Joey Tempest

Last updated

Joey Tempest
Joey Tempest (39754858224).jpg
Tempest performing in 2018
Background information
Birth nameRolf Magnus Joakim Larsson
Born (1963-08-19) 19 August 1963 (age 60)
Upplands Väsby, Stockholm, Sweden
Genres
Occupations
  • Singer
  • songwriter
  • musician
Instruments
  • Vocals
  • guitar
  • keyboards
Years active1979–present
Labels
Member of Europe
Formerly of
Website europetheband.com

Rolf Magnus Joakim Larsson (born 19 August 1963), known professionally as Joey Tempest, is a Swedish singer based in the UK. He is best known as the lead vocalist of the rock band Europe. [1] He has written most of the band's biggest hit songs, including "The Final Countdown", "Rock the Night", "Cherokee" and "Carrie".

Contents

Early life

Rolf Magnus Joakim Larsson was born in Stockholm, Sweden on 19 August 1963. When he was eight years old, he would sit in front of the television or radio with a tape recorder and try to capture songs from the UK or US that he liked and listen to them over and over again. He learned how to play the piano and a friend of his father's taught him three chords (A, D and E) on his sister's acoustic guitar. [2]

Larsson played football and ice hockey and competed in go-cart racing; he once came in fourth place in the Junior Cart Race, a Swedish championship. Like many of the other Europe members, Larsson grew up in Stockholm suburb Upplands Väsby. His biggest influences were Thin Lizzy and Led Zeppelin.[ citation needed ] During his teens, Larsson played in a number of bands such as Jet, Blazer, Made in Hong Kong and Roxanne. At that time, Larsson alternated between playing rhythm guitar and bass, in addition to lead vocals.

Career

Europe

Larsson started performing in 1979, creating the stage name "Joey Tempest", inspired by William Shakespeare's tragicomedy The Tempest as well as the song "Sparks of the Tempest" by American progressive rock band Kansas. He formed the band Force with guitarist John Norum, bassist Peter Olsson and drummer Tony Reno. [3] Force immediately began building a reputation and a fanbase in the suburbs of Stockholm. In 1982, they changed their name to Europe and won the music competition Rock-SM. The first prize was a record deal with Hot Records. [3] With Tempest as the frontman, Europe released its self-titled debut studio album in 1983 and Wings of Tomorrow in 1984.

During his years with Europe, Tempest wrote numerous international hits. "The Final Countdown" was the biggest; it topped the sales chart in 26 countries, sold 15 million copies, was played at the closing ceremony of the 1987 EuroBasket and 1988 Summer Olympics, became the musical theme of the millennium celebrations and a ringtone in hundreds of thousands of mobile phones across the world.[ citation needed ] After The Final Countdown, Europe released two more studio albums, namely Out of This World (1988) and Prisoners in Paradise (1991), before their final concert in March 1992. Europe ended their final tour in Portsmouth and did not perform together again until New Year's Eve, 1999 to 2000.

Solo career

Tempest in 2013 Joey Tempest 2013.jpg
Tempest in 2013

In 1995, Tempest's solo debut album, A Place to Call Home , was released. [1] He recalled it his "singer/songwriter album". The album, which was produced by Dan Sundquist, was recorded in Stockholm and London using Swedish musicians. Europe bandmate John Norum guest-starred on one of the tracks. Tempest also played guitar on the album. A Place to Call Home went platinum in Sweden and sold well internationally.

Later the same year, he commenced his first European tour as a solo artist. The following year, he was nominated for a "Best Swedish Artist" Grammy. Four singles were taken from the album, "A Place to Call Home", "Under the Influence", "We Come Alive" and "Don't Go Changing On Me".

Tempest's second solo album, Azalea Place , was released in 1997. The next solo album was recorded in Nashville by producer Richard Dodd, known for producing artists such as The Traveling Wilburys and Tom Petty. Where A Place To Call Home had Tempest writing all the material, the new album was written together with others. Among these were Chris Difford from Squeeze and Will Jennings. "Azalea Place was mostly written in the studio and was therefore more improvised and experimental", Tempest commented on the production.[ citation needed ] "The Match", "The One In The Glass" and "If I'd Only Known" were released as singles. "The Match" became one of the most played songs on Swedish radio and the album achieved gold status.

