Start of Roxette and Efter Stormen
Gessle and Fredriksson had talked about working together for many years. Fredriksson had done backing vocal work for Gessle's band Gyllene Tider, and they had worked together on Spännande Ostar and other projects, including an attempt by Gyllene Tider to release an English language album in America. Fredriksson's career was soaring in Sweden, but Gessle – a former boyband member whose solo career was not doing as well. Friends and people in the industry were skeptical towards the idea of Marie collaborating with Gessle. His idea was to form a duo, singing in English, and try to have some success in Europe. However, during the 1980s, it was uncommon for Swedish artists to perform in English.
In 1986, she decided to team up with Gessle under the name Roxette – the name Gyllene Tider had used when they tried to release their album The Heartland Café in the US. Their first single "Neverending Love" was a hit in Sweden, and Roxette's album Pearls of Passion breathed new life into Per's flagging career, and cemented Marie as a major artist. After the 1987 "Rock Runt Riket" Swedish concert tour with Roxette, she recorded her third solo album album Efter stormen. In February 1989, she recorded a song for a TV Series called Sparvöga. Her song, the title theme of the show, became one of her most beloved and best known songs. Fredriksson was now one of the most well known singers in Sweden.
Read more about this topic: Mikael Bolyos
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