Roxette were a Swedish pop rock duo, consisting of Marie Fredriksson 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, which was released in 1991, became just 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 pop singer, songwriter and musician. He is best known as the former male half of the Swedish pop rock duo Roxette, whom he formed with Marie Fredriksson in 1986. 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 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).
Pearls of Passion is the debut studio album by Swedish pop duo Roxette, originally released on cassette and vinyl on 31 October 1986 in Scandinavia and Canada. The album was remastered and released on CD on 31 October 1997, with several previously unreleased bonus tracks. It was remastered and re-released again in 2009.
Joyride is the third studio album by Swedish pop duo Roxette, released on 28 March 1991 by EMI as the follow-up to their international breakthrough Look Sharp! (1988), as well as the non-album single "It Must Have Been Love", from the soundtrack to Pretty Woman (1990). The album was recorded over an 11-month period in Sweden. The duo experienced considerable pressure from their record label to deliver a successful follow-up album, and resisted pressure to relocate to Los Angeles and work with experienced American producers.
Tourism: Songs from Studios, Stages, Hotelrooms & Other Strange Places is the fourth studio album by Swedish pop duo Roxette, released on 28 August 1992 by EMI. Despite often being mistaken for a live album, the record was described by Roxette in its liner notes as a "tour album": the band recorded the majority of its material in numerous recording studios in-between live dates of their worldwide "Join the Joyride! Tour". The album contains three live concert recordings, while another track was recorded live in an empty nightclub in São Paulo. A further two tracks were recorded in Buenos Aires' Alvear Palace Hotel.
"It Must Have Been Love" is a song written by Per Gessle and performed by the Swedish pop duo Roxette. The power ballad became the duo's third number one hit in the United States, and is one of their best selling releases, being certified gold or platinum in a number of countries.
"Joyride" is a song by the Swedish pop duo Roxette. Written by Per Gessle, it was released as the lead single from their third studio album, Joyride (1991), the follow-up to the duo's highly successful second studio album, Look Sharp! (1988). It became one of Roxette's biggest hits, and was one of the most successful singles of 1991, topping multiple record charts across Europe, as well as in Australia, Canada, and the United States.
"Listen to Your Heart" is a song by Swedish pop music duo Roxette, which was originally released in Sweden in September 1988 as the second single from the duo's second studio album, Look Sharp! (1988). It was written by Per Gessle with former Gyllene Tider guitarist Mats "M.P." Persson. The song went on to become one of the most successful singles of 1989, reaching number one in both the United States and Canada around November 1989. The track was the first song to reach number one in the US without a commercially-released 7" single.
"Fading Like a Flower " is a song by Swedish pop duo Roxette from their third studio album Joyride (1991). Written by Per Gessle and produced by Clarence Öfwerman, the song was released as the second single from Joyride on 17 April 1991, by EMI. It became the duo's fifth consecutive top-ten hit in the United States, peaking at position number two on the Billboard Hot 100. The song was also a top-ten hit in over thirteen countries.
Den ständiga resan is the fourth studio album by Swedish singer-songwriter Marie Fredriksson, released on 9 October 1992 by EMI Sweden. Predominantly composed during Roxette's "Join the Joyride! Tour", the album contains some of Fredriksson's darkest lyrical content.
"Spending My Time" is a song by Swedish duo Roxette, released as the fourth single from their third studio album, Joyride (1991). It was written by Per Gessle and Mats Persson, and produced by Clarence Öfwerman. The single attained moderate success, reaching the top ten in Germany and Italy, and the top twenty in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Finland, Sweden and Switzerland, while peaking at number twenty-two on the UK Singles Chart and thirty-two on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States.
"Church of Your Heart" is the fifth and final single taken from Swedish pop duo Roxette's third studio album, Joyride (1991). Written by Per Gessle, the song was a hit in Canada, where it peaked at number 11. "I Call Your Name" – originally released as a single from their 1986 debut album Pearls of Passion – appeared as the b-side. On UK editions of the single, the song was backed by an exclusive megamix. This consisted of a medley of "It Must Have Been Love", "Listen to Your Heart", "The Look", "Joyride" and "Fading Like a Flower ".
"One Wish" is a song by Swedish pop music duo Roxette, released on 9 October 2006 as the lead single from the duo's fourth greatest hits compilation album, A Collection of Roxette Hits: Their 20 Greatest Songs! It was recorded in June 2006, and was one of the first songs recorded by the duo since vocalist Marie Fredriksson's brain tumour diagnosis in 2002. Longtime collaborator Jonas Åkerlund directed the song's music video. The single performed well in several territories, particularly in Scandinavia. It ended 2006 as one of the twenty best-selling singles in Sweden.
The Roxbox is a boxed set compilation by Swedish pop duo Roxette, released on 18 October 2006 by Roxette Recordings and Capitol. It is an expanded companion piece to the single-disc greatest hits album A Collection of Roxette Hits: Their 20 Greatest Songs!, which was also released on the same date. The box set consists of four CDs containing singles, album tracks, non-album singles and B-sides, as well as previously unreleased outtakes, alternate versions and demos. It also includes two DVDs: the first is of their previously unreleased 9 January 1993 performance at the Cirkus arena in Stockholm for MTV Unplugged; the second contains every music video ever recorded by the duo.
"Queen of Rain" is a pop ballad by Swedish duo Roxette. It was released as the second single from their fourth studio album Tourism on 28 October 1992. The song became a top twenty hit in Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain and Sweden, and spent over three months on the German Singles Chart, where it peaked at number nineteen.
"June Afternoon" is a song by Swedish pop music duo Roxette, released in January 1996 as the second single from their 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 1 in Czech Republic and within the top forty in numerous territories including Belgium, Iceland, Poland, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. Its music video was directed by Jonas Åkerlund.
Roxette is the second most commercially successful band from Sweden, after ABBA. They have sold an estimated 60 million records, with over 3.5 million record sales in the United States, achieving platinum for Joyride and Look Sharp! there. They enjoyed worldwide success, from the late 1980s until the mid-1990s, gaining nineteen UK top 40 hits and four US #1 singles with "The Look", "Listen to Your Heart", "It Must Have Been Love", and "Joyride". Two further singles, "Dangerous" and "Fading Like a Flower", hit #2. They also achieved three #1s and seventeen top 10 singles in Sweden.
Live-Ism is the third concert film by Swedish pop music duo Roxette, released on 21 August 1992 on VHS and LaserDisc formats by Picture Music International and EMI. It contains a shortened version of the duo's 13 December 1991 concert in the Sydney Entertainment Centre in Australia during the Join the Joyride! Tour, which saw Roxette performing to over 1.5 million people during the tour's 100 shows. The video also contains behind the scenes footage, as well as the music videos to "Church of Your Heart", "(Do You Get) Excited?", and their then-current single "How Do You Do!".
The "Join the Joyride! World Tour" was the third concert tour by Swedish pop duo Roxette. Their first tour to incorporate dates outside of Scandinavia, it was launched in support of their third studio album, Joyride (1991), and saw the band playing a total of 100 shows throughout Europe, Australia and the Americas. Canadian rock band Glass Tiger supported Roxette on all European dates, while support on the Canadian and US dates was provided by fellow Canadian pop groups World on Edge and West End Girls.
