Marion Raven | |
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Background information | |
Birth name | Marion Elise Ravn |
Also known as | Marion Ravn |
Born | Lørenskog, Norway | 25 May 1984
Genres | |
Occupation(s) | Singer, songwriter, musician, presenter, voice actress, actress |
Years active | 1993–present |
Labels |
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Spouse(s) | Andreas Wiig (m. 2013) |
Website | marionravn |
Marion Elise Ravn (born 25 May 1984), better known as Marion Raven, is a Norwegian singer and songwriter. Raven formed the pop duo M2M with Marit Larsen, though they ceased performing together in 2002. Raven was later signed as a solo artist by Atlantic Records with the release of her solo debut album, Here I Am in 2005. In 2006, Raven was signed to the indie record label, Eleven Seven, and in 2007 re-released the songs on her debut album along with a few new songs on an album titled Set Me Free . In 2012, Raven began production of her second album, Songs from a Blackbird , which was released in Norway on 8 April 2013.
Raven has also written tracks for other artists such as Pixie Lott. [3] She has also lent her voice to the Norwegian version of Tangled .
Raven was born in Lørenskog, Norway; her father is a teacher. She has an older brother and two younger sisters. [4] Her surname is of Norse origin, with Ravn meaning Raven, which she adopted as her stage name Marion Raven as well as her trademark raven logo. Raven enjoyed singing from a young age, sometimes writing lyrics for the songs she sang. Raven joined the gospel choir in a local church at the age of 5. At age 7, she went on to be part of the St. Laurentius choir, which has many historical links in Lørenskog, and was started in 1965 by, and is still being run by her vocal coach for several years, Kjell Walther Christensen. By the time she was eight, Raven began playing the piano and took piano lessons from Sif Anna Lisa Ødegård, married to Kjell Walther Christensen. She also attended ballet lessons, as well as performing ballet on stage. In 1993, she acted in the musical "Sound of Music", on the "Norwegian Broadway". She recorded a children's musical titled, "Vettene Vinner" (Vettene Wins), with the musical group, "Vettene", meaning "small trolls that protect nature", and was part of the group's record "Vettene på gamlespor" (Vettene on Old Tracks). At age 10, Raven acted in stage productions of Bugsy Malone and The Wizard of Oz
In 1995, Raven's father arranged for her to make a demo in a studio in Oslo, together with her childhood friend, Marit Larsen. The duo got a record deal with EMI Norway and formed M2M. A year later, they produced children album titled, "Marit og Marion synger kjente barnesanger" which means "Marit and Marion Sing Well-Known Children Songs". M2M was nominated for the Norwegian Grammy, Spellemannprisen, the following year.
In 1998, M2M started recording pop demos in English and struck a record deal with Atlantic Records. The two collaborated with many songwriters from around the world and produced their multi-platinum debut album, Shades of Purple , that was released in 2000, with the lead single, "Don't Say You Love Me" featuring on the soundtrack of Pokémon: The First Movie. The song was co-produced by Jimmy Bralower and Peter Zizzo (Celine Dion), and mixed by Tom Lord-Alge. It peaked on the Billboard Hot 100 at No. 21, selling 39,000 units in a week, according to SoundScan. [5] Their second album, The Big Room , which was recorded in a studio in Bearsville in Woodstock, New York, was released in 2002. After world tours to promote The Big Room ended, M2M joined Jewel on her This Way world tour as an opening act. M2M later disbanded in September 2002 after Atlantic removed them as the opening act for the rest of the tour.
Raven was offered a recording contract [6] with Atlantic Records, though the offer was later revoked. [7] She co-wrote "Pointless Relationship" that was the lead single of Australian singer, Tammin Sursok's debut album, 'Whatever Will Be'. She also collaborated on the track "That Day", a song released by Norwegian pop singer, Maria Arredondo, from Arredondo's 2004 follow-up album Not Going Under, and co-wrote the song "Disconnected", a song included on Lindsay Lohan's debut album "Speak" in 2004.
