Marie is a Swedish musician best known as one half of the pop duo Roxette, which she created together with Per Gessle. She was born on May 30, 1958, in Össjö, Sweden.
......Early Life......
Marie was the youngest of five children, growing up in a working-class family in the small town of Östra Ljungby. Both parents had to work, and Marie was often left at home alone. Marie developed a big imagination to cope with her loneliness, and dreamed of becoming a singer or actress. She had a mirror with 3 parts in which she would stand and pretend to be a star, and even put together her own band with her young friends.
......Strul & Mamas Barn.....
Marie studied music at college, but found it incredibly boring. At a concert in 1978, she met a boyfriend, Stefan, and moved to Halmstad to be with him. Marie joined his band Strul, which later became Mamas Barn, but had little success under either name. A friend she'd shared a rehearsal studio with, Per Gessle, got her an audition with a famous Swedish record producer, Lasse Lindbom. He signed her up at once, and she began a solo career.
......The beginning: Het vind......
Lasse Lindbom asked Marie to record a duet with him, "Så Nära Nu". He was impressed with Marie's voice, and she joined his band. Her friend Per started to encourage her to start a solo career. Marie finally accepted, and she recorded her first solo album, "Het Vind", produced by Lasse.
"Ännu Doftar Kärlek" was the first single, and it was a big success, as was the album. So Marie went on tour with Lasse and the Lasse Lindbom Band, as she didn't have enough self-confidence to tour on her own.
.....Den sjunde vågen......
Lasse, Marie, Per Gessle and Mats "MP" Persson started a band called "Spännande Ostar", which toured during a short time in some clubs. That same year, Marie and Lasse went to the Canary Islands to write songs for Marie's second solo album. When they returned to Sweden, they started the recordings, which didn't stop for a long time.
The album was released in 1986, under the name "Den sjunde vågen" (the name came to Marie's mind after she read the book "Papillion"). "Den bästa dagen" and "Silver i din hand" were released as singles, and the album was a HUGE success, as well as the new tour.
......Start of Roxette and Efter stormen success.....
In 1986, she teamed up with Per to form Roxette. Marie was warned against this new career move by friends and her record company, as her solo career was doing very well and Per's was not. But she went ahead with it anyway, and they had a lot of success in Sweden with the first single Neverending love, but failed to generate any interest in other countries.
After the tour "Rock Runt Riket" with Roxette, it was time for Marie to record a new solo album. Once again, she worked together with Lasse Lindbom, both as a producer and as a songwriter. The new album went ahead and was recorded over two sessions, one in May and the other in September of 1987. Marie was worried that her new album would be a total flop but "Efter Stormen" turned out to be more successful than her previous two albums.
The new album was followed by another solo tour but this time the songs were performed in more acoustic way than before, creating a whole new atmosphere. At that time Marie believed the music should speak for itself, and fancy stage accessories were not important.
In February of 1989, Marie released a new single, one of her most beloved songs in Sweden. The song "Sparvöga" was specifically written by Marie as the main theme for a TV series of the same name.
......Roxette Hit It Big.....
In 1989 Roxette had an unexpected hit in the USA with 'The Look'. Almost overnight Marie and Per were catapulted from being minor celebrities in Sweden to major artists internationally and suddenly found themselves traveling all over the world, selling millions, and receiving awards. Life became very hectic. Their first international album Look Sharp! was a massive hit, producing two US number one hits. The next album Joyride was even bigger and they followed it up with a huge world tour in over 100 cities during 1991. Although living a dream life Marie began to struggle emotionally during the Joyride tour. She said later 'I had lived the star identity but I had lost the human being.'
.....Den ständiga resan (The Eternal Journey).....
