Per Gessle

Roxette in the Rock ’n’ Roll Circus

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As we already posted about it in November 2019, in connection with the 50th anniversary of founding EMA Telstar (Live Nation today), legendary concert organizer, Thomas Johansson released a book, Rock ‘n’ Roll Circus: Artisterna – Musiken – Mötena (Rock ’n’ Roll Circus: Artists – Music – Meetings). Over the years Thomas has been working together with an endless list of artists and bands and of course, Roxette is one of them.

Thomas told his stories to writer and journalist (also author of The Lonely Boys fiction book among others), Mats Olsson who wrote them down. It’s not tabloid style, not at all. You won’t get to know any secrets you never knew about the artists themselves and most importantly, it’s not a scandal book. Thomas would never reveal anything he had been told in confidence. Why he can still do what he loves to do after 5 decades is that he is proved to be a trusty person and one who can sort out even things that seem to be impossible related to the concerts he organizes. Sometimes even related to those shows where he was not involved in the organizing. This is how his cooperation started with Bruce Springsteen, for example.

For a Roxer, the most important chapter in the book is without no doubt the one about Roxette, but since Per’s name and Roxette turn up here and there even in other bands’ and artists’ chapters, it’s worth reading the complete book. But not just because of that. The book tells you the story of how Thomas started his career already at the age of 17 and created his future day by day, event by event. You learn how important trust is and maintaining connections is another key factor. The little stories let you have an insight of how event organizing and musicians worked in the 60’s and 70’s and how it all has been changing over the decades. How you continuously have to keep up with the trends and be up-to-date with what’s happening in the industry. E.g. if someone has 1 billion views on YouTube, it doesn’t necessarily mean that people would buy tickets for 1000 SEK to see them live.

Roxette’s story in the book starts with them flying from Uruguay to Paraguay for their show in Asunción in April 1992. Thomas tells it was definitely the most dangerous flight ever in his life. He had pictures in his mind how the plane would crash in the rainforest, they would become completely isolated and stranded and started eating each other up. He says it was not a weird thought, because an air pocket caused a four-kilometer straight downfall. Per and Marie were quite calm, but there were other passengers panicking on the plane, screaming and crying. When they finally landed in Asunción, it was raining like hell. There was a press conference right at the airport, as it used to be a tradition in South America. There were 150 journalists sitting in a strange hall and so there was chaos, but they managed to get through it and leave by the cars that were already waiting outside after the conference.

Marie, Micke, Thomas and BoJo were travelling in the same car, a Mercedes. Thomas was sitting in the front and he remembers it was raining so heavily that his feet got completely wet even inside the car. Then suddenly, Marie from the backseat told she forgot her bag at the press conference. The whole convoy stopped, BoJo jumped out of the car into the water that reached up to his knees and rushed back to the airport for Marie’s bag. After he got back, they went to a golf hotel outside the city.

It stopped raining during the night and in the morning Thomas saw that the hotel was situated along a wide flood where dead cows were floating with their legs straight up in the air and crocodiles were swimming like in a Donald Duck comic. And Per was sitting on a balcony, sunbathing. [Hahaha. /PP]

The venue for the Roxette show was a big soccer stadium in Asunción that the organizer sold out. The arena was of the capacity of 30,000 people, but the organizer proudly said he sold 40,000 tickets. Tor Nielsen and Thomas immediately realized that they should strengthen the fences in front of the stage and they brought there a man who helped them with these kind of practical things.

The band was terribly good even if one couldn’t really hear what they were playing, because the crowd sing-along was louder than them. They asked the organizer how that could be, because no one spoke English, but the organizer said that in Asunción they used Roxette records for teaching at schools.

The organizers had built a large tower with mixer boards and spotlights in the middle of the crowd and while the band was playing Thomas saw from the stage how the light cones started to move and the whole tower was swaying by the pressure. BoJo gathered 200 soldiers who marched straight through the audience, up to the tower and they actually built it during the concert.

