Aqua is a Danish-Norwegian Europop band,[6][7] best known for their 1997 single "Barbie Girl".[8][9] The group formed in 1995 in Copenhagen[10] and achieved international success around the globe in the late 1990s and early 2000s. The band released three albums: Aquarium in 1997, Aquarius in 2000 and Megalomania in 2011. The group sold an estimated 33 million albums and singles, making them the most profitable Danish band ever.[11][12]
The band's members are vocalists René Dif and Lene Nystrøm, keyboardist Søren Rasted, and guitarist Claus Norreen. During their split, Nystrøm, Dif and Rasted all achieved solo chart success, while Norreen remixed other artists' material. At a press event on October 26, 2007, the group announced a reunion tour, as well as the release of a compilation album featuring new material. Their third album, Megalomania, was released on 3 October 2011.
Career and history
1989–1995: Formation
What was to become famous under the name Aqua began as the group Joyspeed, which "set out to do something unique in pop music" in 1989.[14] Søren Rasted and Claus Norreen won a contest and were hired to produce a soundtrack for a film titled Frække Frida og de frygtløse spioner. At that time, René Dif was working as a club DJ; he was hired for some of the songs. A few months after the film was released, Dif met Lene Nystrøm who was singing on the Norway–Denmark ferry, M/S Peter Wessel, while he was a DJ there. They began dating, and the trio later hired her as to be the lead singer of Joyspeed. The formation of Joyspeed was on the basis that both Norreen and Rasted would do the production for the group, with Dif rapping and Nystrøm performing the main vocals. A Swedish record label signed them in 1995, and their first single "Itzy Bitzy Spider" was released in Sweden. The single was a commercial failure, and after one week at the lower end of the Swedish charts, it disappeared completely. The four canceled their contract with the record label.
1995–1998: Aquarium and international breakthrough
With a new manager and no record deal, the group started over. The four began to produce and write songs in a different style, attracting the attention of major label Universal Music Denmark. They renamed themselves Aqua, choosing the name seen on a poster in their dressing room, and accepted Universal Music Denmark's offer of a recording contract in 1996. The group's first release under their new name was "Roses Are Red", a dance song with a bubblegum pop sound. It was released in Denmark in September 1996, and stayed in the charts for over two months, eventually selling enough copies to be certified platinum. The success of the single was further proven when Aqua received a nomination for "Best Danish Dance Act", although the group did not win.
Their follow-up single in February 1997 followed the same style. Titled "My Oh My", the single broke all Danish sales records by being certified gold within six days. The single went straight to number one in Denmark, and made Aqua a household name in the country. Aqua released their debut album Aquarium in Denmark on 26 March 1997. The album contained 11 tracks, including their first two singles and their then-upcoming third single "Barbie Girl". Universal Music Group had by now begun to market the group in other countries, releasing "Roses Are Red" in Japan in February 1997 and in various countries across Europe. The single had proven popular everywhere it was sold, convincing Universal that the group could be an international success.
Aqua released their third single "Barbie Girl" in May 1997.[15] The song, at first glance, appears to be about the Barbie doll. However, at a second glance, the song contains several sexual overtones, such as "You can brush my hair, undress me everywhere", "You can touch, you can play", and "Kiss me here, touch me there, hanky-panky." Despite complaints about the double meanings in "Barbie Girl", Universal Music released the single around the world in 1997. The release was highly successful, making number one in the United Kingdom for four weeks, in Australia for three weeks, and making the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100, something rarely achieved at the time by European pop acts.[16]
Aqua's follow-up to "Barbie Girl" in Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom was "Doctor Jones", although another single, "Lollipop (Candyman)", was released in the United States through MCA Records. "Doctor Jones" entered at number one in several countries, including the United Kingdom, where it stayed at the top spot for two weeks, and Australia, where it spent seven weeks at #1. "Lollipop (Candyman)" became the group's second Top 40 hit in the US, peaking at #23 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song peaked at #3 in Australia. In Japan both songs were released as a double A-side, and achieved reasonable success in the singles chart.
"Doctor Jones" was followed up by "Turn Back Time". The song was featured on the soundtrack to the film Sliding Doors, and achieved a large amount of radio and video airplay. The song became their third single to make it to number one in the United Kingdom. Elsewhere, the song also performed well, including reaching #10 in Australia.
Aqua's second Danish single, "My Oh My", was rereleased in August 1998. The single was also released in several other European countries where it had not been released initially. Following the release of "Good Morning Sunshine", which achieved limited success, Aqua concentrated on their second album, and on touring around Australia. The group also released a documentary on 1 December 1998 containing several live performances of songs from the Aquarium album and interviews with the members.
