommaräng”’s B-side will be “Små lätta moln,” a song written by Pugh Rogefeldt.

  Update May 10: According to Marie Fredriksson’s new – but not quite ready yet – website (mariefredriksson.se), the single will be available from digital download sources on May 15, two days earlier than the in-store release date. – Roxryder-V2002

  Update May 11: EMI has confirmed that this is indeed the actual single sleeve. Now updated with a larger version for your pleasure!

STOCKHOLM - The final tracklist of Marie Fredriksson’s new album “Min bäste vän” has been revealed today and it is like follows:

1. Din bäste vän
2. Sommaräng
3. Om jag vore arbetslös
4. Guldgruva
5. Ingen kommer undan politiken
6. Jag ger dig min morgon
7. Aftonfalken
8. Man måste veta vad man önskar sig
9. Vem kan man lita på?
10. Den öde stranden
11. Här kommer natten

  As you will recognize, “Jag ger dig min morgon” has been added to the initial tracklist announced in the press release of April 12 , making a total of 11 songs to be included in the album. This song’s Swedish lyrics are written by Fred Åkerström.


  The album is out on June 14.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Per spent last Monday in the Netherlands promoting his new album. Earlier in the day, he was interviewed by the newspapers Algemeen Dagblad, Telegraaf and Metro, and the website Vrouw.nl. Now, at lunchtime on a rainy afternoon, it’s an interview with The Daily Roxette that appears on Per’s schedule. TDR reporter Colin van der Bel and photographer Jaap de Vos walk into a suite on the 8th floor of Schiphol airport’s 5-star Sheraton Hotel where they’re met by EMI’s Li Lindebäck and Danielle Metselaar. After a few minutes, they enter Per’s room and sit down for a chat. Because of some changes in the schedule and heavy traffic ahead of him, Per has only a short time to spend with us…



AMSTERDAM – When Per sees the big old-fashioned tape recorder this reporter brought along, he says it reminds him of a funny story: Gabriel had just realized Per had a turntable and wondered what it was. So Per played Deep Purple’s “Smoke on the Water” because “it has the guitar riff which has affected the most people on this earth, and now I had the chance to see a nine year old hear ’Smoke on the Water’ for the first time.” Per said this made Gabriel a big Deep Purple, Black Sabbath and Roxette fan.



  First of all, welcome back in the Netherlands! It’s been a while since you’ve been here on promo tour, I think it was some years ago for Roxette?


  Yeah probably, we didn’t make it here for the Room Service Tour.



  What’s today look like for you?


  We did some other interviews earlier and after this we’re doing this radio thing and then we’re flying to Berlin.



  Do you still enjoy these promo days, or have they become routine for you?


  Well, no, it’s not become a routine, but in a way, every interview is like the other one. I remember the days that we were doing this every day for months and months – it’s not like that anymore, it’s fine. But it’s also an album – a project – that needs to be described, you have to sort of talk about it a bit and tell what’s behind it. If I could do a big talk show on TV, that would be easier.



  Any developments yet regarding performances for S.O.A.P.?


  No, you know what, we’re gonna do some new Roxette stuff in the summer and so I think there won’t be any Son of a Plumber shows, because I have to work on the new Roxette.



  Earlier this year you started a new project called Bad Hair Day, which puts unreleased songs and demo’s online. Bad Hair Day has seen Mazarin and S.O.A.P., but lately there haven’t been that many songs… how is the project going, and will there be any Roxette and Gyllene Tider demos or albums on there?


  Might happen, though there is this Rox Box thing coming out in the autumn. That will include demos as well so we haven’t decided yet what is gonna be on that album. I don’t wanna interfere with that. So the latest thing was “Keep the Radio,” since it was released for S.O.A.P., as well as other stuff in the past. But I don’t want to release too much of the Roxette stuff because I want to save the best for the Rox Box. But on the other hand there are the demos for Finn 5 fel!. All the demos for Finn 5 fel! exist, and there are still hundreds and hundreds of songs left.



  Any more updates on the Rox Box? Will it include the CD Kill Your Darlings which was cancelled a few years back?


