STOCKHOLM (UPDATED) - Both Aftonbladet and Expressen, the two major Swedish tabloid newspapers, report in today’s editions that Marie has been released from the hospital and is home with her family. They report is that she’s been home since last Friday afternoon.

  The reason: her children. Marie wanted to be with Josefin and Oscar at home, despite the doctors recommendation that she stay in the hospital for the weekend, report the newspapers.

  According to Expressen, there’s a nurse at Marie’s home, to take care of her post-operative pain.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Based on TDR’s own sources, we’d like to amend this article by clarifing two points: 1) Marie did NOT leave the hospital against doctor’s orders. 2) Marie does NOT have a nurse or any other hospital staff at her house. - LEO

• Expressen’s article
• Aftonbladet’s article

STOCKHOLM - One of Marie’s close friends, Louise Nordfors, reveals in a report published in today’s Expressen that Marie feels fine after the operation, which was conducted Monday.

  “Marie thinks that it feels great now,” says Louise. “Yesterday, Marie dared to step on her feet and walk a bit without help. Of course, she is still feeling dizzy and she will have to rest and take it easy for some months.”

  According to the newspaper report, a lot of friends and relatives have been visiting Marie at the Karolinska Hospital since the operation.

  There is an extra bed in Marie’s room for Micke, so he can be close to her, while Josefin and Oscar, who have visited Marie in the hospital, are staying home in Djursholm with their nanny.

  “The children miss their mom,” says Louise. Of course, Marie also misses them, as she wants to go back home already this weekend, to be with them.

  Everybody feels relieved now because the operation went fine and the tumor is totally removed. It’s a matter now of waiting for the doctors to get the lab report back indicating whether the tumor was benign or malignant. This will determine whether any further treatment is necessary.

• Expressen’s article

STOCKHOLM (UPDATED) - According to a report published in today’s Expressen, the operation to remove Marie’s tumor was conducted on Monday. The operation took several hours, but it went well and there were no complications. “She feels pretty fine now, but you have to remember that she’s just been operated on,” said a friend of Marie anonymously to Expressen. “It will take some time before she’s fully recovered.”

  Marie’s family - her husband Micke and children Josefin, 9, and Oscar, 5 - were able to meet her on Tuesday. For mainly security reasons, Marie has a private room in the hospital with an extra bed for her husband.

  “Marie is a fighter. She will be back on her feet again,” said Per in a previous comment to Expressen.

  Marie fainted and hit her head dangerously at her home on September 11th. On the 15th, she was diagnosed with a tumor in the back of her head.

  Update: Aftonbladet also runs an article about the operation. The doctors are now examining the tumor to be able to decide upon any future treatment. According to Aftonbladet, the whole section of the hospital is closed to the public for Marie’s security.

  Update: Marie Dimberg, Roxette’s manager, confirmed these reports, telling The Daily Roxette that “the surgery took almost four hours and – as the medical team was able to remove the entire tumor – the operation was very successful.”

  “Marie is, under the circumstances, very well and wishes to thank all of you for the encouraging letters and e-mails that she has now received. Marie will spend the remainder of the year at home and she is looking forward to a full recovery as quickly as possible,” Dimberg said.
  The tumor itself has been sent to the hospital’s laboratory for biopsy testing. Whether or not Marie will require further treatment – radiation or chemotherapy – depends on whether the tumor was malignant or benign.

(TDR photo by Lars-Erik Olson)

• Expressen article
• Aftonbladet article

STOCKHOLM - The following joint statement was just released to the media:

  “Marie Fredriksson has now more or less recovered from her severe concussion. Based on the results of the many tests Marie has gone through, the medical team at the Karolinska Hospital in Stockholm have decided to remove her tumor through surgery. This operation will take place within the next ten days.

  This procedure will prevent Marie from working for the remainder of this year which, unfortunately, means that Roxette will have to cancel their participation in the Night of the Proms tour which starts at the end of October. Both Marie and Per hope to be able to join the Proms tour another year.

  The forthcoming release of the album “Roxette – The Ballad Hits” will continue as planned. Marie and Per have agreed that Per will carry on working [to promote] the album to whatever extent possible.

  Marie Fredriksson wishes to express her sincere thanks for all the encouraging letters, flowers and gifts she’s received. She feels a great sense of support from her fans and friends all over the world.

  We do hope Marie’s full recovery will be as speedy as is possible and we make yet another plea for respect for the privacy of Marie, her family and friends.”