Upon signing her deal with Atlantic Records, Marion Raven set about recording her debut album, and worked with Swedish songwriters/producers Max Martin and Rami, as well as Canadian singer-songwriter Chantal Kreviazuk and her husband Raine Maida from 2003 to 2005. Initially, the record company was not confident of Raven's switch to a more rock image and a darker, more personal style of songwriting. [8] Raven had to fight to record her kind of music, rock music with a pop element. The resulting 14-track list, including 2 bonus tracks, cultivated a more rock/pop sound and was titled Here I Am . The album saw Raven's transformation from the candy-pop music of M2M to a more angsty, rock-oriented singer, and was released in Scandinavia, Japan, Latin America and Southeast Asia.
Here I Am spawned three singles, "End of Me", "Break You" and "Here I Am". Break You holds the record as Raven's top-selling single internationally. All three singles were successful in the Asian region where she further promoted the album with a tour. The album was released in Raven's home country on 10 August 2005 debuting at No. 6.
In early 2006, it was announced that Raven quit her contract with Atlantic Records due to "artistic differences". Raven later confirmed that she was now signed to indie label Eleven Seven Music, which was created by her management 10th Street Entertainment.
Raven later performed a duet with rock musician Meat Loaf on a version of the song "It's All Coming Back to Me Now", released as the lead single from Loaf's tenth studio album Bat Out of Hell III: The Monster Is Loose in October 2006. The track peaked at No. 1 in Norway and reached the top ten in Germany and the United Kingdom. [9] Raven later joined Loaf on an extensive tour through Canada and Europe in February 2007. [10]
In 2004, she recorded the theme song for the US dub of W.I.T.C.H., a Jetix animated series based on the comic of the same name.
Raven later confirmed that her new album would contain new and old tracks from her Norwegian debut as well as re-recorded tracks such as "Heads Will Roll", which received the help of American musician Nikki Sixx and was released as an EP in October 2006. [11] Prior to the release of Raven's album Set Me Free in March 2007, she toured around The Netherlands, Germany and the United Kingdom to help promote it. Raven later embarked on another promotional tour across the UK and performed in British schools. Later between later July and August, she became a supporting act on American singer-songwriter Pink's I'm Not Dead Tour in Germany. [12] The album was later released in June 2007 and sprawled two singles; "Falling Away" and a re-release of her previous single "Break You" from her Norwegian debut album.
In 2008, Raven made a cameo appearance in the music video for the song "Saints of Los Angeles" by American heavy metal band Mötley Crüe. In 2010 she became a panellist judge on the Norwegian version of the talent show The X Factor and later on Norwegian Idol.
Originally, Raven recorded her third studio album Nevermore in 2009 and penned it for a 2010 release, but due to the internal issues with her record label Eleven Seven Music, it was never released. It dropped two singles "Flesh And Bone" and "Found Someone" exclusively released in Scandinavia.
Marion later released the single "Colors Turn to Grey" in March 2012 and stated in October 2012 that she is working on material for a new album. In March 2013, Marion released the single "The Minute" from her second album Songs from a Blackbird , which was released on 5 April 2013 in Norway. Being her first album in eight years, Songs from a Blackbird managed to peak at No. 3 in Norway. [13] The album was further promoted with a third single – the track "Driving" – and a Norwegian Tour in 2013.
Before an international version released, Marion re-released "The Minute" for an international single via iTunes on 25 July 2014. In August and 31 October 2014, an international version of Songs from a Blackbird released worldwide and Australia, respectively. It incorporates a mixture of Norwegian version and three new songs from both Scandal Vol. 1 and Scandal Vol. 2. For Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Australia, it released physically whereas the worldwide, including Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Australia, it was only released via the iTunes Store.