In the autumn of 2002, Tempest released his third solo album named after himself. The production team behind the album was "DeadMono", consisting of Malcolm Pardon and Fredrik Rinman. The team also worked with Eskobar, Lisa Miskovsky and Stakka Bo. Also collaborating on the album were Chris Difford, former Europe member Mic Michaeli and guitarist Adam Lamprell. The first session took place in Konk Studios, The Kinks old London studio, where Tempest jammed with English musicians, who had formerly played with Massive Attack. This session produced "Magnificent", "Kill For A Girl Like You" (B-side of the first single "Forgiven") and "Sometimes". Work continued in Stockholm, this time with Swedish musicians, including Mic Michaeli. "Superhuman" originated from this session. After that, Tempest kept on working with Adam Lamprell in a temporary studio in London.

Of his songwriting Tempest has said, "Dreamless and Magnificent have a lot of London in them. Losers is influenced by both London and Dublin. Living there can be very intense, almost chaotic. They're tough cities and I'd never have written the lyrics I did without living there."[ citation needed ] Some lyrics can also be related to his homeland, reflections on living abroad and learning to live with new people.

Resurrection of Europe

Nearly twelve years after disbanding, Europe announced a comeback with the same lineup that made The Final Countdown. In 2004, they released their sixth studio album, Start from the Dark . The seventh, Secret Society , followed in 2006, then Last Look at Eden in 2009, Bag of Bones in 2012, War of Kings in 2015 and Walk the Earth in 2017.

Musician

Tempest played the keyboards on the first two Europe albums before the band decided to recruit keyboardist Mic Michaeli in April 1984. [3] A couple of years earlier, Tempest had borrowed a keyboard from Michaeli and used it to compose the main keyboard hook of the song "The Final Countdown". [3] After a jam session in 1985, Michaeli and Tempest co-wrote the ballad "Carrie". [3] Later that year, Tempest wrote the soundtrack for the Swedish film On the Loose , as well as the song "Give a Helping Hand" for the benefit project Swedish Metal Aid, in the spirit of Band Aid. [4] The song was produced by future Europe bandmate Kee Marcello. [3] In 1986 Tempest wrote and produced the album One of a Kind for Tone Norum, John Norum's younger sister. [3] Tempest also collaborated with John Norum on the single "We Will Be Strong" from Norum's album Face the Truth in 1992. This was Tempest and Norum's first collaboration since Norum left Europe in November 1986. [3]

After Europe went on hiatus in 1992, Tempest released three solo albums. [5] The first album, A Place to Call Home featured a guest appearance from John Norum on the song "Right to Respect". Several songs on the third album, Joey Tempest , were co-written by Mic Michaeli.

Personal life

Tempest lives in London with his wife Lisa Joy Worthington and sons James Joakim (born 2007) [6] and Jack Johnston Larsson (born 2014). [7] Tempest talked to Bruce Dickinson about his decision to live in London on the latter's BBC 6 Music radio show in 2009. [8] He does not have any social media pages apart from the official ones for Europe listed on their website. [9]

Asked in 2009, by BBC's Liam Allen, "Are you ever embarrassed by some of the hairstyles and clothes you wore back in the day?", Tempest replied, "Not really, we were very young, we were MTV generation – we were one of the biggest bands on MTV. I just wanted to look like Robert Plant, to be honest." [10]

Discography

Tempest performing in 2018 Joey Tempest (40423437612).jpg
Tempest performing in 2018

Solo studio albums

Studio albums with Europe

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Europe (band)</span> Swedish rock band

Europe is a Swedish rock band formed in Upplands Väsby in 1979, by lead vocalist Joey Tempest, guitarist John Norum, bassist Peter Olsson, and drummer Tony Reno. They obtained a major breakthrough in Sweden in 1982 by winning the televised competition "Rock-SM" ; it was the first time this competition was held, and Europe became a larger success than the competition itself.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Norum</span> Norwegian-Swedish guitarist

