STOCKHOLM - She thinks “it’s a little crazy,” but Marie Fredriksson is the Swedish Artist of the Year. At 42, she has begun to summarize a glowing pop career.

  “Now is the best time”, says Marie. “Now all the worrying is over”.

  Marie is commuting just now between home in the luxury Stockholm suburb of Djursholm and the Polar Studios at Kungsholm, in the city’s center. The new Roxette album is nearing completion and finally she has more time for the family.

  “When you pass the age of 40, all the worrying is over. When you’re 20, you wonder if you will meet someone. Now one can sit down and relax. It’s actually great to be older, you see yourself differently, you can see things from a distance and have more of a perspective on life.”

• Expressen’s article

Completely taken by surprise

  But that she should become the Swedish Artist of the Year wasn’t even a part of the dream when she began to think about a greatest hits album and tour. “I was taken completely unawares. I am very surprised since all this was not at all the intention.”

  Marie’s plan – if she was not occupied with Roxette – was to release a collection album and then follow that up with a tour. It went so well that she has chosen to release a DVD and a bonus live CD. Her career is now well documented.

  “Micke and I sat at home and watched a live concert by The Eagles on DVD - it was such a fantastic sound experience that we decided to try it ourselves, to see if it would work. If nothing else, to record it for ourselves – to have it as a memory.”

  On the 10th of August – a sunny summer evening – the whole concert was recorded at the Marine History Museum in Stockholm.

  “I am really proud to be first in Sweden [with a music DVD],” Marie said.

Expressen: Now that you’ve really summarized your career, what happens next?


MF: “This is sort of a close of a chapter in a book, I feel that from this there can be a step in another direction. I have always worked in a special way, but today, with family and children, it is not as easy as it was. It is nice that Per has a child too, it is easier to understand the new routines.”

Expressen: How will you maintain your solo success?


MF: “I want to work in other styles, maybe an english solo album, maybe a jazz album. But I also really want to sing blues, lately I have been listening a lot to Jimi Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughan and it has been very inspiring. I do some writing, not that much though. Stuff that doesn’t fit into the Roxette picture so I am saving that for myself in the future”

Expressen: You work a lot, how do you manage that with two kids?


MF: “I consider my job a privileged one, to a great extent I can plan my own time. During the summer the kids were with me the during the whole tour, Oscar who is 4 years old and loves guitars loved to check out Staffan Astner’s guitars. When Roxette were in the USA the family were with me for the first week, then I was alone for two weeks.”

Expressen: A good financial position makes it easier?


MF: “Of course, but we have the same day to day problems as everyone else. The kids go to different activities, have to be taken and picked up, you have to see that they are well brought up and that they do their lessons!”

Expressen: What is it like to work with your husband?


MF: “It works between us because we are both musicians, we have so much in common, we both have long experience in music. But of course, we can also be at odds sometimes, it would be strange if it was any other way.”

Expressen: You have succeeded in keeping yourself in good shape, how do you do it?


MF: “It varies, sometimes I train with boxing, sometimes weight training and some days just general exercise.”

Expressen: What do you do to get away from the music and the media?


MF: “I read a lot and I have discovered boating, I love Stockholm’s Archipelago, and that is my main interest today. I love to get away for a few days with the family and live on the boat.”

Expressen: What music do you listen to?


MF: “I have bought loads of new pop albums, like Madonna, but I can’t listen to them. I chose instead to listen to Eric Satie or something with Chet Baker. It feels good to listen to a completely different genre.”

Expressen: In February there will be a new Roxette single and hopefully the band’s new album will be released in the spring. What happens then?


MF: “We dream of a world tour. Roxette is, above all else, a live act. Then it’ll be time for a jazz album.”

EDITOR’S NOTE: This article, by Expressen’s Olle Berggren, was translated for TDR by Simon Gledhill. There is a direct link above to the original article that includes photographs from Expressen’s archives – the first of which shows Marie on stage in Boston. – LEO