Roxette

Formed in Halmstad, Sweden, Roxette brought together singer‑guitarist Per Gessle, from the band Gyllene Tider, and singer Marie Fredriksson, already active as a solo artist. The duo initially made its mark in Sweden with the album Pearls of Passion in 1986, before reaching an international audience with Look Sharp! in 1988, driven by a melodic pop‑rock sound combining direct choruses, bright guitars and accessible keyboards. Joyride (1991) confirmed Roxette’s presence on European and North American stages, featuring a repertoire where uptempo tracks such as “The Look” and “Joyride” sit alongside pop‑rock and soft‑rock ballads like “Listen to Your Heart” and “It Must Have Been Love.” Across the albums Tourism (1992), Crash! Boom! Bang! (1994), Have a Nice Day (1999) and Room Service (2001), Roxette steered its songwriting toward more electronic textures while remaining centered on Marie Fredriksson’s vocal melody and Per Gessle’s compositions. After a pause due to the singer’s health problems, the group resumed touring in the early 2010s and released Charm School (2011), Travelling (2012) and Good Karma (2016), extending the duo’s pop‑rock aesthetic until the end of its live activity.