John Terry Norum is a Norwegian-Swedish guitarist and one of the founders of the rock band Europe. Concurrent to his role with Europe, he also maintains a career as a solo artist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mic Michaeli</span> Swedish keyboardist

Gunnar Mathias "Mic" Michaeli is a Swedish musician best known as the keyboardist for the rock band Europe. Like many of the other Europe members he grew up in Stockholm suburb Upplands Väsby. He joined the band for their Wings of Tomorrow tour in 1984, taking vocalist Joey Tempest's place behind the keyboards.

<i>The Final Countdown</i> (album) 1986 studio album by Europe

The Final Countdown is the third studio album by the Swedish rock band Europe. Released on 30 May 1986 through Epic Records, the album was a commercial success, peaking at number 8 on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart and reaching high positions in charts worldwide. It was recorded at Powerplay Studios in Zürich, Soundtrade Studios in Stockholm, Mastersound Studios in Atlanta and Fantasy Studios in Berkeley. The Final Countdown is the first album to feature keyboardist Mic Michaeli and drummer Ian Haugland and the last to feature guitarist John Norum until 2004's Start from the Dark.

<i>Start from the Dark</i> 2004 studio album by Europe

Start from the Dark is the sixth studio album by the Swedish rock band Europe. It was released on 22 September 2004 by Sanctuary Records. It was the band's first release since reforming in 2003, the first original album of all-new material since 1991's Prisoners in Paradise, and the first album to feature the band's original guitarist John Norum since 1986's The Final Countdown.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Final Countdown (song)</span> 1986 single by Europe

"The Final Countdown" is a song by Swedish rock band Europe, released in 1986. Written by lead singer Joey Tempest, it was based on a keyboard riff he made in the early 1980s, with lyrics inspired by David Bowie's "Space Oddity". Originally made to just be a concert opener, it is the first single and title track from the band's third studio album. The music video by Nick Morris, made to promote the single, has received 1 billion views on YouTube. The video features footage from the band's two concerts at Solnahallen in Solna, as well as extra footage of the sound checks and footage from Stockholm. The song "Pictures", from the 2017 album Walk the Earth, is a sequel to "The Final Countdown".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carrie (Europe song)</span> 1987 single by Europe

"Carrie" is a power ballad by the Swedish rock band Europe released in 1987. It was the third single released internationally from the album The Final Countdown, and it is their highest-charting song on the Billboard Hot 100 chart—peaking at #3 during the fall of 1987. It also reached #36 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart. The track on the B-side of the 7" single was "Love Chaser".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rock the Night (song)</span> 1985 single by Europe

"Rock the Night" is a song by Swedish rock band Europe, released as a single in 1986. The song was written by vocalist Joey Tempest in 1984 and premiered on the band's Wings of Tomorrow tour the same year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cherokee (Europe song)</span> 1987 single by Europe

"Cherokee" is a single by the Swedish rock band Europe, released in 1987. It was the fourth single released internationally from their third studio album The Final Countdown, and reached number 72 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Love Chaser</span> 1986 single by Europe

"Love Chaser" is a single by the Swedish rock band Europe, released in 1986. It was taken from the album The Final Countdown, and was released only in Japan in the soundtrack album of the Japanese movie Pride One. The track on the B-side of the single was "Carrie". Next year the single was reissued in Japan and was entitled "Carrie" with "Carrie" on the A-side. The reissue had the same catalogue number (VIPX-1849) as the first release.

<i>The Final Countdown Tour 1986: Live in Sweden – 20th Anniversary Edition</i> 2006 film

The Final Countdown Tour 1986: Live in Sweden – 20th Anniversary Edition is a DVD by the Swedish hard rock band Europe. It was released on October 4, 2006. The main feature is a concert filmed at Solnahallen in Solna, Sweden on May 26, 1986.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Seven Doors Hotel</span> 1983 single by Europe

"Seven Doors Hotel", written by Joey Tempest, was the first single released from the Swedish heavy metal band Europe's self-titled debut album. It was a big hit in Japan, reaching the Top 10. It was one of the first songs he ever wrote.

