Roxette were a Swedish pop rock duo, consisting of Marie Fredriksson (vocals) and Per Gessle. Formed in 1986, the duo became an international act in the late 1980s, when they released their breakthrough second album Look Sharp! Their third album Joyride, released in 1991, became as successful as its predecessor. Roxette went on to achieve nineteen UK Top 40 hits, and several US Hot 100 hits, including four US number-ones with "The Look", "Listen to Your Heart", "It Must Have Been Love", featured on the soundtrack of Pretty Woman, and "Joyride". Their other hits include "Dressed for Success", "Dangerous", and "Fading Like a Flower".
Per Håkan Gessle is a Swedish singer, songwriter and guitarist. He is best known as the male half and primary songwriter of the pop rock duo Roxette, which he formed with Marie Fredriksson in 1986 and which was disbanded after her death in 2019. The duo achieved international success in the late 1980s and early 1990s with their albums Look Sharp! (1988) and Joyride (1991), and topped the charts in the US four times, most notably with "It Must Have Been Love" which was featured in the film Pretty Woman. Prior to the formation of Roxette, he had a successful career in his native Sweden as the frontman for Gyllene Tider. The band released three number-one albums during the early 1980s but disbanded shortly after their fourth album, The Heartland Café (1984).
Have a Nice Day is the sixth studio album by Swedish pop duo Roxette, released worldwide from 22 February 1999 by Roxette Recordings and EMI. Recorded over an 18-month period in studios in Sweden and Spain, the album was produced by Marie Fredriksson, Per Gessle, Clarence Öfwerman and Michael Ilbert, and was their first studio album since Crash! Boom! Bang! in 1994. The album was not released in the US, as the duo were no longer signed to a label there. A deluxe edition was released in Spanish-speaking territories and, in Arabian regions, the naked babies on the cover were digitally removed, due to religious concerns.
"The Look" is a song by Swedish pop duo Roxette. It was released in early 1989 as the fourth single from their second studio album, Look Sharp! (1988). It became an international hit, and was one of the most successful singles of 1989. It topped the charts in 25 countries, and was the first of their four number ones on the Billboard Hot 100. The song received mostly positive reviews from music critics.
Son of a Plumber is an album released by Swedish pop-rock singer and composer Per Gessle. It is the first album by Gessle to use a pseudonym artist name; Son of a Plumber. The album, which was officially released on 23 November 2005, is a double CD album packed with deeply personal and highly inventive music according to Gessle.
"Chances" is a song by Swedish pop music duo Roxette, released on 28 December 1988 by EMI as the first international single from their second studio album, Look Sharp! (1988). The single was issued on 7" and 12" vinyl formats exclusively in Germany, France and Italy, where it failed to chart. The single was followed two weeks later by "The Look", which became their breakthrough international hit.
"Anyone" is a song by Swedish pop music duo Roxette, released on 10 May 1999 as the second single from their sixth studio album, Have a Nice Day (1999). Composed by Per Gessle, the song was inspired by the work of Burt Bacharach and Phil Spector, and the album version of the song was mostly performed in a single take at Atlantis Recording Studio in Stockholm. In Japan, the single was released as a double a-side with "Pay the Price", although no music video was created for that song.
"Run to You" is a song by Swedish pop music duo Roxette, released on 21 November 1994 by EMI as the fourth single from the duo's fifth studio album, Crash! Boom! Bang! (1994). Written by Per Gessle and produced by Clarence Öfwerman, the song charted moderately in several territories, peaking at number 20 in Finland, while reaching the top forty in Belgium, Scotland, Switzerland and the UK. "Run to You" was the duo's final single to chart in the top fifty of the Australian Singles Chart, peaking at number 49. The song's music video was directed by Jonas Åkerlund.
"Vulnerable" is a song by Swedish pop music duo Roxette, released as the fifth and final single from their fifth studio album, Crash! Boom! Bang!, while simultaneously acting as the lead single from the duo's 1995 compilation album, Rarities.
