Per Gessle
As half of the duo Roxette, Per Gessle became one of the most successful Swedish artists of his generation, if not the rock era. With a knack for catchy hooks, Gessle worked diligently to find international success with his music. When the power pop band Gyllene Tider failed to do so -- still becoming one of the best-selling bands in Sweden -- he disbanded the group and tried a solo career. When he finally formed Roxette with Marie Fredriksson in 1986, he achieved that worldwide success, which included U.S. number ones like "The Look" and "It Must Have Been Love."
Gessle was born in the seaside town of Halmstad in southwestern Sweden. Inspired by the new wave movement, he had a brief run in the duo Grape Rock in the late '70s before forming Gyllene Tider in 1978. Within a few years, their hooks had entranced Sweden, and their second album, Moderna Tider, sold close to half-a-million copies. In 1983, while most of the bandmembers were doing their military service, Gessle released his self-titled solo debut. The band reunited in 1984 and tried for the North American market, touring under the name Roxette (a different Roxette than the duo he later formed), but remained relatively unnoticed. Discouraged, Gessle released another solo album, Scener, while forming the final configuration of Roxette as a side project.
In 1986, Roxette's debut album, Pearls of Passion, was released. By 1988, the duo of Gessle and Fredriksson had become one of Sweden's most popular groups, and in another year they reached the top of the American charts for the first time with "The Look." Subsequent U.S. number ones included "Listen to Your Heart," "It Must Have Been Love," and "Joyride." During the entirety of the '90s, Roxette was successful on a global scale, selling tens of millions of records and reaching the top of the charts in nearly a dozen countries. They ultimately became one of Sweden's biggest musical exports -- second only to ABBA -- by selling over 75 million records worldwide.
Coinciding with Frederiksson taking time off from Roxette to raise a family, Gyllene Tider reunited for a summer tour in 1996, and released an EP with newly written songs. Their re-released compilation, Halmstads Pärlor, became the highest-selling record in Sweden during both 1995 and 1996. The following year, Gessle released his third solo album. His first English-language LP, The World According to Gessle saw him backed by members of Gyllene Tider and Brainpool. Gessle's next solo offering, 2003's Mazarin, went multi-platinum (five times) in Sweden. That success was followed by a Roxette reunion album and a hit reunion tour. The year 2005 saw another solo release, Son of a Plumber -- Gessle's second English-language solo offering but the first one to go platinum on the day it was issued. The Swedish-language follow-up, En Händig Man, was issued in 2007 (going triple platinum) and followed in 2008 by a third English-language solo album, Party Crasher. The live album Gessle Over Europe followed one year later.
Roxette reunited again for a series of live concerts in Europe in 2009 and ended up playing over a 100 shows on six continents over the course of the next three years. Gessle then provided an instrumental pop score for the 2012 festival film Small Apartments. It received a soundtrack release on EMI in conjunction with the film's wide release in early 2013. That summer, Gyllene Tider reunited for a tour of Sweden. Gessle returned to the top of the Swedish albums chart with the solo album En Vacker Natt (A Beautiful Night) in the first half of 2017, following it in the second half with En Vacker Dag (A Beautiful Day).
© Lars Lovén, J. Scott McClintock & James Wilkinson /TiVo
Artistes similaires
-
Incognito - EP
PG Roxette, Roxette, Per Gessle
Pop - Paru chez WM Sweden le 28 avr. 2023
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Pop-Up Dynamo!
PG Roxette, Roxette, Per Gessle
Pop - Paru chez WM Sweden le 25 nov. 2022
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Craziest Thing (Official Song European Table Tennis Championship 2023)
PG Roxette, Roxette, Per Gessle
Pop - Paru chez WM Sweden le 18 août 2023
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
-
-
The Per Gessle Archives - The Good Karma Demos
Pop - Paru chez WM Sweden le 12 janv. 2024
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Per Gessle Archives - the Roxette Demos!, Vol. 5
Pop - Paru chez Cosmos le 30 sept. 2014
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Wish You The Best For Xmas
PG Roxette, Roxette, Per Gessle
Pop - Paru chez WM Sweden le 18 nov. 2022
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
En akustisk kväll med Per Gessle
Pop - Paru chez Elevator Entertainment AB le 5 août 2022
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
It Must Have Been Love (A Tribute to Marie Fredriksson / Live)
Pop - Paru chez Elevator Entertainment le 19 juin 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Walking On Air
PG Roxette, Roxette, Per Gessle
Pop - Paru chez Parlophone Sweden le 23 sept. 2022
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Per Gessle Archives - the Roxette Demos!, Vol. 3
Pop - Paru chez Cosmos le 23 sept. 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Per Gessle Archives - the Roxette Demos!, Vol. 2
Pop - Paru chez Cosmos le 23 sept. 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Per Gessle Archives - the Roxette Demos!, Vol. 4
Pop - Paru chez Cosmos le 23 sept. 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Small Apartments (The Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Bandes originales de films - Paru chez WM Sweden le 29 avr. 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
-
The Per Gessle Archives - The Roxette Demos!, Vol. 1
Pop - Paru chez Cosmos le 23 sept. 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
-
-
En vacker natt
Pop - Paru chez BMG Rights Management Scandinavia AB le 28 avr. 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Late Night Concert (Unplugged Cirkus - Live, Nov 19, 2020)
Pop - Paru chez Elevator Entertainment AB le 15 janv. 2021
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo