Showing posts with label Marie Fredriksson. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Marie Fredriksson. Show all posts

Monday, December 23, 2019

#Roxette ๐Ÿ˜ข - So many songs left to be sung that will never be sung by #MarieFredriksson ๐ŸŽค๐Ÿ˜ญ

And just a month before Marie died, November 4th, it had been the 30th anniversary of their first NUMBER ONE song on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart here in the USA, the "First song ever to reach the No 1-slot WITHOUT being released as a 7-inch vinyl disc."


Roxette - Listen To Your Heart (Official Music Video)
https://youtu.be/yCC_b5WHLX0

And less than a year later... lightning struck! A hit song from the most popular film of the year all around the world...


Roxette - It Must Have Been Love (Official Music Video, from the motion picture, 'Pretty Woman' (1990) https://youtu.be/k2C5TjS2sh4


The last time I had listened to one of Roxette's songs consistently came in 2011, just two weeks after my dad Died at Memorial Hospital here in Hollywood, after he'd suffered his first stroke in 2009, had several medical interventions, and been in an ALF in Hollywood -just blocks from where I'd later be living- where I visited him for several hours every day to check on his mood and lend encouragement. A very. very tough time for me that Per and Marie's music helped me get through.



Roxette - She's Got Nothing On (But The Radio) [Official Music Video]
Uploaded January 12, 2011
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1N-Gf0Fbcg









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The sad press release from Dimberg Jernberg Management in Stockholm...

Marie Fredriksson of Roxette has died 

It is with great sadness we have to announce that Marie Fredriksson of Roxette has passed away in the morning of December 9, following a 17-year long battle with cancer.

Marie was born on the 30th of May 1958 in the south of Sweden, starting her musical career in nearby Halmstad where she became friends with future Roxette companion Per Gessle. Following a successful solo debut in 1984, Marie Fredriksson became one of Sweden’s most loved and successful artists. In 1986 she teamed up with Per in Roxette with the ambition to reach outside Sweden, and together they started a historical journey that in the coming years would make them one of the biggest pop acts in the world. 

The debut single ”Neverending Love” followed by the album ”Pearls of Passion” in 1986 made them stars in Sweden, but international recognition would have to wait until the single ”The Look” from Roxette’s second album ”Look Sharp!” in the spring of 1989 opened the doors to a massive international breakthrough. It was their first No 1 single on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart and would be followed by ”Listen To Your Heart”, ”It Must Have Been Love” and ”Joyride”, as well as numerous worldwide radio staples like ”Dressed For Success”, ”How Do You Do!”, ”Sleeping In My Car”, ”Dangerous”, “Fading Like A Flower” and many more. 

The massive success with sales of more than 80 million records paved the way for several worldwide tours, cementing Marie Fredriksson’s reputation as a sensational live performer. She owned the stage, commanded the band and had the audience in the palm of her hand. As great as she was in the studio, the stage was her natural habitat. This unique artistry and energy helped to create a lasting bond between her and millions of passionate fans around the globe. 

In 2002, Marie was diagnosed with a severe brain tumor, receiving an aggressive treatment that took its toll but ultimately was successful. Thanks to her extremely strong fighting spirit, Marie by 2009 was able to start a gradual return to the world’s stages. The unlikely second coming of Roxette resulted in several new albums, and tours that again put the duo in front of screaming, smiling and crying crowds all over the world. During the comeback years Marie was an amazing trooper, overcoming the many rigors of touring in order to meet her fans on stage again and again. But by 2016, the show was finally over when Marie´s doctors advised her to stop touring and focus on her health. 

Marie leaves us a grand musical legacy. Her amazing voice – both strong and sensitive – and her magical live performances will be remembered by all of us who was lucky enough to witness them. But we also remember a wonderful person with a huge appetite for life, and woman with a very big heart who cared for everybody she met. 

Per Gessle comments:
“Time goes by so quickly. It’s not that long ago we spent days and nights in my tiny apartment in Halmstad, listening to music we loved, sharing impossible dreams. And what a dream we eventually got to share!
Thank you, Marie, thanks for everything. You were an outstanding musician, a master of the voice, an amazing performer. Thanks for painting my black and white songs in the most beautiful colours. You were the most wonderful friend for over 40 years. I’m proud, honoured and happy to have been able to share so much of your time, talent, warmth, generosity and sense of humour. All my love goes out to you and your family. Things will never be the same.
P.”

Marie Fredriksson’s husband Mikael Bolyos and her two children Josefin and Oscar kindly ask for respect in their grief.
The funeral will take place in silence with only Marie’s closest family present. 