Thomas tells he has been working together with Per for 40 years, more than half of his life. Together with ”Blixten” Henriksson, who Thomas was working with in EMA Telstar they worked with Ulf Lundell, Tomas Ledin and Magnus Uggla, but after ABBA’s win in Brigthon Blixten took care of many other Swedish artists, while Thomas had other things to do. Blixten didn’t really believe in Gyllene Tider, he couldn’t see Flickorna på TV2 as a big hit and refused to work with them. So GT started working with their competitor, Thomas Nordlund at Showring. Later, in September 1981 they met Gyllene Tider and their business manager, Janne Beime and his wife, Lena in Örebro. Janne suggested to do a tour together. Blixten and Thomas were thinking all night about how to set up a tour for GT. The first time they worked together was in 1982 and the tour started in Ljusdal’s Folkets park. Thomas came just in time for the soundcheck and when he arrived he saw that the whole band was drinking coke except Göran and Per who ordered beer at the restaurant, but they didn’t get served, because they were too young. They were not, but they still didn’t get their beer.

Thomas says there was quite a contrast. They just did The Rolling Stones at Ullevi and then GT in Ljusdal. He was amazed at how good Gyllene Tider was. People loved them and the girls were screaming. Thomas is a nerd when it comes to songs and he can tell Per has written hits. GT was a classic pop band and they sounded fantastic already back then.

Mr. Johansson says it’s been a pleasure to work with Per, Gyllene Tider and Marie in different constellations. Before Roxette’s international break-through they already worked together on the Rock runt riket tour. Thomas could well build on what he learned from when he was organizing concerts for ABBA and other big international bands. Roxette played around the whole world. Not only in traditional arenas in England and the US, but also in South America and even Beijing in 1994. Wham! played there before Roxette, but Roxette was the first rock band allowed to play in China. Thomas remembers that they lived in a nice hotel in Beijing, but the venue, Capital Stadium left much to be desired. There were 12,000 in the crowd and no one was allowed to stand up and soldiers were sitting in the very front. The tickets cost 1-2 dollars, so not too expensive. People from the party listened to the songs in advance, checked the lyrics and they said they can’t play Sleeping In My Car. They didn’t explain why.

Thomas about Per:

Per is the engine, an engine of everything, a living dynamo. He was very young when we met in Örebro, but he was curious, smart and focused already then. Per has visions and thoughts, he wants a lot and that makes you talk, talk, talk and you can’t stand still. It’s a challenge, but also a pleasure to work with someone who is so creative.

Thomas admits he was a little worried before Gyllene Tider’s farewell tour last summer, but in hindsight he understands how incredibly deeply rooted GT’s songs are. They are part of Swedish summer.

Thomas mentions that Roxette had their very last concert in Johannesburg, South Africa in 2016. [The very last concert was in Cape Town, 8th February 2016. /PP] As Thomas says, ”Marie, this fragile little person, such a warm and unbelievably strong woman, could no longer tour”. Thomas remembers that after releasing Nu!, Marie so much wanted to do her last solo tour in 2014. Everyone told her she shouldn’t, she can’t, it won’t work, but she insisted and then you could see her enormous strength. She went through so much… The tour turned out to be phenomenal and she was singing like a goddess. Thomas says:

For me this is the essence of Marie, a mix of pop, blues, jazz, a little, little body with a big, big voice. Many have great voices and sing well, but can’t express anything. Marie can do that. She is a storyteller and not many are.

It’s hard to forget Roxette’s last show. It was windy that night in Johannesburg and there were 10,000 – 12,000 people inside the venue. Marie had problems with walking, so BoJo walked her to the stage. She was sitting on a chair, stood up and sat down again. Thomas thought that can’t go on like this for a long time. They booked a summer tour, but then it had to be cancelled.