In January 2014, Marion announced plans to record her third studio album after signing with Sony Music. The album's title was later announced as Scandal while its release date was set to be in September 2014, later the album was divided in two parts, Scandal Vol. 1 released on September 22, 2014, and Scandal Vol. 2 released on February 2, 2015 [14]
In May 2019, Ravn released her first Norwegian-language single "Tyv". [15] In July 2019, she released "Fritt fall" as the second single from her Norwegian-language project. [16] The album, Mellom disse 4 vegger, was released on 11 October 2019. [17] The album features a duet with Magnus Grønneberg, with whom she collaborated with during the Hver gang vi møtes series.
Ravn briefly dated Zac Hanson while M2M were on tour with Hanson in 2000. [18] Ravn stated that the M2M song, Everything, was written about her break up with Hanson and her heartbreak after the tour finished and he did not call her. [19] A second song was written by Ravn about the relationship, which she called "Jack" instead of "Zac", and was released by Pixie Lott. [3]
After years of dating, Raven married professional snowboarder Andreas Wiig in 2013 and divorced in 2015. [20]
Raven also starred the second season of Norwegian reality TV show Hver gang vi møtes, alongside other Norwegian music artists Morten Abel, Ole Paus, Anita Skorgan, Magnus Grønneberg, Kurt Nilsen and Lene Marlin. [21]
Marion Raven performances from other guest artists during the series were:
Fellow artists who sang Raven / M2m songs on Hver gang vi møtes – Marion Raven's Day were:
Raven has written several songs for other artists including:
Year | Tour | Areas | Role |
---|---|---|---|
Mid-late 2005 | Here I Am Promo Tour | Japan, Norway, Southeast Asia | Headlining |
Early-mid-2007 | Meat Loaf Seize the Night Tour / Three Bats Live Tour | Canada, US, Europe | As supporting act |
July–August 2007 | Pink I'm Not Dead Tour | Germany | As supporting act |
November–December 2011 | Kurt Nilsen Christmas Tour | Norway | Supporting act/Special guest |
October 2013 | Marion Ravn Norwegian Tour | Norway | Headlining |
February–March 2015 | Lionel Richie All the Hits All Night Long | Europe | Supporting act |
February–April 2015 | Marion Raven Scandal Tour | Norway | Headlining |
February–March 2018 | Marion Ravn Akustisk Turné | Norway | Headlining |
Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | |
---|---|---|---|
NOR [23] [24] | |||
Here I Am |
| 6 | |
Heads Will Roll |
| — | |
Set Me Free |
| — | |
Nevermore |
| — | |
Songs from a Blackbird |
| 3 | |
Scandal, Vol. 1 |
| 24 | |
Scandal, Vol. 2 |
| 26 | |
Mellom Disse 4 Vegger |
| 3 | |
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. |
Year | Single | Peak positions | Album | |
---|---|---|---|---|
NOR | SWE | |||
2005 | "End of Me" | — | — | Here I Am |
"Break You" | 9 | 51 | ||
"Here I Am" | 20 | — | ||
"Little by Little" | — | — | ||
2006 | "Heads Will Roll" | — | — | Heads Will Roll EP |
2007 | "Falling Away" | — | — | Set Me Free |
"Break You" (re-release) | — | — | ||
2010 | "Flesh and Bone" | — | — | Nevermore (unreleased) |
"Found Someone" | — | — | ||
2012 | "Colors Turn to Grey" | — | — | Songs from a Blackbird |
2013 | "The Minute" | — | — | |
"Driving" | — | — | ||
2014 | "In Dreams" | — | — | Scandal, Vol.1 |
"You'll Get Up Again" | — | — | ||
2015 | "Better Than This" | — | — | Scandal, Vol.2 |
"Kicks In" | — | — | ||
2019 | "Tyv" | — | — | Mellom Disse 4 Vegger |
Year | Single | Peak positions | Album | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
NOR [25] | AUT | NED | SWI | |||
2006 | "It's All Coming Back to Me Now" (with Meat Loaf) | 1 | 17 | 15 | 21 | Bat Out of Hell III: The Monster Is Loose |
Marit Elisabeth Larsen is a Norwegian singer and songwriter. She began playing violin aged five and played it until the age of eight. She gained international fame during her teenage years as a member of the pop duo M2M with childhood friend Marion Raven. She then pursued her own music career, releasing her debut solo album Under the Surface in 2006. Her second album, The Chase, was released in Norway in October 2008. Her third album, titled Spark was released in Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Finland on 18 November 2011, and in Germany, Austria and Switzerland on 16 December 2011. Her fourth studio album When the Morning Comes was released on 20 October 2014. Larsen toured in its support within Norway with her own concerts, played songs from the album in Germany and Switzerland at public festivals and was the opening act at two of Johannes Oerding's concerts in November 2015.