Lene Nystrøm was in 1998 awarded the "Special Price of the Jury" at the Norwegian music award Spellemannprisen for her contributions to Aqua in the year of 1997. [17]
1999–2007: Aquarius, lawsuit and split up
According to promotional interviews with the group, over 30 songs were recorded for Aquarius, out of which only twelve made it onto the final version. The group released their second album in February 2000. Aquarius contained several different musical styles. "Cartoon Heroes" was released as the first single, and sold well across Europe and Australia, reaching #1 in Denmark, #7 in the United Kingdom, and #16 in Australia. The follow-up single "Around the World" was released in June 2000, and peaked at #26 in the UK and #35 in Australia. It reached the top spot in Denmark. "Around the World" would be Aqua's final UK single release.
In December 2000, Mattel filed a lawsuit against the group's record label Mattel v. MCA Records, 296 F.3d 894 9th Cir. 2002, claiming that "Barbie Girl" had damaged the reputation of the Barbie brand. Judge Alex Kozinski, writing for the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, upheld the district court finding the use of Mattel's trademark in "Barbie Girl" fell within the non-commercial use exemption to the Federal Trademark Dilution Act. Judge Kozinski concluded his opinion by writing, "The parties are advised to chill."[18]
Aqua released "Bumble Bees" as a single in Scandinavia, Europe and Australia, achieving reasonable success. "We Belong to the Sea" followed as a fourth single in fewer nations, failing to chart in most countries. Aqua spent the first few months of 2001 touring internationally, and working on material for their third album. The group also performed at the Eurovision Song Contest 2001, collaborating with the Safri Duo and providing the music during the voting stages of the competition. This performance also caused controversy, as a number of offensive phrases and gestures were added during the performance of "Barbie Girl" (which was involved in a major lawsuit). During a couple of low-key events in Denmark the group performed live versions of songs intended for inclusion on the third album, including "Couch Potato" and "Shakin' Stevens Is a Superstar", the latter a tribute to the 1980s performer Shakin' Stevens. Aqua split up in 2001, but regrouped in 2007.[19]
2008–2015: Reunion and Megalomania
In 2008, Aqua reunited and promised a 25-concert tour that was to have commenced in the summer. Offers were received by the record company from locations in Denmark, Canada, United States and United Kingdom. Aqua finally performed 8 concerts around Denmark as part of the "Grøn koncert" festival. They released a greatest hits album on 15 June 2009, which includes 16 old remastered tracks and three new songs: "My Mamma Said", "Live Fast, Die Young", and "Back to the 80s".[20] "Back to the 80s" debuted at number one in Denmark where it stayed for six weeks, becoming the band's fifth number-one single. It has since been certified platinum by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) for sales of 30,000 copies in Denmark. Aqua has also toured Scandinavia between May and August 2009 and performed at several gigs in Germany, United Kingdom and France. The greatest hits album was released in North America and many European countries on 22 September 2009 and in the UK on 29 September 2009.
Aqua commenced the recording of Megalomania at the beginning of 2010,[21] scheduled for a release in the spring of 2011.[22] Aqua released the album's lead single, "How R U Doin?" on 14 March 2011, after a preview of the song was posted onto the band's official Facebook page on 10 March 2011. Co-written by Thomas Troelsen, the song peaked at number four in Denmark, becoming the band's tenth top-ten single. It has since been certified gold by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry for sales of 15,000 copies in Denmark.[23] Aqua were originally set to release their third studio album on 14 July 2011, however the release was pushed back to 5 September 2011 with the record label citing bad timing.[24] The album, titled Megalomania, was then further rescheduled to be released on 3 October 2011.[25] On 7 September 2011, Aqua released a preview of their new single, "Playmate to Jesus", on their official Facebook page, which was released on 12 September 2011. On 8 September 2011, it was announced that "Like a Robot" would also be released as a single on 12 September, and would battle against "Playmate to Jesus" in the charts. After the moderate chart success of Megalomania in Denmark, an expanded version of the band featuring all four original members (Lene Nystrøm Rasted, René Dif, Søren Rasted, Claus Norreen), plus new additions Niels Lykke Munksgaard Rasmussen (guitar) Frederik Thaae (bass) and Morten Hellborn (drums), toured Australia in March 2012. They initially announced six concerts but quickly added three additional shows to Melbourne, Sydney and Perth (Fremantle) due to popular demand. Aqua appeared on Sunrise, an Australian morning TV show on the Seven Network. They performed a slower tempo acoustic version of "Barbie Girl" and it was revealed that Lene had pneumonia, but the concerts would proceed as the group prided themselves on never having cancelled a show. They then appeared on the Seven Network's The Morning Show, performing "Doctor Jones". After the tour, the band split again. In 2014, the band announced a tour in Australia and New Zealand.