  No, the RoxBox will be 3 CD’s, the core of Roxette’s music. It will have the most common songs as well as some hard to get songs like for instance “Happy Together.” And then we have the demo thing. And then we have a DVD thing, which is videos I think. We’re trying to get permission to release MTV Unplugged. It’s really hard, but I have people working on this, I’m not that involved.



  Will the Rox Box include a book or booklet about Roxette?


  Yes, made by the best Swedish music journalist of all time, Jan Gradvall. He was our first choice.



  Any ideas on how the Rox Box is going to look? The design? Could you reveal something about that?


  No, but it looks good. Stunning!



  What is the market for the Rox Box? Is it only for fans or will it also be in the record stores among the normal Roxette CD’s?


  Yes, it’s not like it’s mostly hard to get stuff and b-sides, things like that. It should be like an introduction to Roxette. I think it’s almost 60 songs on there. It should be like an enjoyable ride on these CD’s, as well as some hard to get stuff – if they’re good. There are two songs we really loved, “See Me” and “Weight of the World,” which we didn’t include because we didn’t want to lose the tempo of the album by having these acoustic tracks, even though we loved them. So both of them are included here. So it shouldn’t have songs which are inferior to the others, it should have songs which are hard to get but really good.



  The Night of the Proms gigs that had to be cancelled at the last minute a few years ago… at the time they said they hoped to reschedule. Is there any chance Roxette will play NOTP again now with Marie releasing a new album and working on Roxette again, or is that pretty much a closed book?


  I don’t know. I think it’s a closed chapter. I don’t think Marie ever will tour again. I don’t think she will leave her family. But on the other hand I can’t speak for her, it’s really up to her, but I don’t think so, no.



  Last Sunday, a brand new radio program – Nordic Rox – began on Sirius satellite radio in the States, and you co-hosted most of the show. Will you be doing this more often?


  I do, yeah. I’m part of the first three shows, but I might do it later on, too. So I’m talking a bit about my heroes, I think it’s gonna be fun.



  At this moment Li Lindebäck enters the room, telling us they really have to leave for the radio studio now. We thank Per for the interview, and accept his offer to answer the rest of our questions via e-mail… Read more…

STOCKHOLM - Per Gessle will be interviewed by Swedish TV4 during this year’s Polar Music Prize gala on May 22. Russian conductor Valery Gergiev and British rock group Led Zeppelin are this year’s honorees.


  The event starts with the gala ceremony at Stockholm Concert Hall, where the prize winners will accept their award from His Majesty King Carl XVI Gustaf. This will be followed by a celebratory banquet at the Grand Hôtel, where TV4 – which broadcasts the event – will have its studio and where host Rickard Olsson will meet Per and members of The Soundtrack of Our Lives for a talk.


  The Polar Music Prize, which awards artists or institutions in recognition of their musical achievements, was founded in 1989 by the late Stig Anderson, known primarily as ABBA’s manager, who played a great role in their success. Anderson donated a large sum of money to The Royal Swedish Academy of Music with the aim of creating a musical Nobel prize, what was to become known as the Polar Music Prize.


  The name of the award stems from Anderson’s legendary record label, Polar Records.


  Sir Paul McCartney, Sir Elton John, Joni Mitchell, Bruce Springsteen, Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder, Bob Dylan, B.B. King, are among the artists who have been awarded with the prize. TDR readers might remember Marie’s performance at the 1996 edition when Joni Mitchell received her award.

• TV4 article
• Polar Music Prize

STOCKHOLM (UPDATED) - A new Son of a Plumber single, “I Like It Like That,” will be released in Sweden on May 17. The B-side is, as previously reported, the second installment of the series “Plumber in Progress.”

  On a side note, May 17 also happens to be celebrated as the independence day of Sweden’s neighbor Norway.



Plumber in Progress #2:

1/ Are you an old hippie, sir?

2/ Late, later on

3/ Making love or expecting rain

4/ Brilliant career

5/ Brilliant career, alternate refrain

6/ Speed boat to Cuba

7/ Something happened today

8/ Ronnie Lane

9/ Carousel

10/ Come back tomorrow

  Update May 5: The single has been delayed until May 24.

(UPDATED) AMSTERDAM - Per Gessle will visit Holland and Germany this week as part of his “Son Of A Plumber” promotion tour through Europe.


