Army of Lovers - History

History

The founding members, who had all worked together in a band called Barbie, were Alexander Bard, Jean-Pierre Barda and Camilla Henemark (aka La Camilla).

Army of Lovers had many Top 10 hits on the Eurochart, the biggest being "Crucified", which was one of the biggest selling European singles of 1991, and stayed at #1 on the Eurochart for eight consecutive weeks. Their total album sales were seven million copies worldwide.

While Alexander Bard was the "brain" behind the band, Jean-Pierre Barda was the lead vocalist on hits such as "Crucified" and "Israelism". Bard and Barda were the only two band members who were present throughout all of the band's various line-ups. When La Camilla left the band in 1991, she was replaced by Michaela Dornonville de la Cour. In 1993, Dominika Peczynski joined, making the band a four-piece. In 1995, Dornoville de la Cour left and Henemark returned.

Although both "Obsession" and "Sexual Revolution" reached the top spot of the Eurocharts, their presence in the US and the UK was limited to club chart successes (though "Crucified" reached the Top 40 in the UK Singles Chart in February 1992). They released five studio albums, made over twenty music videos, and became successful across Eastern Europe before Bard disbanded the group to concentrate on his new group Vacuum in 1996. The band reformed briefly in 2001.

Third album, The Gods of Earth and Heaven was never published in the US due to its suggestive lyrical content. Record company Giant wanted the group to make a clean American version for US markets but they refused to make any modifications to the album. Giant reacted by abolishing their recording contact. Both album and a single "La plage de Saint-Tropez" were highly successful in China and Japan. The single received a plenty of radio time also in several European countries. A controversial single "Israelism" topped charts in Israel despite of being subject for criticism.

They also joined forces again in 2007 for two shows, one at G-A-Y in London and one in Moscow. Bard, Peczyniski and Barda were present, but Henemark was replaced by an inflatable doll.

During their time together, Army Of Lovers became famous for their outlandish visual appearance (many of their costumes were created by Camilla Thulin), and their high camp music videos directed by Fredrik Boklund (some of which were banned by MTV).

Two members of Army Of Lovers (La Camilla and Dominika) reunited in June 2011 with the release of new single Don't Try to Steal My Limelight, on which they are guests, by Swedish drag artist and blogger Miss Inga. Now they are members of the pop group Happy Hoes.