M2M were a Norwegian pop duo comprising Marit Larsen and Marion Raven. Larsen and Raven had been friends since the age of five, and formed a music duo when they were eight. They released a children's album in 1996 when Larsen was 12 and Raven was 11, under the name "Marit & Marion". The album was nominated for a Spellemannprisen award and the band changed their name to M2M after signing a record deal with Atlantic Records in 1998. M2M were frequently praised for writing most of their songs and performing their own instruments, something which was considered to set them aside from the majority of teen pop music artists.
Here I Am is the debut solo album by M2M member, Marion Ravn, released on June 6, 2005. Ravn co-wrote all but one of the songs with several well-known musicians. She played both acoustic and electric guitars as well as the piano and provided background vocals on a number of songs. The album showed her transition from her past M2M pop sound to a dark hard-rock sound. Her musical transition was well received by critics internationally.
"Don't Save Me" is the first single by Norwegian pop music singer and M2M member Marit Larsen released from her debut album Under the Surface. The single was released on 2 February 2006 in Norway. After debuting at No. 3, the single climbed to No. 1 and stayed at the top for five consecutive weeks.
Shades of Purple is the debut studio album by Norwegian pop duo M2M. It was released in the US on 7 March 2000 by Atlantic Records. It reached No. 7 in Norway, No. 89 on the US Billboard 200 and No. 1 on the US Top Heatseekers chart. The single "Don't Say You Love Me", which had already been released as the lead single of the Pokémon: The First Movie soundtrack in October 1999, appears on the album. A further two singles, "Mirror Mirror" and "Everything You Do" were released throughout 2000.
The Big Room is the second and final studio album by Norwegian pop music duo M2M. It was released in Asia in November 2001 and in the rest of the world in early 2002. It reached No. 16 in Norway and No. 61 in Australia. Two singles were released worldwide from the album, "Everything", which peaked at No. 6 in Norway and No. 27 in Australia, and "What You Do About Me", which reached No. 46 in Australia.
"It's All Coming Back to Me Now" is a power ballad written by Jim Steinman. According to Steinman, the song was inspired by Wuthering Heights, and was an attempt to write "the most passionate, romantic song" he could ever create. The Sunday Times posits that "Steinman protects his songs as if they were his children". Meat Loaf, who had collaborated with Steinman on most of his hit songs, had wanted to record the song for years, but Steinman refused, saying he saw it as a "woman's song". Steinman won a court case, which prevented Meat Loaf from recording it. Girl group Pandora's Box went on to record it, and it was subsequently made famous through a cover by Celine Dion, which upset Meat Loaf because he was going to use it for a planned album with the working title Bat Out of Hell III.
"Don't Say You Love Me" is the debut single of M2M, a Norwegian pop duo consisting of singers Marion Raven and Marit Larsen. The song first appeared on Radio Disney before its official US radio and single release in October 1999. It was released on the soundtrack to the film Pokémon: The First Movie in November 1999 and appears in the film's closing credits. The song was featured on M2M's debut album, Shades of Purple (2000), and also appeared on their compilation album The Day You Went Away: The Best of M2M (2003).
Maria Sødal Arredondo is a Norwegian pop singer. Her surname Arredondo comes from her Chilean stepfather.