  The statement released to the press was signed by d&d Management, EMI Recorded Music AB, and EMA Telstar.

EDITOR’S NOTE: It should be made clear that much of what has been written lately in the Swedish press (and used as source material here) is based on speculation, or about patients, in general, who have such tumors. There are no definite results or statements from Marie’s medical team yet.



STOCKHOLM (Updated) – Marie may undergo an operation sometime this coming week, as her doctors will soon have the results of the tests that have been conducted to determine the exact nature of the tumor that exists in the back part of her head. In the meantime, she has been home with her family under the care of a registered nurse.

  Marie’s still suffering from a concussion, caused by fainting and falling last week after jogging. She’s still feeling dizzy at times and has occasional headaches.

  It’s still uncertain what kind of treatment she’ll receive for the tumor, since it hasn’t yet been determined for certain that it is cancerous. “Nothing’s definite yet. We’re still not sure about what kind of tumor it is,” says Marie Dimberg, Roxette’s manager. “Marie’s in a positive mood,” she added.


  The alternatives would include an operation to remove the tumor, radiation therapy and/or chemotherapy.

  During this past week, numerous tests have been carried out, including another MIR (computer imaging using magnetic and radio waves) and a brain x-ray.

  Karolinska Hospital, where Marie is being treated, is fully prepared and – as TDR reported previously – has a sterling reputation for quality care and cutting-edge medical knowledge.



Operation can take hours

  An operation such as the one being considered can take anywhere from three to 24 hours. In the weeks following that, doctors can administer radiation therapy to prevent a tumor from starting to grow again.

  “The doctors have told Marie to rest at home, until further information arrives. We can only hope for the best,” says Marie Dimberg.

EDITOR’S NOTE: We’ll have more on this story soon. In the meantime, if you have not done so already, we’d like to encourage you to consider sending a get-well wish to Marie — or joining a prayer circle — by using the links provided in the story below (about how fans have reacted to this news).

• Aftonbladet’s article (In Swedish - with photos)

NEW YORK - As news of Marie Fredriksson’s accident and the resulting discovery of a brain tumor speads, reports have appeared yesterday and today in newspapers, and on radio and TV programs, in locations around the world.

  In an indication of just how well-known the singer has become as a result of her amazing career with Roxette, the story has been picked up by the major international news services, including Reuters, UPI, BBC, and CNN.

  The subscribers to The Daily Roxette reside in locations around the globe, and these reader-reporters have spotted stories in locations as far away from Sweden as Argentina, Brazil and Australia.

  While it would be impossible to cite them all, we’ve selected a few representative articles that you may wish to take a look at:

• CNN (USA)
• BBC (UK)
• Laut (Germany)
• Bild (Germany)
• O Globo (Brazil)
• Folha de São Paulo (Brazil)
• Rockol (Italy)
• El Mundo (Spain)
• SkyRadio (Netherlands)
• OE3-ORF (Austria)
• Verdans Gang (Norway)
• Zene.net (Hungary)
• Billboard (AP) (USA)
• Herald Sun (Australia)

STOCKHOLM - In an official press release sent to various media outlets including The Daily Roxette, Roxette’s manager reports that doctors have found a small tumor in the back of Marie’s head which probably caused her fainting episode earlier this week. The doctors will perform more tests before proper treatment can be determined.

  “[It’s] clear that Marie Fredriksson will have to cancel her commitments for near future,” manager Marie Dimberg says.

 The press release was sent out to help ease the intense pressure on Dimberg and others for information regarding Fredriksson’s health. Here is the entire text:

  On September 11, Marie Fredriksson fainted in her home in Stockholm and was taken to hospital. The fall caused a serious concussion and Marie has been hospitalized ever since. Several tests and X-rays have been performed in order to establish what caused her fainting.

  The results of these tests now show that Marie has a small tumour in the back of her head. More tests have to be performed before proper treatment can be determined. Information will be given when information is available and of course we are hoping for a positive process.

  It is however clear that Marie Fredriksson will have to cancel her commitments for near future. Marie is currently at home and under the circumstances in good spirits but it is of course a delicate procedure that lies ahead. On behalf of Marie and her family we kindly ask for respect of their privacy so that Marie, with the support of friends and family can proceed with her treatment and quick recovery.