<i>The Final Countdown Tour 1986</i> (album) 2004 live album by Europe

The Final Countdown Tour 1986 is a live album by the Swedish hard rock band Europe. It was released on 20 December 2004.

<i>Extended Versions</i> (Europe album) 2007 live album by Europe

Extended Versions is a live album by the Swedish rock band Europe. It was released on 27 March 2007.

<i>On the Loose</i> (EP) 1985 EP by Europe

On the Loose is an EP released by the Swedish hard rock band Europe in April 1985. It is the soundtrack to the 31 minutes long Swedish 1985 film On the Loose, also featuring Swedish rock star Jerry Williams. The first two songs, "Rock the Night" and "On the Loose" were later re-recorded in a lighter and heavier way respectively for the album The Final Countdown.

<i>On the Loose</i> (1985 film) 1985 Swedish film

On the Loose is a 1985 Swedish film directed by Staffan Hildebrand and distributed by Föreningsfilmo AB. It stars Tomas Fryk and Carina Lindström and features appearances by rock 'n' roll singer Jerry Williams and the hard rock band Europe who also contributed three unique recordings to the movie's soundtrack.

<i>Almost Unplugged</i> 2009 film

Almost Unplugged is a live album by the Swedish hard rock band Europe. It was released on CD on 17 September 2008 and on DVD on 19 August 2009.

<i>The Final Countdown: The Best of Europe</i> 2009 greatest hits album by Europe

The Final Countdown: The Best of Europe is a compilation album by Swedish rock band Europe, released in 2009 by Sony Music and Camden Deluxe. It contains some songs from the band's debut album and albums through 1999. It contains 36 songs with 18 on each CD.

<i>Bag of Bones</i> (album) 2012 studio album by Europe

Bag of Bones is the ninth studio album by the Swedish rock band Europe. It was released on 18 April 2012 in Japan by Victor Entertainment and on April 25 in Sweden by Gain Music Entertainment. Bag of Bones is the first Europe album to chart in UK Top 100 Albums since Prisoners in Paradise in 1991 and also entered in UK Top 40 Rock Albums at number 3.

<i>Walk the Earth</i> 2017 studio album by Europe

Walk the Earth is the eleventh studio album by the Swedish rock band Europe. It was released on 20 October 2017. The album was produced by Dave Cobb and recorded at Abbey Road Studios in London.

References

  1. 1 2 Colin Larkin, ed. (1999). The Virgin Encyclopedia of Heavy Rock (First ed.). Virgin Books. p. 444. ISBN   0-7535-0257-7.
  2. ↑ Paul Stenning (24 November 2013). Success – By Those Who've Made It. Pg.114,115. In Flight Books. ISBN   978-1628475869.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 1982-1992 (CD booklet). Europe. Epic Records. 1993. EPC 473589-1.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  4. ↑ sv:Swedish Metal Aid Swedish Metal Aid. Retrieved 12 December 2018
  5. ↑ "RATHOLE.com – Fireworks Magazine: Issue 18". RATHOLE.com. Archived from the original on 14 December 2007. Retrieved 15 April 2008.
  6. ↑ "Joey Tempest and wife welcome a son". People. 22 March 2012. Retrieved 1 August 2014.
  7. ↑ "Dubbel bebislycka för Europe". Aftonbladet.se. 4 March 2014. Retrieved 1 August 2014.
  8. ↑ "Bruce Dickinson Friday Rock Show: 11/09/2009". BBC Online . BBC. Retrieved 22 January 2017.
  9. ↑ "The Official EUROPE Website". Europetheband.Com. Archived from the original on 22 September 2014. Retrieved 1 August 2014.
  10. ↑ Allen, Liam (15 September 2009). "Talking Shop: Europe's Joey Tempest". BBC News Online . BBC. Retrieved 22 January 2017.
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