Roxette singer Marie Fredriksson dies, aged 61 | Hacker News Reader

Roxette singer Marie Fredriksson dies, aged 61

bbc.com

121 pointsTomte18 comments

About 15 years ago I traveled to Sweden for work. I booked my hotel in a real hurry, not really paying much attention to what or where it was. I arrived jet lagged and feeling like crap, but was pleasantly surprised that this was a beach resort! I went to the basement bar to grab a beer and try to adjust my internal clock. When I got to the basement, it was a virtual shrine to Roxette. I later discovered that the hotel was owned by Per Gessle - the Hotel Tylosands. I highly recommend it if you find yourself in Halmstad, Sweden.

I recognized the hotel about halfway through your story. But then again I live and work in Halmstad. Nice coincidence!

I was at the last tour they did together. And I was shocked.

Marie sang beautifully, but two Roadies had to steady her coming onto the stage, she sat on a barstool for the whole show, never leaving it, the Roadies took her backstage, and then the same for encores.

That was when I decided this would be my last Roxette show. I'd rather have my memories than see Marie this agonized.

Thankfully they cancelled the already-announced extension of the tour and Per has been doing solo shows since.

Rest in peace! Your music—including your solo albums—means a lot to me.

There is a great story about how Roxette struggled before achieving international success. They made several attempts in the U.S. and in Japan. They even released Listen to your heart in Germany. But no one wanted to hear their songs outside of Sweden.

One day an American exchange student from Minneapolis moves back from Sweden and drops off his favorite Roxette album at the local radio station. The manager promises to play it but weeks go by and nothing happens.

The student goes back to the radio station to collect his record and the manager feels bad because he promised to play it. So he pops it into the record player. The Look receives great feedback from listeners who call in asking about the song. The manager makes a few copies on tape and distributes them to his colleagues in Miami and New York.

The record company finally realizes it has a hit on its' hands and officially releases the song in panic. Shortly afterwards it sits on the number 1 position of the Billboard Top 100.

Some time later Roxette is asked to make a song for low budget movie called Pretty Woman but they are absolutely swamped with work. They respond that they can't fit it into their schedule but offer the movie company a song that flopped in Germany - Listen to your heart.

> Pretty Woman

Not "Listen To Your Heart", but "It Must Have Been Love", which had been released as "Christmas for the Broken-Hearted", but since the film doesn't play around Christmas, they had to rename it.

The lyrics stayed the same except for "and it's a hard Christmas day" --> "and it's a hard winter's day"; for some reason the winter here didn't matter.

> Some time later Roxette is asked to make a song for low budget movie called Pretty Woman but they are absolutely swamped with work. They respond that they can't fit it into their schedule but offer the movie company a song that flopped in Germany - Listen to your heart.

Maybe you mistake 'Listen to your heart' for 'It must have been love'?

RIP Marie. Roxette holds a special place in my heart. Theirs was the first cassette I bought as a kid, back in ’91, having saved all my pocket monies for months. I listened to ‘Joyride’ so many times that summer that I wore out the tape. As I listen to the album right now, I feel this void this day.

Same. "Crash Boom Bang" was the first CD I ever bought, also saving up them monies for some time. It was a few years later though, probably '94-ish.

RIP to this wonderful artist. Roxette was a huge part of my teens and her singing will always be special to me.

I had a flashback of myself, in my early teens, programming in AMOS on a Commodore Amiga 500, while listening to their 1991 album "Joyride".

Weird. When I listen to songs I first heard 20 years back I take myself that far back. I have a song that takes me back to me, mother and late father in a foreign trip. I don't play it often since each listen brings the safe memory into harsh consciousness and dilutes it.

"Look Sharp" was the first CD I ever bought. Their music has such a positive feel to it. RIP.

I really like Roxette when I was a kid. Their songs are very melodic tone and very easy to understand for ESL. I bet that people have heard of June Afternoon, Spending My Time, Vulnerable, Listen to Your Heart, Fading Like a Flower ...

Miss you and RIP Marie!

Great shame. Roxette weren't very trendy when I was at school, but time has proven that their music has lasting power.

One of my favourite bands. :(

Getting old sometimes sucks. Hope you keep singing wherever you are.

Sometimes it doesn't. Way too much death around me in the last couple of months.

RIP Marie. Her voice was beautiful and had a unique signature to it. They still are one of my favorite bands. Many of their songs had so much emotion poured into it (happy, sad, depressed, excited, in love). The songs were so original and unique. As a band, Per and Marie were a perfect mix. It's sad to see her passing.

My favorite Roxette story is that they were known as Roxette every where in the world, except Japan. They were known as Rockers there. (This apparently being due to the name Roxette being close or similar pronunciation to the Japanese word for Diarrhea :)

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