  Today Per is in Holland, where he’ll attend Radio2 DJ Hans Schiffers program, which is broadcast between 14:00 and 17:00 CET. You can listen to the show via their website clicking on “Luister live naar radio2.” The program will also be available on Real Audio format after the show (see link below.)


  Tomorrow Per will be on German Radio SAW. You can also listen to this radio station online via their website by clicking on “Jetzt live hören.”


  Remco contributed to this article.

  EDITOR’S NOTE: Per had some trouble with traffic jams in Amsterdam today that threw his schedule off, but The Daily Roxette managed to spend some time with him nevertheless. Look for another TDR exclusive interview with the Son of a Plumber within the next few days! — LEO


  Update May 4: Per will join SWR3, one of the biggest radio stations in Germany, tomorrow evening. He will be guest on “SWR3 Clubs” which runs between 19:00 and 22:00 CET. The program can be followed online via SWR3 website (click on “SWR3 live einschalten”)

  Hiphappy contributed to this article

• Radio 2 - Schiffers FM (In Dutch, Real Player needed to listen to the program)
• Radio SAW (in German)
• SWR3

STOCKHOLM - Marie Fredriksson will be one of the guests in this season’s last episode of “TV-Huset” on May 14. Marie will perform “Sommaräng,” the first single off her coming album “Min bäste vän,” and will also be interviewed.


  Other invited artists are Lena Philipsson, Peter Settman and BWO (formerly known as Bodies Without Organs, a band with Alexander Bard from Army of Lovers).

  TV-Huset runs on SVT1 between 18:15 and 19:30 CET. The program will also be availabe afterwards in streaming format on SVT’s website.


  Tobben and Mari contributed to this article.

• SVT TV-Huset
• Article in Expressen

LONDON - Warner Music, has rejected a US$4.2 billion (£2.2bn; €3.3bn) bid by rival EMI.

  A merger between the two has long been on the cards, in an attempt to compete more effectively with larger rivals Universal Music and Sony BMG.

  Warner Music said it had carefully examined the offer, but decided it did not benefit shareholders.

  “This is disappointing, as we believe the logic for combining the two businesses is compelling,” said Lorna Tilbian, an analyst with Numis.

  If the two had merged, the combined company would have held about 25% of the recorded music market, based on figures from the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry.

  Artists recording on the Warner label include Madonna and James Blunt, while EMI’s list includes Coldplay, Robbie Williams and Roxette.

  EMI unsuccessfully bid to buy Warner from its previous parent, Time Warner, in late 2003 before losing out to an investment group led by it’s current CEO. Before that, European regulators blocked a proposed merger of the two media giants.

GOTHENBURG - While Marie Fredriksson covers her favorite songs from the ’60s and ’70s on “Min bäste vän,” Swedish singer Shirley Clamp covers her favorites from all times in her new album “Favoriter på svenska” that’s due for release on May 10. Last month we reported that the album would include a cover of “It Must Have Been Love”, with the Swedish title “När kärleken föds,” which was just released as a single. But the album features one more song Roxette fans know very well; “Tro” by Marie Fredriksson. She wanted to record Eurythmics’ “Miracle of Love” but when they contacted Annie Lennox they found out she won’t have her songs translated.


  “There is a reason for each song to be on the album,” says Clamp to Expressen. “I didn’t have the inspiration to make a new album, then I thought about a Christmas-album, but Jill Johnson was faster, so I decided for an album with covers,” she explains. “I wrote down all my favorite songs on a paper, and eleven made it to the album. One of them is Marie’s ’Tro’: I find no words to explain how beautiful this song is. I was asked to sing it for a funeral and it was magical,” she comments.


  Clamp had her breakthrough as a candidate in the Melodifestival in 2004 with the song “Min kärlek.” She will participate in this summer’s RIX-FM Festival tour and guest with Peter Jöback for a couple of Robert Wells’ concerts in Scandinavia.

  The new Swedish lyrics are written by Ingela “Pling” Forsman who has taken some artistic liberties and moved beyond simply trying to do a direct translation. One only needs to look at the title, which translates to English as “When Love is Born,” to realize this. Forsman, 55, holds the record for having written the lyrics to the most songs entered in the Melodifestival, with no less than 26 to her credit.

• Shirley Clamp’s official website
• Article in Expressen

Read more…