"The Big L." is a song by Swedish pop duo Roxette. Written by Per Gessle, it was released as the third single from their third studio album, Joyride (1991), on 26 August 1991. The song became a top ten hit in Belgium, Ireland and Sweden, and was the highest-charting single released from Joyride in France. It also reached the top twenty in a number of other countries, including Australia, Austria, Finland, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and Switzerland. Despite a US radio mix of the song appearing on CD versions of the single, it was never released as a single in North America.
"Opportunity Nox" is a song by Swedish pop music duo Roxette, released on 25 February 2003 as the lead single from the duo's third greatest hits compilation album, The Pop Hits (2003).
"You Don't Understand Me" is a song by Swedish pop music duo Roxette. Written by Per Gessle with American composer Desmond Child, it was released as the lead single from the duo's first greatest hits compilation album, Don't Bore Us, Get to the Chorus! Roxette's Greatest Hits (1995). It was also the only new song from the original edition of the album to appear on the 2000 U.S. edition. The song was a hit in several European countries, reaching the top 20 in Finland, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, and the duo's native Sweden. The song was also a hit in Germany where, despite peaking at number 44, it would spend over three months on the German Singles Chart.
"June Afternoon" is a song by Swedish pop music duo Roxette, released in January 1996 as the second single from their second greatest hits compilation album, Don't Bore Us, Get to the Chorus! Roxette's Greatest Hits (1995). The single was only released in Europe, Australia, and Canada, peaking at number one in the Czech Republic and within the top 40 in numerous territories. Its accompanying music video was directed by Jonas Åkerlund.
"Always Breaking My Heart" is the second single from American singer Belinda Carlisle's sixth studio album, A Woman and a Man (1996). The song was written by Per Gessle from Swedish band Roxette, and a demo of the song recorded by Gessle was later released as a B-side of his single "Do You Wanna Be My Baby?", as well as the 2009 reissue of Crash! Boom! Bang! (1994). Released on September 9, 1996, "Always Breaking My Heart" peaked at number eight on the UK Singles Chart and number 50 in Australia. It remains Carlisle's final UK top-10 hit.
"Kix" is the second single from Per Gessle's studio album The World According to Gessle.
"Do You Wanna Be My Baby?" is the first single from Swedish singer-songwriter Per Gessle's third studio album, The World According to Gessle (1997). It peaked atop the Swedish Singles Chart for one week in April 1997 and also charted in Iceland and the Flanders region of Belgium. B-side "Always Breaking My Heart" was also recorded by Belinda Carlisle for her album A Woman and a Man.
"Way Out" is a song by Swedish pop music duo Roxette, released on 10 June 2011 as the third and final commercial single from their eighth studio album, Charm School. The single was released solely in Germany and Austria, with their record label there opting to release another uptempo single, following the success of "She's Got Nothing On ". Elsewhere, a Bassflow remix of "Speak to Me" was released as the album's final commercial single. The song received generally positive reviews, and its music video was directed by Mikael Sandberg and Magnus Öhrlund.
"It's Possible" is a song by Swedish pop music duo Roxette, released on 16 March 2012 as the lead single from their ninth studio album, Travelling. Two versions of the track appeared on the album; "Version One" was released as the single. The song was written by Per Gessle, and its music video was directed by David Nord and Boris Nawratil. It was not as commercially successful as the duo's preceding lead singles, appearing on several airplay charts but failing to appear on any national sales charts with the exception of the German Singles Chart, where it peaked at number 64. As of 2018, it remains the band's final song to chart in that country.
Travelling: Songs from Studios, Stages, Hotelrooms & Other Strange Places is the ninth studio album by Swedish pop duo Roxette, released on 23 March 2012 by Roxette Recordings and Capitol. It is a direct sequel to their 1992 album Tourism. Unlike that album, which was recorded in numerous locations all over the world during the "Join the Joyride! Tour", Travelling was primarily recorded in Swedish studios in-between legs of "The Neverending World Tour". The album also contains three live recordings and four studio re-recordings of older songs, two of which were previously unreleased.