In 1992 Marie returned to her solo career, recording the soul searching "Den Ständiga Resan." The extremely personal album reflected the difficult period in Marie's life. "It mirrors a four to five year period of my life," said Marie about the album. "It was a crisis, with hellish side effects. But I'm glad I went through it." Den Ständiga Resan was Marie's musical self-portrait and was written like a diary, containing very personal songs about her life, feelings and relationships. The song "Ett enda liv" was written about a good friend of Marie's who committed suicide. When a close friend of Marie's heard the album, his comment was that it sounded as though she wanted to kill herself. Marie said that was not the intention of the album, but rather that she felt that perhaps she could help others who were struggling with depression as she had. When Marie's mother heard the album, she didn't approve of Marie being so open about her feelings either. Marie wrote both the lyrics and the music herself and even produced the album with Anders Herrlin, as a co-producer.
During Roxette's worldwide Joyride tour, Marie met a friend of the band, Mikael Bolyos in Australia. They were engaged within 3 days of meeting each other, and Marie was pregnant within a year. She gave birth to their daughter Josefin on April 29 1993.
......I en tid som vår......
1996 was a year full of activities: the recording of a ballads album in Spanish with Roxette, the recording of a new Marie solo album "I en tid som vår" and the birth of Marie's and Micke's second child, Oscar Mikael. Marie's album contained 3 singles, some may say her best, "Tro" ,and "I En Tid Som Vår" which appeared in the Colin Nutley film, "Sånt Är Livet". The third and last single, "Ber Bara En Gång" was released in early 1997.
......"Äntligen - Marie Fredrikssons Bästa 1984-2000"......
In 1998 and 1999, Marie worked with Per in the new Roxette album "Have A Nice Day", and it was the next year, the year 2000, when Marie finally released a greatest hits album under the title "Äntligen - Marie Fredrikssons Bästa 1984-2000".
In 2000 Marie went on to release a greatest hits collection in Sweden which was followed by a very popular summer tour, later released as a live CD/DVD package called Äntligen - Sommarturné. The album to date has sold more than 350,000 - two more singles were released from the album, "Äntligen" and "Det som var nu". The album kept the Beatles compilation album "1's" off the number 1 spot, which shows her popularity. The album went on to be the biggest selling album of the year.
Marie released all her albums in a box set, called "Kärlekens Guld" (Love's Gold). The remastered albums feature previously unreleased songs as well as new packaging.
......Cancer......
On 11 September 2002 Marie unexpectedly fainted in her bathroom, hitting her head so severely she had a seizure. Her husband found her lying on the floor and called an ambulance. While doing scans to assess the damage doctors discovered a brain tumor in the back of her head. Due to the concussion she received after hitting her head doctors could not operate to remove the tumour and it was almost a month before she recovered enough to undergo surgery and receive the worst possible news: the tumour was malignant. Marie then endured months of chemotherapy and radiation treatments and it was not certain she would make it. She received some permanent damage to her brain, losing the ability to read and count, some vision in her right eye, and some loss of movement in her right side.
In January 2003 Roxette were awarded the 'Royal Medal with Blue Ribbon' by King of Sweden Carl Gustaf XIV. The ceremony was the first event at which Marie appeared after her operation. She wore a hat to cover her bald head and seemed very strong in spite of what she'd been through. She walked up unaided to receive her medal and appeared in good spirits.
.......The Change......
About 6 months after Marie's cancer diagnosis, she and her husband Micke began to work on Marie's first ever English solo album. It was an important project for Marie, something to focus on during a very difficult time in her life. She called the album The Change, Marie saying that the word "Change" was powerful and described her life when cancer hit. The album was well received by the Swedish public and entered the Swedish chart at No. 1, reportedly selling 30,000 copies in its first week. The first single, "2nd Chance", entered the Swedish singles chart at number 1.
"Making 'The Change' feels like a victory to me," Marie said in a press statement. An incredible cool and fantastic feeling that's hard to describe in words." Marie and Micke gathered their favorite musicians for the album; Staffan Astner, guitars; Peter Forss, bass; Nicci Notini, drums. Magnus Lindgren and Micke were responsible for most string arrangements on the album. Micke also produced "The Change" and additionally he plays the keyboards.
