Download Free Roxette * Songs

Roxette music biography continued...

by the former manager of Swedish pop powerhouse, Abba, and consisted of Marie Fredriksson (born May 30, 1958) and Per Gessle (born January 12, 1959). They took their name from a 70's song by Dr. Feelgood, one of Per's favorite bands. After releasing a single called "Neverending Love," which was a big hit in Sweden, the duo came out with their first album 1986's"Pearls Of Passion", and toured around Sweden in support of it, to legions of fans. In 1988, their follow-up album Look Sharp! was released in Sweden. In that same year, an American exchange student brought the album back to the United States and recommended it to the program director at Minneapolis, Minnesota's biggest radio station. Miraculously, after some airtime the Roxette songs took off in America, with the tunes, "The Look" and "Listen to Your Heart" both reaching #1. Look Sharp! ultimately sold 8 million copies around the world. In 1987 Per had written a song called "It Must Have Been Love (Christmas For The Broken Hearted)", and in 1990, after a few changes "It Must Have Been Love" got into the movie "Pretty Woman", starring Julia Roberts and Richard Gere, which catapulted the tune to #1 in many countries. The "Pretty Woman" sound track album sold 9 million copies worldwide, earning Roxette Even greater commercial popularity.
Over their career, Roxette had four US #1 singles, two #2 singles and a few other Top 40 peaks until falling out of sight of the Hot 100 in 1994. Even so, by that token, Roxette can be considered a highly successful singles act. The group has been certified by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) with two platinum albums - 1988's Look Sharp! (released in the U.S. in 1989) and 1991's Joyride - and two gold singles - "The Look" and "It Must Have Been Love. Though there is no firm figure, Roxette is said to have worldwide sales of 75 million copies of its albums and singles. The duo's style is best epitomized by the title of their 1995 Greatest Hits album-- Don't Bore Us - Get to the Chorus! They didn't pretend to be trailblazers, but the music they created was accessible enough to earn them a place at the top of the pop world for a number of years.