{"id":449792,"date":"2026-05-19T17:51:12","date_gmt":"2026-05-19T17:51:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/449792\/"},"modified":"2026-05-19T17:51:12","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T17:51:12","slug":"aqua-are-breaking-up-barbie-girl-band-shares-farewell-statement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/449792\/","title":{"rendered":"Aqua Are Breaking Up: ‘Barbie Girl’ Band Shares Farewell Statement"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tAqua<\/a>, the Danish-Norwegian Eurodance group behind one of the 1990s\u2019 most enduring pop anthems, have announced they are ending their run as a live band after three decades together.<\/p>\n

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\n\tMembers Lene Nystr\u00f8m, Ren\u00e9 Dif and S\u00f8ren Rasted shared the news on Instagram<\/a> on Monday (May 18), posting a joint statement in both Danish and English. <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cAfter many incredible years, we have decided to close the chapter of AQUA as a live band,\u201d they wrote. \u201cWhen you\u2019ve been together for this long, you also learn when it\u2019s time to protect what you\u2019ve created together. For us, this feels like the right moment to say goodbye, while the memories are still strong, and while the love for the music, the story, and each other remains intact. From the bottom of our hearts: thank you to everyone who has been part of this journey over the past 30 years.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tFormed in Copenhagen in 1995, Aqua originally comprised four members \u2014 Nystr\u00f8m, Dif, Rasted and Claus Norreen, who departed in 2016 to pursue other projects. The trio broke through globally with \u201cBarbie Girl,\u201d the third single from their 1997 debut album Aquarium. <\/p>\n

\n\tThe track \u2014 a tongue-in-cheek Eurodance number built around the fictional lives of Barbie and Ken \u2014 topped charts across Europe and became one of the best-selling singles of the decade, reaching No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100. Their success made them the best-selling Danish band of all time, with estimated sales of over 33 million albums and singles worldwide.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe band\u2019s cheeky lyrics attracted legal attention from Mattel, the makers of Barbie, who launched a lawsuit in 2000 claiming the song damaged the brand\u2019s reputation. The case was dismissed in 2002, with the judge famously advising both parties to \u201cchill\u201d \u2014 and Aqua later went on to work with Mattel directly on promotional campaigns. <\/p>\n

\n\tTheir sophomore album Aquarius arrived in 2000, after which the band split for the first time. They reunited in 2007 and released Megalomania in 2011 \u2014 their third and final studio album \u2014 before splitting and reuniting once more in subsequent years.<\/p>\n

\n\tTheir most recent brush with mainstream pop culture came in 2023, when Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice sampled \u201cBarbie Girl\u201d on \u201cBarbie World,\u201d recorded for the soundtrack of Greta Gerwig\u2019s blockbuster Barbie film, earning a Grammy nomination and sending the original back into the UK Top 40 for the first time in 25 years. Their final live performance was in November 2025 at the Shillong Cherry Blossom Festival in India.<\/p>\n