2016–present: Second reunion and Barbie World
In September 2016, it was announced that Aqua will perform "at least 10 concerts" as part of the Vi Elsker 90'erne ("We Love the '90s") music festival. It was the first time Aqua performed live in Denmark since 2011.[26] On 20 September 2016, Aqua announced that Claus Norreen would not return to the group. Norreen said in a statement that his "musical focus" has changed and that he no longer desires to tour with Aqua, but still considers the remaining members of Aqua "his family".[27]
On 29 May 2018, Aqua announced "The Rewind Tour" in Canada, with fellow 1990s acts Prozzäk and Whigfield.[28] In June 2018, Aqua released their single called "Rookie".
On 29 April 2022, during a concert in Tivoli, Copenhagen, the band announced that they would be going on a tour that would continue through 2023.
In 2023, Aqua collaborated with Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice on the song "Barbie World", for the soundtrack of the film Barbie. The song debuted at number seven on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Aqua’s second single to enter the Top 10, and their first since "Barbie Girl". "Barbie World" also reached the Top 5 in the UK Singles Chart, in the same week that "Barbie Girl" returned to the UK Top 40 for the first time in 25 years.[30][31]
"Barbie World" debuted at number seven on the US Billboard Hot 100, becoming Minaj's 23rd, Ice Spice's fourth, and Aqua's second top-ten hit. Elsewhere, the single also reached the top ten in Australia, Austria, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Luxembourg, Ireland, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, top twenty in Iceland, Finland, France and Hungary, top thirty in Czech Republic and Lithuania, top forty in Belgium and Slovakia and top fifty in Portugal and Italy. The song also earned Aqua their first Grammy nominations.
In August 2024, the band embarked on an all new Norwegian tour.[citation needed]
Søren Nystrøm Rasted is a Danish musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. He plays keyboards, guitar and sings backing vocals. He is a member of the Danish-Norwegian Eurodance group Aqua in 2024 Rasted departing the band.
René Dif is a Danish musician, singer-songwriter, DJ and actor, best known as the male lead vocalist of the Danish-Norwegian eurodance group Aqua.
"Good Morning Sunshine" is a song by Danish-Norwegian band Aqua from their debut album, Aquarium (1997). The group's eighth overall single as well as the seventh and last from Aquarium, the song was the first not to be released worldwide since "Lollipop (Candyman)" (1997). The song was released in December 1998, peaking at number 25 in Denmark and number 18 in the United Kingdom, becoming their lowest-charting song in the UK from the Aquarium album.
Frække Frida og de frygtløse spioner, often shortened to simply Frække Frida, is a 1994 Danish children's film written and directed by Søren Ole Christensen. Christensen based the story on a series of children's books by Lykke Nielsen. Music for the film was written and performed by Søren Rasted and Claus Norreen who later teamed up with René Dif and Lene Nystrøm later in 1994 to form the bubblegum/eurodance music group, Joyspeed.
"My Oh My" is a song recorded by Danish dance-pop group Aqua. It was released as the second single from their debut album, Aquarium (1997), and was initially released in February 1997 before being reissued following the success of "Barbie Girl", "Doctor Jones" and "Turn Back Time" in August 1998. Like many early Aqua tracks, the song featured vocals from both Lene Nystrøm Rasted and Rene Dif. It was the fourth release from the album in the UK, where it peaked at number six, the group's lowest performing single there until "Good Morning Sunshine".
EP Phone Home is an EP by the Orange County, California rock band Home Grown, released in 1999 by Outpost Recordings. It was the band's first recording with guitarist Justin Poyser, who replaced Ian Cone the previous year.
Lene Grawford Nystrøm is a Norwegian musician, singer-songwriter and actress who is the female lead vocalist of the Danish-Norwegian Eurodance group Aqua.
Hej Matematik is a Danish pop group, consisting of Søren Rasted and his nephew Nicolaj Rasted. In live shows, they are accompanied by Nikolaj Teinvig on guitar, Nicholas Findsen on bass, Mads Storm on keyboards and Peter Düring on drums.
