{"id":152121,"date":"2025-11-25T01:41:19","date_gmt":"2025-11-25T01:41:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/152121\/"},"modified":"2025-11-25T01:41:19","modified_gmt":"2025-11-25T01:41:19","slug":"no-one-will-forget-her","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/152121\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018No one will forget her\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

When Marie Fredriksson, the frontwoman of Roxette, died of cancer in 2019<\/a>, aged 61, her bandmate and best friend Per Gessle couldn\u2019t contemplate continuing without her. It didn\u2019t matter that the singer \u2014 who had survived a brain tumour in 2002, but never fully recovered \u2014 had given the guitarist her blessing to keep Roxette going.<\/p>\n

\u201cMarie officially quit Roxette in 2016 because of her health, so we had a lot of time to talk about how I should proceed,\u201d says Gessle, 66, who wrote the Swedish band\u2019s songs, including 19 UK Top 40 hits and four US No 1s. \u201cShe was very open to me continuing, which obviously meant finding someone to replace her. I didn\u2019t mention any particular singer, of course. I just wanted to wait and see what happened.\u201d<\/p>\n

Initially Gessle busied himself with other projects, including digging into the Roxette vaults for a 2020 compilation, Bag of Trix, and his solo career. In 2021 an invitation to record a cover for a Metallica tribute album led him to form PG Roxette, a new band with vocals provided by two former Roxette backing singers.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not a Metallica fan,\u201d he admits. \u201cI only know two songs \u2014 Enter Sandman and Nothing Else Matters, which is the one we covered. But I like [Metallica\u2019s drummer] Lars Ulrich, so I said yes and that set off a chain of events which I wasn\u2019t expecting.\u201d<\/p>\n

First came a PG Roxette studio album, Pop-Up Dynamo!, with some of Roxette\u2019s key musicians on board, in 2022. At the time Gessle insisted his intention was not to try to replace Fredriksson. This year Roxette reformed with a new frontwoman, Lena Philipsson, 59, a Swedish star in her own right, who represented her country at the Eurovision in 2004, when she caused uproar with her skimpy outfit.<\/p>\n

Since February the band has been on a world tour, selling out arenas playing only old songs, among them megahits The Look, Listen to Your Heart, Dressed for Success and It Must Have Been Love, the power ballad from the film Pretty Woman<\/a>, which has been a radio staple and karaoke classic for 35 years.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI realise it has been confusing for fans and the reason is that I honestly couldn\u2019t decide what to do with Roxette,\u201d Gessle says. \u201cAs time went on I felt so sad about not being able to play our amazing Roxette songs. I wrote those songs, they are a huge part of my life. I missed them so much I changed my mind.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gessle didn\u2019t purposely search for a new Fredriksson, whose power and range were Roxette\u2019s calling card, but while recording an album of duets in Swedish last year, fate intervened. \u201cLena was one of my duet partners and in the studio I realised she has the capacity to sing Roxette songs,\u201d he says. \u201cI asked for a meeting and told her my idea. She was surprised.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Per<\/p>\n

Lena Philipsson and Per Gassle of the reformed Roxette<\/p>\n

RUNE HELLESTAD\/CORBIS\/GETTY IMAGES<\/p>\n

\"Marie<\/p>\n

Fredriksson and Gessle performing in 1990<\/p>\n

PHIL DENT\/REDFERNS\/GETTY IMAGES<\/p>\n

Philipsson, who is sitting beside Gessle, nods in agreement. \u201cI had to take a few days to think about it,\u201d she says. \u201cThen we had acoustic rehearsals to see if it would work. I\u2019m not trying to imitate Marie. I have my own way of singing, although I am close to the originals.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a fine line,\u201d Gessle adds. \u201cNot to copy, but to pay homage. Of course, I worried what people would to say, what critics would write. Roxette\u2019s legacy is important. But we have a great catalogue, a fantastic band and lots of experience between us.<\/p>\n

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\u201cLena can handle 100,000 people easily. A few fans on social media say it\u2019s not the same without Marie, but I haven\u2019t heard one person who has come to our concerts complain.\u201d<\/p>\n

In fact, the reviews \u2014 from fans and critics \u2014 have been ecstatic. For Philipsson the biggest challenge has been not colliding with Gessle on stage, rather than hitting her notes or remembering the lyrics.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur first ever gig in South Africa was a little nerve-racking,\u201d she says. \u201cEveryone had their phones up and I probably did forget a few words, though the crowd was singing so loudly it didn\u2019t matter.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is intimidating to step into Marie\u2019s shoes, but I\u2019ve no nerves now. The second I said yes to this project I knew what I was facing. Had I not been up to the job I would have turned it down. It\u2019s Per who needs help remembering the lyrics, not me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Per<\/p>\n

