Jakob Hellman

One record was all it took for Jakob Hellman to become one of Sweden's most legendary pop stars. His 1989 debut, ...och stora havet, created the norm by which every pop singer, singing in Swedish, had to be judged, and it was all he released for over three decades, until he returned in 2021 with his long-awaited second album, Äntligen borta. After playing with some obscure bands in Falun, Hellman released ...och stora havet in 1989, which included the big hit "Vara Vänner." The album won him a Swedish Grammy award as Best Male Rock artist and a place in pop history. The record was followed by a tour, and that was followed by nothing, or very close to nothing. Because even though Hellman appeared on one track of Svenska Hjärtan by the folk-rock band Perssons Pack and on two tribute albums, he did not record any new material and did not tour. Of course, this was the source of a lot of rumors about the reason for his absence, blaming it on a nervous breakdown, drug use, or just disappointment with the pop star life. Meanwhile, the critics and the record companies started looking for the new Jakob Hellman, making the actual Hellman more and more mythic. In the late '90s, ...och stora havet was elected the Best Swedish Album of all time by a jury of critics and musicians. Young male artists with personal lyrics, like Håkan Hellström and Love Olzon, still had to be compared to him at their debuts, none of them having much to do with Hellman or each other. What gave him this mythic position naturally was not only his sudden disappearance but also very gifted lyrics, catchy melodies, and his cautious, vulnerable appearance, which seemed inseparable from the songs. Not only looking for the new Hellman, the critics also hoped for his return. The day before Christmas 1998, it actually happened, when he, together with the temporary constellation Skåningarna, played at a party in Stockholm. The next year saw Hellman touring under his own name, playing covers and songs from his now ten-year-old record. This was the first time he had been on the road since the debut, but no new album followed on his return. Finally, Hellman began touring again in the early 2010s, and his second full-length, Äntligen borta, arrived in 2021. A live release, Live från Palma, also appeared.
© Lars Lovén /TiVo