After Marie stopped touring, Per wanted to continue. He wanted to play the songs he wrote for Roxette and Thomas and PG talked a lot about it. Thomas told Per that if he doesn’t do it, he will be thinking about it all the time in the future. So he said let’s call it Per Gessle’s Roxette and they book a tour in Europe in theatres between the capacity of 200 and 2000. Thomas thought Roger Waters performs as Roger Waters, but he plays Pink Floyd songs and those songs couldn’t sound more like Pink Floyd than when Roger plays them. The same with Paul McCartney and The Beatles. And no one else could sound more like Roxette than Per. The tour was good, even if it wasn’t sold out everywhere. It sounded fantastic and they got nice reviews. We will see what’s next. Now Per also has an electronic band, Mono Mind and Gyllene Tider’s 2019 tour was one of the biggest in Sweden.

Thomas says that Per has two, soon three generations in his audience. Like The Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney and Roger Waters. 40 years of constant hits.

In other chapters Thomas mentions that he is a Formula 1 fan, just like Per. Roxette turns up in a chapter with their 1996 Toronto TV appearance and Mr. Johansson tells that at the same time he was negotiating NHL matches to be brought to Sweden. In the Ulf Lundell chapter Thomas tells the story of how he started working with Lundell. He asked if Thomas still works with Swedish artists and when Thomas said he works with Ledin and Gessle, Lundell said then he wants Thomas to do his next tour. Mr. Johnasson explains that Per, Tomas and Ulf are very different, both in music and in their personalities, but they are very similar in their creativity. Thomas says it’s motivating to work so close together with artists who are so creative, because you can learn what drives them and then it doesn’t matter if the artist’s name is Per, Tomas, Ulf, Mick, Keith, Bowie or Bruce, they have the same thoughts and same questions and Thomas feels lucky and priviliged to work with them.

Mr. G pops up in the David Bowie chapter as well. There Thomas mentions that he, Bosse Norling (tour leader), Bengt Berg (from EMI) and a very young Per Gessle were travelling together to Lyon to see Bowie’s concert in 1983. They were flying to Geneva, rented a car there and drove through Switzerland to Lyon, France. They arrived in the afternoon and Per invited them for lunch at a truck stop. Appetizer, main course, dessert and wine, everything was included and cost ten francs per person. They ate one-minute hearty steak with french fries and there was nothing wrong with the wine either. For the coffee they could choose dessert or calvados. Thomas felt like they had begun to live the glamorous rock life.

From the Tina Turner chapter we get to know that Tina lives in Switzerland and Thomas was once there for dinner with Roxette. They were drinking good wines and eating excellent truffle pasta prepared by Tina herself.

As I mentioned at the beginning, you can see that Per and Roxette really turn up in the book in several chapters. Thomas and Mats picked 25 artists and bands to write about. So besides Roxette you can read stories related to Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, KISS, ABBA, Queen, Lou Reed, Bob Marley, The Rolling Stones, Ulf Lundell, David Bowie, The Clash, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, Tomas Ledin, Neil Young, Tina Turner, AC/DC, Metallica, Rod Stewart, Pink, Roger Waters, Paul Simon, U2 and Paul McCartney. The foreword was written by Björn Ulvaeus from ABBA.

It’s a very interesting reading, I can only recommend. Good for practicing your Swedish too.

Marie Fredriksson tribute on Nordic Rox

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Sirius XM made some programs available online and a little Nordic Rox is also among those free programs now. Sven Lindström and Per Gessle recorded a Marie Fredriksson tribute for Nordic Rox. They did that in Stockholm in Live Nation’s office. They were sitting in the ABBA room and Sven was joking that it’s because everyone else wanted to be in the Roxette room, so they couldn’t go there.

Sven and Per are talking about Marie with mixed feelings. Per tried to pick songs that for him represent what Marie was all about in Roxette. It’s a big palette of knowledge that she gave to the band. Sven says Marie and Per are a bit like opposites to each other. Per says they shared rehearsal studios, Per was in a band, Gyllene Tider and Marie was in another band. She was screaming and shouting and she was a little bit like a hippie. They were pretty different. Per was very organized and ambitious while Marie was an ”anything goes” type.