"Barbie Girl" is a song by Danish-Norwegian dance-pop group Aqua. It was released in April 1997 by Universal and MCA as the third single from the group's debut studio album, Aquarium. The song was written by band members Søren Rasted, Claus Norreen, René Dif, and Lene Nystrøm, and was produced by the former two alongside Johnny Jam and Delgado. It was written after Rasted saw an exhibit on kitsch culture in Denmark that featured Barbie dolls. The accompanying music video was directed by Danish directors Peder Pedersen and Peter Stenbæk.
Nicolaj Bredkjær Rasted is a Danish musician, illustrator, and producer. He is a member of Hej Matematik.
"Back to the 80s" is a song by Norwegian-Danish band Aqua. The song was written by members Søren Rasted, Claus Norreen, and produced by Rasted, for their second greatest hits album (2009). "Back to the 80s" was Aqua's first single in eight years, following the release of the 2001 single "We Belong to the Sea". "Back to the 80s" was released on 25 May 2009 as the lead single from Greatest Hits and topped the Danish Singles Chart for six weeks.
"My Mamma Said" is a song by Danish-Norwegian pop band Aqua. The song was written by members Søren Rasted and Lene Nystrøm, and produced by Rasted, for their second greatest hits album (2009). It was released as the second single from the album, following "Back to the 80's".
The Aqua Diary is a 1998 music documentary film starring the members of the Danish-Norwegian dance music group Aqua.
Aqua: The Videos is a compilation of Aqua's music videos, released in 1998. It includes four videos, representing the band's 1997 singles, though not in chronological order of release.
Aqua: The Video Collection is a video album/documentary film by the Danish-Norwegian dance-pop group, Aqua, released in 2000. It includes all of the band's videos from the period 1996–2000 and most of the videos made for the singles from their first two studio albums.
"How R U Doin?" is a song by Danish-Norwegian pop group Aqua from their third studio album, Megalomania. It was released as the album's lead single on 14 March 2011. The song peaked at number four in Denmark, becoming the group's tenth top-ten single. It has since been certified gold by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) for sales of 15,000 copies.
Megalomania is the third studio album by Danish band Aqua. It was released on 3 October 2011 by Universal Music Group and WaterWorks, over 11 years after the release of their second studio album, Aquarius (2000). The album peaked at number two in Denmark and was certified gold by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI).
"Barbie World" is a song by Trinidadian rapper Nicki Minaj and American rapper Ice Spice from Barbie the Album, the soundtrack of the film Barbie (2023). It was released by Atlantic Records, 10K Projects, and Capitol Records as the soundtrack's third single on June 23, 2023. Produced by RiotUSA, the song heavily samples the 1997 single "Barbie Girl" by Danish Europop band Aqua, who are credited as performers and co-writers in the song.
"Playmate to Jesus" is a song by Danish-Norwegian pop band Aqua from their third studio album, Megalomania. The song, which was released in 2011, is about universal love and "what goes around comes around". Despite the song's positive critical reaction, it only charted in Denmark, becoming the group's second lowest-charting single. The music video, directed by Michael Sauer Christensen and filmed in Lyngby, Denmark, premiered on 22 September 2011.
"Like a Robot" is a song from Danish-Norwegian pop band Aqua's third studio album, Megalomania. Initially released as a promotional single on 5 November 2011 producer Lucas Secon reported that "Like a Robot" would be released as the album's international lead single. and was released in Australia and New Zealand in January 2012. It was their first song to come with an "explicit language" warning, with band member René Dif saying: "There’s a million rappers out there who do that too."
↑ Jeremy Ulrey. Aqua at AllMusic. Retrieved 30 September 2019.
↑ Nicolae Sfetcu (9 May 2014). "Dance Music". Retrieved 30 September 2019. Some artists like Aqua, Daze or Hit'n'Hide are not usually considered mainstream eurodance, but fall into the bubblegum pop category
↑ Bille, Torben, ed. (2002). Dansk rockleksikon (in Danish) (1sted.). Politikens Forlag. p.58. ISBN87-567-6525-8. Dannet 1995 i København. [English: Formed 1995 in Copenhagen.]
↑ Mattel, Inc. v. MCA Records, Inc., 296 F.3d 894, (9th Cir., 2002)
↑ Nielsen, Jens-Emil (2015). 90'er rock: Dansk rock 1990-2000 (in Danish) (1sted.). Her & Nu. p.83. ISBN978-87-93093-71-3. [...] Aqua bliver opløst i 2001 for så at genopstå i 2007 [...] [English: [...] Aqua is dissolved in 2001 to then be restored in 2007 [...]]
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