Marie Dimberg

d&d Management

EDITOR’S NOTE / UPDATE: - Since the publication of this article, The Daily Roxette has been in touch with several sources close to Marie. While — according to her doctors — she is expected to make a full recovery from the trauma to her brain and head, a close friend confirmed that “she has a very severe concussion” as a result of having hit her head on the hard floor when she fainted. Doctors today (Friday) at Karolinska Hospital have been running tests on Marie to determine the cause of the fainting spell, as it is somewhat of a mystery. Marie gets dizzy when she sits up in bed, or tries to stand, but she’s spent time on the telephone talking to her family and close friends and has received visitors. Per Gessle is among those expected to visit this weekend, although there is also hope that she will be released soon,  perhaps as early as this weekend. Marie knows that her fans are concerned about her, and received flowers today from the Fan Club on behalf of all of her fans around the world. “They’re beautiful,” she is reported to have said upon receiving the arrangement.

STOCKHOLM Marie Fredriksson, 44, has been in the world-renowned Karolinska Institute hospital since Wednesday in serious condition, having suffered a concussion as the result of a fall she took at her villa just outside Stockholm.

  Here are the few details mentioned in the accounts published in Swedish newspapers today:

  “She is really tired, but in a good mood,” says her manager Marie Dimberg. “She fell, I can’t say more.”

  She was taken to the neurology department in the hospital where doctors state she was experiencing a serious concussion. A concussion (the result of head trauma) can last for some weeks.

  “She has a really serious concussion, she is not feeling fine,” Dimberg said. Yesterday, Fredriksson was conscious and her manager could talk for a while with her. “I don’t know right now how long she will have to stay,” she said.

  Dimberg got to know what had happened Tuesday afternoon in a phone call from Marie’s husband, Micke, 45.

  Micke and Marie met in Australia, at the end of Roxette’s Joyride tour. Soon after that meeting they got engaged, and after a bit more than a year they had
their first baby, Josefin. In 1994, they got married.

  As of last night, her brother, Sven-Arne, was not really informed about what had happened. “I am shocked, it came so suddenly. I had not heard anything,” he said.

• Aftonbladet’s article (In Swedish)
• Expressen’s article (In Swedish)
• Svenska Dagbladet’s article (In Swedish)
• “Get Well” wishes (Messages will be forwarded to Marie)

ANTWERP - Marie Fredriksson, who was supposed to make an appearance at a Night of the Proms news conference, fainted in her bathroom and was taken to a hospital according to a report by Belgian radio station Q-Music.

  TDR reader Cathy Carlier, who runs the Belgian division of the Official Fan Club, heard (or read) this report and contacted the station. She spoke with Alexandra Potvin who explained that Marie was supposed to attend the press conference this afternoon, but due to the fainting spell, she could not be present. The NOTP organization said it was nothing very serious.

EDITOR’S NOTE: We at The Daily Roxette, speaking – we feel – on behalf of all of our readers, join Cathy and the OIRFC in wishing Marie all the best.

• Belgian Division, OIRFC (In English!)

STOCKHOLM (UPDATED) - “Kärlekens Guld” is the name that’s been given to a box set of remastered Marie Fredriksson albums that will be released by EMI Sweden (on the Capitol label) as early as June 10th. The name means “Love’s Gold” in English.

  The set, to be packaged in an attractive slip cover, will include her five original albums – remastered using state-of-the-art equipment – along with the live recording of the Stockholm “Äntligen” concert that was previously included as a bonus in the DVD package. Each of the five albums will include bonus tracks.

  Li Eriksson, who managed the project for EMI, said
“What we’ve done is basically taken care of Marie’s catalog, which obviously is a treasure, and remastered her solo albums. During this summer and fall they will be available in this box ’Kärlekens Guld’ and further down the line as separate albums.”

  “This procedure is not unusual at all,” Eriksson told TDR. “Most artist’s back-catalogue is being remastered to get the soundpicture updated. It’s something record companies
do to preserve their artist’s history.”

  In the spring of 2000, after a relatively long period of silence as a solo artist, Marie and EMI selected her biggest hits and released them on a compilation album called “Äntligen” (which means “Finally” in English). Eriksson says this album has now sold about 290,000 copies making it one of the best-selling albums in Sweden last year.

  “A big summer tour followed, and solidified Marie’s standing as the biggest Swedish female artist,” said Eriksson.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Click on the cover photo to see what the promo poster will look like. If you would like to have a hi-res file sent to you (so that you can print your own mini-poster), write to [email protected] The front of the actual slipcase cover will not include the thumbnails of the previous albums as shown here. Read more…