Sven asks Per if he remembers a specific moment when he realized Marie’s potential. Per says it was day 1, when he heard Marie singing. She was singing like no one else, even back then. Per’s band took off and became successful pretty quick and they invited Marie to sing on a Christmas song for them. Later Marie left her band and started a solo career and she ended up at the same record label as Per and his band were at, EMI Records in Stockholm. Sven tells Marie had several bands before her solo career. Strul and MaMas Barn. He says Marie and Per socialized in Halmstad. Per says they were very good friends. They never had a romance, they were more like sister and brother. Marie looked up to him because he was successful and in the music industry and Per liked her because she had this voice and she was a wonderful, very generous person. They were just hanging out, watching Dynasty on TV in Per’s apartment, playing the piano and the guitar and started writing songs together. In Roxette they very rarely wrote together, but in those early days they wrote together. They were both based in Halmstad, but Marie moved to Stockholm pretty quick. She started a relationship with GT’s producer, Lasse Lindbom and they started writing songs together and that became her first two solo albums in the early 80’s.

Since Marie and Per were very good friends, they shared this dream to do something together one day. Maybe do something in English together, because they both wanted to work internationally. So eventually, in 1986 Per wrote a song and they released it in Sweden and it became a big song for them in the summer of ’86. It was Neverending Love. They released it under the name Roxette that is coming from a Dr. Feelgood song. Because Neverending Love was a big success, EMI wanted them to make an album, so in no time Per translated 12 of his songs he had written in Swedish. He intended to release those on his third solo album which didn’t happen in the end. That became the first Roxette album. I Call Your Name is the song Sven and Per play on Nordic Rox and Per says the original Swedish title of it was Jag hör din röst (I hear your voice). It was one of the first tracks they recorded for the album. For Per it was like a turning point, because then he realized that something was happening to his music. They had a new producer Per never worked with before, Clarence Öfwerman. Per says Clarence made his songs danceable and groovy. Per comes from the power pop scene and it’s always been a lot of guitars, but it suddenly became different. And also the way Marie was singing, it was like a totally new chapter for Per. Mr. G thinks I Call Your Name is a really cool song. Their ambition was that Marie would sing and Per would write, but they also had the idea that both of them sing in songs. Most of the songs became duets this way. Which is sort of the Roxette trademark.

After ICYN Sven tells Marie and Per had T-shirts with the slogan ”Today Sweden, tomorrow the world”. Per says they were pretty ambitious. With the shirts they were having fun. They always liked slogans like what Stiff Records, an indie label in the 70’s had. E.g. ”If they’re dead, we’ll sign them.”

The guys get back to Marie’s vocal abilities. Per says he always felt very limited by his own voice. In Gyllene Tider he was the lead singer and it sounded OK, but he just felt that he could write bigger songs than he could sing himself. So to write songs for Marie was liberating from a songwriter’s point of view. The more the years went by, the more he customized his songs for Marie’s abilities, e.g. It Must Have Been Love.

The next song they play is Fading Like A Flower. Per says it was a big song for them and he chose this because it’s a typical example of a standard song. It’s Marie who makes this song work, the way she sings it. Also how it’s produced. Per thinks it’s not the best song in the world. When he sings the demo, it’s boring. Marie had this enormous capacity that she could sing the telephone book and make it interesting. It’s very rare. Per says he was very lucky as a writer to have that voice to work with. Looking back now, they did 10 studio albums and he wishes that Marie would have sung everything with Roxette. Per was singing a lot of songs with Roxette as well, but Marie was such an amazing singer. Especially in the early days. They were not thinking about keys or modulations, they just did it and she was singing it.