Stockholm, December 2019.
Dimberg Jernberg Management

Sunday, June 9, 2013

Princess Madeleine: A dynamic and modern princess finally gets married and gains the love and peace of mind she's always wanted ♥!; But what about the music? Me, I'd have gone with "This Guy's In Love With You"; #madde, #sweden, #tihi, #brรถllopet, @JesperParnevik, @MarcusCooks

Official Royal Court photograph of Princess Madeleine of Sweden and Mr. Christopher O'Neill by Ewa-Marie Rundquist, Stockholm, June 8, 2013. © 2013 Kungahuset.se  
See more of the official wedding photographs at http://www.kungahuset.se/brollopet/pressrum.4.4ea495e313c19c119aa48cc.html?searchKey=category&searchQuery=&showImagesOnly=true


SVT video: Prinsessan Madeleine fick sin Chris. Ett ”ja” – och ett ”I will” I dag gifte sig prinsessan Madeleine och Christopher O'Neill i Slottskyrkan i Stockholm.
PUBLICERAD 8 JUNI 2013 - 15:13 – UPPDATERAD 8 JUNI 2013 - 20:46
http://www.svt.se/nyheter/sverige/kungligt-brollop-i-stockholm
Princess Madeleine: A dynamic and modern princess finally gets married and gains the love and peace of mind she's always wanted ♥!; But what about the music? Me, I'd have gone with "This Guy's In Love With You"; #madde, #sweden, #tihi, #brรถllopet, @JesperParnevik, @MarcusCooks
Well, I watched the whole  kungliga brรถllopet, royal wedding, LIVE on Saturday morning here in Hallandale Beach via both SVT Play and TV4 Play, going back-and-forth at the beginning but mostly watching SVT after the "I will's" and  the "Ja's," 

Just like the annual Super Bowl, I pride myself on ignoring the lengthy pre-game coverage because at this point, you either fully know what's going on and everyone's back story or you don't, and I do with the happy couple, so I picked up the coverage right about 10 a.m Miami time and watched with great interest and amusement with my legal pad on one side of my desktop and some cold Dr. Pepper on the other. 

(I don't think I've watched more than five minutes of the annual marathon of pre-Super Bowl TV coverage since the last time the Redskins played, when I lived in Arlington County, VA -January 1992.)

I found it sort of amusing in a counter-intuitive way that in a country as cosmopolitan and outward-looking as Sweden that a TV commentator actually seemed a little out-of-sorts that so much English was being spoken, but then Chris is British and American, and his family and friends could hardly be expected to undergo a crash course in Swedish just to know what was going on and being said at the Royal Chapel.

And in his case, getting married on LIVE television, with millions watching, knowing that EVERYONE is focusing intensely on how he acts or any little mannerism or tic, it's not too much to ask that you get asked such important questions in English.



Above and below, some of my better screenshots; I'm having a problem with some of the photos, so I'll have more in the days ahead...











There were two pop songs that were sung very nicely once Madeleine and Chris were up front together for what what turned out to be quite some time actually compared to many weddings, royal, celebrity or otherwise.

Marie Fredriksson of Roxette sang "ร„nnu Doftar Kรคrlek" 
Just Click HERE:) YouTube Channel video: Marie Fredriksson "ร„nnu Doftar Kรคrlek"., from SVT1's coverage Uploaded June 8, 2013. http://youtu.be/FZkGjIHdHj4

and Peter Jรถback sang Roberta Flack's Grammy-winning "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face."
TheLpib1 YouTube Channel video: Peter Jรถback "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" Uploaded June 8, 2013. http://youtu.be/szZinuE4bvI

If it were me choosing the music, instead of the latter song, I'd have chosen one which I know would have brought a big knowing smile to nearly everyone's face, and maybe even caused some people to sing sotto voce to themselves in church, since it's an instantly recognizable song that nearly everyone can sing because of the easy phrasing and tempo.
Herb Alpert's performance of Burt Bachrach's "This Guy's In Love With You"


thegoochman YouTube Channel video: Herb Alpert "This Guy's in Love with You" performed July 20, 1971. Introduced by The Carpenters, who recorded on his label, A&M Records. Uploaded March 8, 2008. http://youtu.be/4WZjqdPVaI0

I think you see what I mean.


Professional golfer Jesper Parnevik was a busy bee on Saturday, tweeting from the chapel, on the streets of Stockholm, on a boat and then at Drottningholm Palace.









Chris's speech at the post-wedding party about his late father brought everyone to tears:
http://www.aftonbladet.se/brollopet/article16930666.ab




And world-famous Swedish chef Marcus Samuelsson, in Stockholm from his famous Red Rooster restaurant in NYC, where he hosted a family get-together in May, tweets:






* One last thing and I've gone back-and-forth on even mentioning this but....
There are, sadly enough, thousands if not tens of thousands of people in Sweden and elsewhere in the world whose lives are so miserable and full of bitterness -i.e. they have few friends and low self-esteem - that they have nothing better to do than troll on YouTube writing stupid and inane comments about the various videos regarding this weekend's wedding, insisting that Swedish taxpayers paid for everything associated with it, which is NOT true.
And that it's a conspiracy or it's this or it's that or...