In conjunction with the release of "The Change," Marie Fredriksson started a new publishing company together with her husband Micke Bolyos. MaryJane Music was mainly created "as a home for Marie's solo albums," states the label's website, "but as the musical collaboration between Marie and Mikael continues and expands, don't be surprised if you find other exciting projects with some of their musical friends released on this label."
.......Min bäste vän (My Best Friend)......
2006 was a busy year for Marie. She returned with a new CD of Swedish cover songs called 'Min Bäste Vän' (My Best Friend) in February. She chose songs she loved growing up with and that she considers a part of her. The first single released from this cover album was the song 'Sommaräng' by one of her favourite Swedish artists John Holm.
During her illness Marie rediscovered her love of drawing. Although she could no longer read or write, drawing was one thing she could still do and she found a real passion for it. She had always been very private about her artwork but for the first time she exhibited a collection of her drawings in a gallery show entitled 'After The Change'. The vernissage at the Doktor Glas gallery in Kungsträdgården featured 24 of her charcoal drawings and ran from 21-30 October. Later she released the book 'After The Change', featuring reprints of all 24 sketches.
......Marie's Life Today......
Roxette celebrated 20 years as a band in 2006. As a favour to Per on his birthday Marie offered to be involved in a new Roxette project and recorded two songs for a boxset titled "The Roxbox", a boxed set release of old songs, rare songs, and videos.
She continues to take it easy and was recently quoted as saying she has given up the stressful life she lived before her cancer. She works now only when it feels right for her and enjoys her life with her family. She says her life used to be full of stress and now she avoids any kind of stress even if it's positive.
Roxette band mate Per Gessle spoke about a different Marie after surviving against the odds to live.
'It was frightening. There are different grades of cancer and of course one lived in suspense. I don't even think the chance was 50/50 for her to make its. It's amazing Marie has recovered. It's naturally a different Marie today. When something like this happens one reconsiders everything. It doesn't help how many gold records you have hanging on the wall when you get ill. Her singing voice is back at full strength but there are other circumstances. She has a problem reading fast and trouble remembering things. Everything goes a little slower. Maybe it can be worked on but it takes time.'
Marie has said she has had to learn new ways of remembering things as she cannot read well. She's lost her aptitude for mathematics completely and believes it won't return. She also has trouble learning new things. She keeps a positive attitude, saying that computers and calculators can handle everything her brain cannot.
Marie continues to work as a musical artist and as a painter. She's talked about a new art exhibition in the near future and almost certainly a new album either with Roxette or as a solo artist. In the meantime she enjoys her days relaxing, avoiding stress, and most importantly spending valuable time with her children.
......"A Family Affair"......
Mikael Bolyos (Marie's husband) released his first album "A Family Affair" on June 14, and it includes a couple of surprises: 4 Songs will be sung lead by Marie Fredriksson including the legendary song 'Hometown' which has only been heard partly in a swedish film back in 1996. Many of the other songs on the album feature the vocals of Marie also.
Marie lead vocals on
* 1 In the Corner of Your Eye (sung by Marie Fredriksson),
* 2 Tell It to My Heart (sung by Marie Fredriksson),
* 3 Outro (sung by Marie Fredriksson)
* 4 Hometown (sung by Marie Fredriksson)
* Known backing vocals on Me & My Guitar & Lilly.
These songs are great, enormously sad and instantly engaging on an emotional level - precisely the kind of music I enjoy listening to in the evening - soothing but by no means boring. Marie you make beautiful music with Per and you make beautiful music on your own. I'm sorry to hear about the saga and also about your struggle with depression. I can really relate to this aspect of your trials, as I suffer from anxiety, which will probably have an enormously negative impact on my future if I don't get a hold. On a more positive note, its inspiring to see that individuals like you have been able to overcome their issues, to the extent that they have afforded themselves every success in the music industry. I also think its great that you have had the courage to share your experiences with depression with the public, as this type of unveiling reduces the stigma and other negative sentiments in our society. Lots of love and best wishes for all your future endeavors from The Cut Throats of Tall Poppies.
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