After FLAF Sven asks Per if there is a way to describe Marie’s qualities as a singer. Per says she was a very complete singer, she could basically sing anything. It’s very rare that you can find a singer who can deliver a power pop song as well as a huge ballad. Some people are really great ballad singers, others are amazing for pop music, but it’s very rare that you find both ways. Marie could do anything. Per tells when they did MTV Unplugged, Marie was singing Aretha Franklin, but on tours they also did covers of other bands’ songs, because Marie could sing anything. Per was much more limited. From a writer’s point of view it was liberating for Per to be able to write songs like The Look, Joyride or Sleeping In My Car, which are basically 3-chord power pop songs, as well as to be able to write more sophisticated songs like Listen To Your Heart or It Must Have Been Love. Marie could do anything. Per says that compared to him, Marie also had a great pronounciation. One couldn’t really tell that she wasn’t English or American. Per adds that Marie was not inspired all the time, but when she was, everything went very quick. She just made the song her own and made the lyrics her own and you could identify with her immediately. It was just a pleasure.

The next song is Stars. Sven says it was an unusual direction, because if he thinks back, Marie was more of a blues girl. Per says she loved blues and jazz. Sven jokes that Per doesn’t have many blues notes in his body. Per laughs and says he comes from the world of The Beatles, The Monkees and Tom Petty, the 3-chord pop songs and new wave. But he thinks that was the good thing that Marie took his songs and gave them a new vitamin injection. She came in from a different angle.

Getting back to Stars, and the album, Have A Nice Day, Per says they had a couple of years off after touring and promoting for 7.5 years. Marie had her second child, Per made a solo album and worked with Gyllene Tider too. Then he started writing for HAND which was recorded in Marbella, Spain. Time went by and the whole dance music scene has changed a bit, so they tried to do different things. They used different musicians. Stars is a little bit more dancey, Pet Shop Boys-ey. Sven says Europoppy. Per says it’s like the European dance scene at the time, which was pretty far away from the classic Roxette sound, but Marie could deliver that too. Mr. G says he loves that song because it got a great melody and Marie is just the greatest on this one. Sven says the song has a fun, unusual, special video to it. Per tells it was the first time they worked together with Anton Corbijn and shooting the video was hilarious. Regarding the album Per adds that he wrote so many songs in different directions, so HAND got dance songs, rock songs, acoustic songs, a little bit of everything. He thinks it’s because he spent so many years writing, he couldn’t really decide. Haha.

After Stars, this part of the Marie tribute program is over on Nordic Rox, but Sven says they will be back with more episodes.

 

Unfortunately, I can’t add a direct link to the program, but search for Nordic Rox and go 5 ”shift forward” into the show to hear Sven and Per talking.

Gyllene Tider’s GT40 Live Ullevi 2019 show is out!

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8 months after Gyllene Tider’s farewell tour is over, the Golden Guys surprised us with a live show release. The concert film is the complete Ullevi show, recorded on 3rd August 2019 in Gothenburg. The concert was originally planned to be held at Slottskogsvallen, but right after the tickets went on sale it turned out to be too small, so it had to be moved to Ullevi, of course. The number of visitors at the show was 54340! Pure awesomeness! And the chance to relive the best gig on the GT40 tour is just amazing!

Since I usually stand in the very front of the crowd, I love watching the DVD recordings later, because then I can see how the stage and the crowd looked from the back and how the band saw the audience and the venue itself. The camera angles used for the GT40 shooting are fabulous. You can see so many details and you can feel yourself standing and dancing and singing along right in the middle of the crowd, in front of those 5 guys and 2 ladies in top shape, giving their 120% of energy up on stage.

I want last summer back! Watching this concert on my 24th day of quarantine I’m just grateful for it and I appreciate it even more (if possible at all) how this band could unite so many people via their music. Hopefully, the good times are back again soon and ojojoj… still can’t believe it was Gyllene Tider’s last tour. Was it? I didn’t want this Ullevi gig to end… But the good thing is that from now on I can watch it anytime!