No, Madeleine's father, King Carl XVI Gustaf, is a very, very wealthy man, and while he isn't Queen of England wealthy, he has the means and the desire to pay for whatever needed to be paid for related to his youngest daughter's wedding.
It's really as simple as that.

Madeleine, having the personality that she does and being fourth-in-line to the throne, knows perfectly well how bad it would look for everyone concerned if the taxpayers were being forced to pay for her wedding and the bridal flourishes within it.

If taxpayers paid for it, you would have heard about that already, wouldn't you, no matter where YOU live?
If that were the case, the very competitive Swedish news media would be in a feeding frenzy to get to the bottom of it, leaving no stone unturned or invoice ignored.
And even in the U.S. and Great Britain, whatever information the Swedish media had unearthed would've surely made its way into the American and British dispatches about the wedding in the months leading up to it, wouldn't they?
Of course.
If it was true and there was proof, that would be hard to ignore. 

But it isn't true.
You didn't read about it or hear about it because it's NOT true.
Roger Lundgren, the editor of a Swedish magazine about royalty, told Associated Press news agency the occasion was not as big as Crown Princess Victoria's wedding "because Madeleine is not a successor to the throne".
"Secondly, this is a private wedding - the king is paying for it himself," he added.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-22823898

But some people, whether sheerly out of ideology or cynicism and bitterness can't accept reality.
They can't accept that their wanting it to be true in order to prove some political point, DOES NOT make it true.
Only supportable facts make it true, not ideology.

IF it were the opposite, that is, as all the oddball know-it-alls keep claiming, she would be properly mortified and no doubt insist the wedding take place in New York -where they already are living and plan to keep living- to prevent her father from being placed in a bad position.
Because her father has the means to pay the freight, the wedding was in Stockholm.
It's no more complicated than that.

I mention all this because I shared this small but fairly well-known fact yesterday with someone online, and this morning, I'm getting dozens of angry emails from people, mostly in Sweden and other parts of Europe, who insist that, contrary to the maxim proposed by the late U.S. Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, they are entitled to their own facts.
No, they're entitled to their own opinions, not their own facts.

It just seems very strange and quite sad to me that so many people want to take the time to show how truly uninformed they are to strangers who actually know the facts. 
Trust me, if I don't know something, the last thing in the world I'd want to do would be to contact someone who actually knows what they're talking about just to show how ignorant I was.
But clearly, everyone doesn't feel that way!

Especially people who spend an inordinate amount of time on YouTube watching videos that seem to make them angry politically.

Knowing what Madeleine has been through the past few years, I'm very happy for her that she can FINALLY have the life she's wanted all along, and has FINALLY found the peace of mind she's longed for...

But as these emails I've received make clear, lots of people want her to be just as plain miserable as them.
But she's not -she's very happy and relieved!

Again, the Royal Court photographs by Ewa-Marie Rundquist are here, so take a look: http://www.kungahuset.se/

Here's what Aftonbladet said about the pics: http://www.aftonbladet.se/nyheter/article16929613.ab

More info, photos and videos at:


Saturday, January 15, 2011

Look who's back to rock some more? Marie & Per! Roxette - She's Got Nothing On (But The Radio); The Look (LIVE) -Stockholm, 2010



Roxette - She's Got Nothing On (But The Radio)

Directed by Mats Udd
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1N-Gf0Fbcg
High Definition version of this video is at: http://bcove.me/s8zormvd


Roxette will be touring starting in February in Russia, playing nearly everywhere BUT the U.S.A.: http://www.roxette.se/tour.php
When last we saw Marie and Per, it was about seven months ago in Stockholm at the great LIVE nationally-televised concert thrown for Crown Princess Victoria and Daniel Westling the night before their wedding.

That was something I'd meant to post here the next day, since there were several other interesting-to-great performances, plus the finale with a Who's Who singing my favorite Elvis song
.
Well, better late than never!
And dig all the rocking royalty!
Official Swedish Royal Court photo of Daniel Westling & Crown Princess Victoria by Paul Hansen, 2010.



Pre-Wedding Concert for Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden &
fiancรฉ Daniel Westling. Roxette sings "The Look" backed by the Swedish Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. June 18, 2010 Stockholms Konserthuset, Sweden.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AmvonM23JUk
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Finale of the pre-Wedding Concert for Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden &
fiancรฉ Daniel Westling
a.) Various artists singing "Can't Help Falling in Love"
backed by the Swedish Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

b.) Children's choir of Adolf Fredriks musikklasser (Adolf Fredrik School of Music) singing ‘I morr’n รคr det brรถllopskalas’ (‘The wedding party is tomorrow’) backed by the Swedish Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. June 18, 2010 Stockholms Konserthuset, Sweden.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfBq3bmEQsY
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For more on Roxette, see:

http://www.roxette.se/

http://www.dailyroxette.com/
http://www.youtube.com/user/RoxetteVEVO