Marie Fredriksson: 71 facts about the singer of Roxette!

Marie Fredriksson was a singer who became famous because she was the lead singer of the Roxette band.

Marie Fredriksson was a famous singer who left an important mark in the global music industry. Let’s find out more about her life!

1. Her full name was Gun-Marie Fredriksson, but she was famous as Marie Fredriksson.
2. She was Swedish.
3. She was born on the 30th of May 1958.
4. She was born in a small Swedish town named Össjö.
5. Her father was a postman and her mother a factory worker.
6. She was the youngest child among the five children of the family.
7. She lost her oldest sister when she was really young, due to a car accident.
8. She learned how to sing at a young age, while her parents were at work.
9. She was a Swedish pop singer and songwriter.
10. Except of singing, she was playing the piano and she could paint.
11. She was influenced by the music of The Beatles, Joni Mitchell, Jimi Hendrix, and Deep Purple.
12. She graduated from music school in 1977.
13. Before she starts working in the music industry she was a bit involved in theatre by playing music.
14. She became famous through her participation in the duo band named Roxette.
15. But she was a pretty successful artist before her global recognition through Roxette.
16. Before forming Roxette she was a member of a punk group.
17. The band’s name was Strul.
18. Strul created its own music festival in 1979.
19. Following Strul’s dissolution, she created the next project which didn’t last for along time- MaMas Barn.
20. Then she started releasing solo work.
21. Her first solo album was Het vind and it was released in 1984.
22. Roxette consisted of Marie Fredriksson and Per Gessle.
23. They were globally recognized in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
24. One of their most famous songs was the song “Listen to your Heart”.
25. Their international breakthrough came with the song Look!, which was ranked into the Billboard Hot 100.
26. Roxette didn’t have a contract in the U.S.A. so it came as a shock to them.
27. In 1990 Touchstone Pictures approached Gessle to compose a song for the upcoming film Pretty Woman.
28. He did not have time to compose a new song because of Roxette’s recent international tour.
29. A new edit of their 1987 single “It Must Have Been Love” was created, and featured prominently in the movie.
30. It became their 3rd hit in the Billboard Hot 100.
31. In general, they had 6 top 2 hits on the Billboard Hot 100.
32. These are the following songs: “The Look”, “Listen to Your Heart”, “Dangerous”, “It Must Have Been Love”, “Joyride” and “Fading Like a Flower (Every Time You Leave)”.
33. After recording the 4th album for Roxette named Tourism, Marie started working solo again.
34. Her solo career was inactive while she was having the big international recognition with Roxette.
35. She has also collaborated multiple times with her husband, Mikael Bolyos.
36. Their first collaboration was in November 1994.
37. Her fifth solo album was recorded by Marie and her husband in their home studio.
38. Its name was Swedish and it was named I en tid som vår,
39. Fredriksson and Gessle collaborated on a new Roxette album throughout 1997 and 1998.
40. Album’s name was Have a Nice Day and it was released in February 1999.
41. In 2001, Roxette released their seventh album, Room Service.
42. After that Roxette was disbanded.
43. In 2002 she collapsed in the bathroom and was transferred in the hospital.
44. She was diagnosed with a brain tumor.
45. Following the diagnosis, she had surgery to remove the tumor.
46. After that, she had chemotherapy and radiation treatment.
47. In January 2003, King of Sweden Carl Gustaf XVI awarded Roxette the ‘Royal Medal with Blue Ribbon’ award.
48. It was the first ceremony the singer attended after the surgery.
49. The tumor left her blind on one eye.
50. She also had hearing and mobility issues.
51. This is why she couldn’t write or read.
52. In 2004 after her treatment came back on track with a new album.
53. The album was named The change and it ended as the 18th best selling album in the country.
54. This period of her life was when she started drawing and painting again, despite the problems she had after the tumor treatment.
55. She had drawn the cover of her own album The change.
56. She also held an art exhibition.
57. In May 2009, she joined Gessle on-stage at the Melkweg in Amsterdam to perform acoustic renditions of several Roxette songs.
58. Roxette had a small reunion at the Wedding of Victoria, Crown Princess of Sweden, and Daniel Westling at Stockholm Palace on the 18th of June in 2010.
59. After that, they had a 7 date European tour during the same summer.
60. In 2011 they had their 8th studio album named Charm school.
61. In March 2012 they released another album as well named Travelling.
62. In June 2016 Roxette also released their 10th album named Good Karma.
63. Her husband is a keyboardist.
64. They met during a tour in December 1991.
65. They got married in a private ceremony in May 1994.
66. They only invited close family members to their wedding.
67. Gessle was not invited.
68. She had 2 children.
69. Marie Fredriksson died on the 9th of December in 2019.
70. She was 61 years old.
71. The cause of death was a brain tumor.