Streaming is available . If you want to rent the film, you get a 48-hour streaming period for 4,99 USD. You will be able to stream it on supported browsers or the Vimeo mobile app and watch it on TV, mobile and tablet. While if you buy it for 9,99 USD, you can stream it anytime, download it and watch it on TV, mobile and tablet.

If streaming is not your thing and you haven’t ordered your physical copy yet, you can buy the DVD or Blu-ray at or .

Setlist

1. Skicka ett vykort, älskling
2. Juni, juli, augusti
3. Det hjärta som brinner
4. (Hon vill ha) Puls
5. Flickorna på TV2
6. Vandrar i ett sommarregn
7. (Dansar inte lika bra som) Sjömän
8. Det kändes inte som maj
9. Flickan i en Cole Porter-sång
10. Tuffa tider

BAND PRESENTATION

11. Låt denna trumslagarpojke sjunga!
12. Kung av sand
13. En sten vid en sjö i en skog
14. Ljudet av ett annat hjärta
15. Ska vi älska, så ska vi älska till Buddy Holly
16. (Kom så ska vi) Leva livet
17. Tylö Sun

Encore 1

18. Billy
19. Det är över nu
20. Gå & fiska!

Encore 2

21. När vi två blir en
22. Sommartider
23. När alla vännerna gått hem

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stills are from the concert recording.

 

APRIL FOOLS’ DAY! – Per Gessle to release a metal EP

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APRIL FOOLS’ DAY – As Per informed yesterday on his Instagram, he has been in the studio since days, working together with metal producer S. Karlsson. Mr. G(oth) is entering a new genre! It turned out the guys are working on a metal EP that will include 4 songs and will be released digitally on 1st May. 2 weeks later, on 15th May there will be a bonus single released on vinyl. The bonus single won’t be available on streaming platforms. Once the pre-order links to the very limited edition single (200 copies!) are available, we will let you know.

EP tracklist

  1. Goth Look    3:57
  2. Listen To Your Thrash    5:28
  3. It Must Have Been Black    4:18
  4. Hell Ride    4:23

Vinyl bonus single

A. Growling In My Car    3:46
B. Growling In My Car – T&A Demo – 21 September, 2019    3:12

Photos are from Per’s Instagram (1, 2)

Interview with Per Gessle in Nyhetsmorgon on TV4

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There was a pre-recorded interview with Per Gessle this morning in Nyhetsmorgon on TV4. While program leader Jenny Alversjö introduced the interview Anders Pihlblad did with Mr. G, there were several Roxette photos shown in the background. Jenny says Marie passed away almost 3 months ago, way too early. She mentions Per was devastated and the day after he gathered his thoughts and finished a song, a comfort song, how he calls it.

 

 

 

In the interview you can hear and see snippets from Per’s new song, Around The Corner (The Comfort Song) and its lyric video.

Per says this song was lying around for a while and he finished it the day after. His mother-in-law also died a couple of days after Marie. It was a really hard time and he finished the song actually for himself. He wanted to get it out of the system. That’s how he works. One needs to get rid of things. He expresses himself through his music and lyrics.

It became a comfort song in a way. Per realized it’s a really strong song when he recorded it with Helena and Mats. He doesn’t mean it’s an especially good song, maybe it is, he doesn’t know, but he saw it touched Helena and Mats deeply. So they thought it should be released. He knows there are a lot of people in the Roxette gang, all the fans, all the friends, the whole world were affected by what happened. Almost all people go through this when they lose someone close to them sometime in life. Everyone needs this comfort. Per’s way to get through this was writing.