Philipsson and Gassle on stage in Sweden earlier this year<\/p>\n

ANNE-MARIE FORKER\/REDFERNS\/GETTY IMAGES<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s true,\u201d Gessle says. \u201cI have them on a monitor by my feet. I wrote the songs but I\u2019m always forgetting the words. I don\u2019t know how Lena does it. Or how we have so far avoided crashing into each other. In the Eighties, on my first tour with Marie, we bumped into each other on stage several times. Once she crushed my front tooth with her elbow. When you are an energetic band it takes time to learn to share a stage.\u201d<\/p>\n

Roxette was formed in 1986 at the suggestion of Fredriksson and Gessle\u2019s shared record label, EMI. Both had enjoyed significant chart success at home (she as a solo folk singer, he as a band frontman) and wanted to have hits overseas. \u201cRoxette was created to be international,\u201d Gessle says. \u201cWe expected that to be in Germany, Holland and Belgium. At a push, Norway. Never did we foresee what would happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Their debut album, Pearls of Passion, was a hit at home but bombed elsewhere. Its follow-up, 1988\u2019s Look Sharp!, was destined for the same fate until an American exchange student heard it and took an album home to Minneapolis where he famously persuaded his local radio station to play the single The Look. The song spread like wildfire and within weeks The Look was No 1 in the US and Roxette were en route to becoming Sweden\u2019s second-biggest pop export of all time.<\/p>\n

Look Sharp! went platinum around the world. In 1990, asked to contribute to the Pretty Woman soundtrack, Gessle repurposed a Christmas song that Roxette had released three years earlier. It Must Have Been Love was shorn of its subtitle Christmas for the Broken Hearted and had its festive references removed. A third album, Joyride, sold 11 million copies, but still Roxette didn\u2019t feel like rock stars.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re Swedish, from the countryside,\u201d Gessle says. \u201cAll through our career we were underdogs, not part of any scene. We were having these huge hits, but still no one knew where to place us. Even our record company didn\u2019t understand us. In America they sent us on a lip-sync promotion tour, which Marie hated. She could sing the ass off anyone. It was crazy to tell Marie not to sing, but we didn\u2019t complain. We were just grateful for the success.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember our first South American tour in 1992. The economy was awful at the time and we were warned we wouldn\u2019t make any money. Madonna, Guns N\u2019 Roses<\/a> and Michael Jackson had all cancelled. We said, \u2018Let\u2019s go!\u2019 Playing stadiums there was the best three weeks of our lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Marie<\/p>\n

Fredriksson and Gessle playing at Wembley Arena in 1991<\/p>\n

PETE STILL\/REDFERNS\/GETTY IMAGES<\/p>\n

Off stage Fredriksson was notoriously private \u2014 to the extent that she didn\u2019t invite Gessle to her wedding in 1994 at the height of Roxette\u2019s fame. In her 2015 memoir, Listen to My Heart \u2014 written when her cancer meant that she struggled to read and write, but she was still performing \u2014 she appeared to regret the decision. \u201cSome of our friends felt excluded and disappointed,\u201d she admitted. \u201cToday, I understand that. But then I didn\u2019t see it that way. My only concern was that I wanted the wedding to be private. It was what felt important then.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The press sensed a feud. In truth even the pair\u2019s families were friends. Much of Have a Nice Day, the 1999 album that signalled the start of Roxette\u2019s declining commercial success, was recorded at a residential studio in Spain with their young children, whom they later took on tour.<\/p>\n

\u201cI haven\u2019t seen Marie\u2019s kids in a couple of years, but her son is a musician and plays guitar,\u201d Gessle says. \u201cWhen they were young we took them on tour with a teacher. And a hotel in New York had their toys that they\u2019d keep and bring out when we stayed there.\u201d<\/p>\n

For now, there will be no new Roxette music. In the future? Gessle won\u2019t commit. \u201cWe are focused on the legacy of Roxette,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd we are getting an old-school Roxette reaction. Fans are going crazy for the songs they grew up with and I am reminded every night of the power of music. It feels like 1992 again, nuts!<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen the crowds are loud, I think of Marie and everything we achieved together. No one is going to forget her.\u201d<\/p>\n

Roxette play Wembley Arena, London, on Dec 1, ovoarena.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When Marie Fredriksson, the frontwoman of Roxette, died of cancer in 2019, aged 61, her bandmate and best…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":152122,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[156,157,111,139,69],"class_list":["post-152121","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-entertainment","tag-music","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152121","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=152121"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152121\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/152122"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=152121"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=152121"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=152121"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}