(Updated) - Editor's Note:  The Daily Roxette originally published this article over a month ago – on April 22 to be exact – announcing that Per and Marie were reuniting and would perform again as Roxette in Lativa this summer.  This article was published prior to our breaking the news on May 4 that Roxette would appear at the Night of the Proms concert series.  We're republishing it today, along with the previous comments.  While mention of Roxette has still not appeared on the event's own website, posters have been put up on the streets of Riga advertising Roxette as "special guests" at the opening of the New Wave festival and today, Per acknowledged the accuracy of our report via a Twitter message. 

Roxette are back together again! According to several published reports, the first of which appeared on Monday [April 20], the duo is set to perform for the opening of New Wave 2009 on July 28 in Jurmala, Latvia.  Some of the biggest newspapers of Latvia and their online news portals have reported that Roxette have already agreed to appear at the opening ceremony of this annual international young pop singers competition.

In an editorial published by The Daily Roxette just days ago, we addressed the speculation that Roxette might reunite, and since then there have been rumors of exactly when and how that might happen, with most centering around the Night of the Proms series of concerts in Europe towards the end of the summer.

From its beginnings in 2002, the New Wave competition has become a significant event not only in Russia and Latvia, but also in CIS and other countries for several years once television rights were sold. Millions of TV viewers watch and support the contestants, confirming the fact that New Wave has become a eagerly-anticipated annual European festival. TDR has learned that this this festival is very popular in Russia, as many of the participants come from post-Soviet countries and regions. We've also reported on this event previously, when in 2003 a contestant from Sweden sang "Sleeping in My Car."

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"Hitmachine Roxette makes comeback at Night of the Proms" proclaimed a headline in the Dutch-language newspaper De Morgen as news of Roxette getting back together again continues to spread around the world… the bulk of the stories appearing in Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and other European countries.

While it would be impossible to include links to all the stories The Daily Roxette has come across in researching this article —  and somewhat pointless since most of them are based on the same press release sent out by d&d, Roxette's management company — it's still remarkable to know that the story was thought to be interesting enough (as there are thousands of press releases sent out via PR Newswire every day) to be picked up by the Associated Press (AP) and other media outlets literally around the world.

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ANTWERP - Just to confirm The Daily Roxette's previous report that Roxette indeed is back; the following press release was distributed today:

Earlier this year, discussions started about the possibility of Roxette being part of 'Night of the Proms' again. Bearing in mind the frequency of Roxette hits being heard on the radio and the many annual appeals from 'Night of the Proms' fans to try and convince Roxette to be part of the programme, we are all happy to make this announcement!

"We are thrilled to finally be able to attend 'Night of the Proms'. It's gonna be the first time we share a live stage together since 2001 and it certainly feels most exciting to do so in front of the huge 'Night of the Proms' audience. We look forward to performing some of our greatest hits and working together with the big Night of the Proms orchestra, which should fit our music very well." (Marie & Per)

This year’s 'Night of the Proms' can boast of a world first by presenting Roxette’s return on stage, seven years after the first attempt to have the Swedish duo in the show. An icing on the cake for the event celebrating its 25th edition in Antwerp this fall!

EDITOR'S NOTE: Click here to view a German TV station ZDF's report from the press conference (mostly in German, click “übernehmen” to begin) and here to view a similar video report (also mostly in German) by Bild magazine.

Per has been quoted as saying they will play their four U.S. #1 hits ("The Look," "Listen to Your Heart," "It Must Have Been Love," and "Joyride" ) along with "Wish I Could Fly."

LONDON (Updated) - No longer just the dream of die-hard fans around the world who will surely feel their prayers for Marie's recovery were answered: Roxette are back!

The Daily Roxette has learned that Marie Fredriksson will be joining Per Gessle on stage at the “Party Crasher” concert in Amsterdam on Wednesday. For several days now, fans have told TDR that people affiliated with the tour have told them to expect a “surprise” at that concert. Since Per has already said he expected Marie might join him on stage for one or two of his tour dates, fans who heard about this upcoming surprise immediately surmised that it meant that Marie would be making an appearance. This indeed will be the case.

There, in Amsterdam, in front of one of the largest expected audiences on this tour… fans in attendance will be able to witness first-hand the long awaited, highly anticipated return of Roxette to the stage when Per proudly announces he has a special guest.  

But the real evidence of Roxette's return is that tomorrow afternoon shortly after 5 pm, at an official Night of the Proms press conference in Belgium, they will announce that Marie has recovered from the illness that forced them to cancel their scheduled appearance in 2002. Seven years later,  Roxette will finally make good on that previous commitment and perform at this year’s series of concerts to be held in Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands beginning at the end of October and running through December. 

Tomorrow, April 24, Romanian radio station "Magic FM" will feature Roxette Day! The station, one of the biggest in Romania, will broadcast songs from their discography, as well as stories about Roxette.

TWITTER - Per Gessle has announced in one of his tweets at Twitter that Roxette's albums will be re-released this fall. The albums will be remastered and will come with additional bonus tracks such as B-sides and demos.  The booklets will also be re-designed. Release dates are not known yet.

On the evening of March 28, 1989, the telephone rang at Per Gessle's home in Halmstad. When Per answered, Roxette's manager Thomas Erdtman screamed down the other end that "The Look" was #1 on the U.S. Billboard chart!

Swedish radio P4 Retro celebrated the occasion with an hour of Roxette Special with a few rare demos!

LOS ANGELES - Roxette is the Artist of the Month on Retro Rewind, a radio station based in Los Angeles. Dave Harris, Retro Rewind's host, says "Due to popular worldwide demand we’re pleased to announce that Roxette is once again artist of the month on Retro Rewind." Retro Rewind will play numerous songs from Roxette's vast library. The radio station will also broadcast a Roxette interview recorded September 2000.

The shows will be rebroadcast online of course.

It was 20 years ago this week that Roxette made their debut on the U.S. pop charts. The duo’s “The Look” debuted on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart during the week of February 11, 1989. “The Look” was the highest debuting single of the week.
Two months later, “The Look” would top the Hot 100 for one week. The single remained on the chart for 19 weeks.

STOCKHOLM - Marie and Per have sent Christmas greetings to all of us:

 I wish all the TDR Readers and fans & friends all over the world a very happy and peaceful Christmas holiday.

 

Marie

- “Are you waiting for the family to arrive?
Are you sure you got the room to spare inside?
Does your granny always tell ya that the old songs are the best
then she's up and rock and rollin' with the rest
Here it is Merry xmas - everybody's having fun
Look to the future now - it's only just begun!”

Couldn’t have said it any better, merry x from per g

ps. btw. lyrix above from “Merry xmas everybody” by Slade (very underrated!!!)