 

Anders says there are 2 Roxettes. One before Marie’s illness and the one after it. 2 totally different challenges. He asks Per what he was thinking when Marie got ill, how to go on with his career and if he thought they could go on with Roxette. Per explained he didn’t think they could, because it felt that Marie was in really bad shape, so it wasn’t in the cards to continue with Roxette. The first thing he did after Marie got ill was Mazarin, then Gyllene Tider in 2004, then Son of a Plumber, then En händig man, so all his other stuff. So it was really surprising that Marie wanted to make a comeback. Per thinks even Marie didn’t count on it, that she would come back. She came to visit him in Amsterdam where Per played on his European tour. Anders says he talked to a Dutch girl who was there at the concert and said there was a surprise. Per laughs and says Marie and her husband, Micke came to visit him and he asked Marie if she wanted to come up on stage so they would play an old Roxette song. She hadn’t been on stage for 7 years and she said she doesn’t want to do that. But Per knew she was easy to convince if they give it some more time, so the question remained hanging in the air and in the end Marie said OK, let’s rehearse and see how it feels. One could see she really wanted to do it. So they rehearsed and Marie said let’s try it. For the first extra song Per invited Marie up on stage and there was only Marie and Per on stage. Mr. G thinks they played Listen to Your Heart and maybe It Must Have Been Love too, he can’t remember. Per says the audience died of course and he had never seen so many people crying. It was incredible. It was the first thing Marie did and then a few weeks later she called Per if he could write a new Roxette album. That’s what eventually became Charm School. Then there were 2 big tours, maybe with 300 concerts.

 

Anders asks Per how important he thinks it was for Marie to realize that she managed to do it and that it became such a success. Per thinks it was super important for Marie, because she loved music more than anything else. She loved being on stage and she enormously missed the communication with her fans, with their fans. So she wanted to do it at all costs. Her doctor advised she shouldn’t do that, because touring is exhausting with all the travelling, the waiting, the flying, the time zones and so on. But she wanted to do that. Per told her whatever they do, they do it based on Marie’s conditions. If she wants three days between the gigs, that’s how they will do it. Per thought it was amazing that Marie wanted to do it and that they could go on.

Anders says he saw an interview with Marie that was done by Niklas Strömstedt and there she said Per was a big support to her during that period. He asks Per what he thinks about it. Per smiles, drinks a little water and says he doesn’t know. He hopes so, but it’s hard to answer this question. When someone gets ill, you want to help as much as you can, but it’s always hard to help someone without stepping too much into their private lives. People have families and you don’t know how to behave. This is how he felt about his family too. Sometimes you feel that you go one step too close and they want you to leave them alone. They want to take care of their illness in their own private way. So it’s hard to know. But Per also saw that interview in Niklas’ show and he was of course happy to hear that Marie thought so.

 

Anders says Marie and Per had many common memories from Roxette times. He is curious about the greatest ones that Per will remember forever. Mr. G says there are too many. He thinks it’s kind of a fairy tale what they have been through. The possibilities, the chances, the odds for them to succeed, coming from Sweden those days and in this industry were less than minimal. It’s fantastic, all the success they have achieved. But if he skips all the golden records, chart positions and such things, he remembers those days when they were on stage in front of 50,000 people in Chile, in Sydney or wherever and looked into each other’s eyes. And then Per knows Marie thinks ”how the hell did this happen, Per?” and he thinks the same. You see the rolling ocean of people in front of you and they all love what you are doing. Such things are fantastic. But of course there are many more.

 

Anders realized Roxette has extremely loyal fans. He read what they were writing and asks Per how much of that has reached him. Per says he was of course devastated when Marie passed away, but he was also happy to see the response she got from all around the world. From many other artists, producers, radio people and fans, all the people. There are hundreds of thousands of greetings coming in and it’s awesome that Marie gets that appreciation. Per says they definitely have the best fans in the world. They have always been super loyal and followed them in all times. It’s been a long journey.

And here the interview ends with the flame of the candle going out in the lyric video. All in all it was a very touching interview. One can see it’s still hard to talk about what happened and it needs time to find comfort. Per says they have the best fans in the world. What I must add: and we have chosen the best idols in the world. Undoubtedly.

Stills are from the interview.