Set Me Free is Marion Raven's North American and European debut album released under indie label Eleven Seven Music. The album incorporates a mixture of fresh tracks and previously released tracks, with some revised versions, from her Asian and Scandinavian debut album, Here I Am. She also played the piano, acoustic and electric guitars on the record. Set Me Free headlines Raven's inclination to harder rocking songs and a darker lyrical scope. The album has been released in Germany and the U.K. with a digital release on the Dutch and US versions of iTunes. Interscope released the album in Canada, where Raven performed in ten Canadian cities as the opening act on Meat Loaf's March 2007 Arena tour.
Heads Will Roll EP is Marion Raven's first EP that was released on October 31, 2006. All of the songs were written by Raven in collaboration with numerous artists including Nikki Sixx, Scott Stevens and Freddy Herrera, Keith Nelson and Xavier Muriel (Buckcherry), and Raine Maida. The EP was made available for downloading from iTunes while the hard copy was exclusively released in the US. In Raven's own words, the tracks on the EP are fun rock songs that are meant for jumping around to.
"End Of Me" is a pop rock song written by Marion Raven, Max Martin and Rami for Raven's internationally released album Here I Am (2005). It was released as the album's lead single in Southeast Asia in 2005 and was very successful in the region, reaching the top ten in many countries that include Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand and Singapore.
"Break You" is a pop rock song recorded by Marion Raven and written and produced by Max Martin and Lukasz Gottwald, a.k.a. "Dr. Luke", for Raven's international debut studio album Here I Am (2005). The track was released as the lead single in Japan and Norway and was the second single from the album that was released in Southeast Asia in 2005. The single was highly successful and was well received by critics. The single was released after Raven left Atlantic Records, due to "artistic differences" and joined Eleven Seven Music.
"Everything You Do" is a single by Norwegian pop duo M2M, composed of singers Marion Raven and Marit Larsen. It was the third and final single from their debut album Shades of Purple. It peaked at No. 21 on the Billboard Hot Dance Singles Sales.
"Mirror Mirror" is a song recorded by Norwegian pop duo M2M, composed of singers Marion Raven and Marit Larsen. It was the second single from their debut album, Shades of Purple. The song reached No. 13 in Canada, No. 30 in Australia, and No. 62 on the US Billboard Hot 100. It was certified gold in the US, selling over 600,000 units.
Victoria Louise Lott, known professionally as Pixie Lott, is an English singer, songwriter, actress, and former ballet dancer. Her debut album, Turn It Up, released in September 2009, reached number six on the UK Albums Chart and sold over 1.5 million copies. It also spawned six consecutive top twenty singles on the UK Singles Chart, including two number-one singles, "Mama Do " and "Boys and Girls".
Hver gang vi møtes is a Norwegian reality television show broadcast on the Norwegian TV 2 television station in 2012. It is structured in similar format to the Swedish series Så mycket bättre that had been launched in 2010.
Songs from a Blackbird is the second studio album by Norwegian singer-songwriter Marion Raven, first released in Norway on April 5, 2013. This album marks her first release in six years since 2007's Set Me Free and her first studio album in eight years composed entirely of brand new songs since 2005's Here I Am. Songs from a Blackbird also showcased Marion's musical transition from her past hard rock style into a softer folk-rock music.
Simone Eriksrud is a Norwegian musician, singer and composer from Volda, and a member of D'Sound. She was earlier in her career known as Simone Larsen or just with the mononym Simone.
"Everything" is a single by Norwegian pop duo M2M, composed of singers Marion Raven and Marit Larsen. It was the first single from the duo's second album, The Big Room. The single was released worldwide between October 2001 and March 2002. It was well received critically, and reached No. 6 in Norway in addition to being a minor hit in Australia, Italy and New Zealand. A music video directed by Chris Applebaum was released for the single. M2M performed the song on the 100th episode of Dawson's Creek and live at the 2002 Spellemannprisen awards. The song earned M2M a nomination for "Best International Artist" at the 2001 Mnet Asian Music Awards.