Roxette Singer, Marie Fredriksson has died at the age of 61, as her family in Sweden announced on Monday 9th December 2019. She died after battling with cancer for 17-years.
The late Marie Fredriksson was one of the most recognisable voices in the 1980s and 90s pop as a solo artist and also as a member of Roxette.
Her family said in a statement to Expressen, a newspaper in her native Sweden: “It is with great sadness that we have to announce that one of our biggest and most beloved artists is gone.”
Marie Fredriksson had a successful career with Per Gessle turning out tunes after tunes. The duo’s breakout single was “The Look,” reaching number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1989.
Another single, “It Must Have Been Love,” became a smash hit after featuring in the soundtrack of the 1990 romantic comedy “Pretty Woman,” starring Richard Gere and Julia Roberts.
They also toured extensively, with Fredriksson gaining recognition as a talented live performer.
In September 2002, Marie Fredriksson had a seizure in her bathroom and suffered a cracked skull. A subsequent MRI scan revealed she had a brain tumour, and she was given a 25% chance of survival. She survived but had health problems as a result of radiation therapy. She was able to perform until 2016, when she announced her retirement due to the effects of her illness, according to BBC.
The report also added that her partner in Roxette, Per Gessle, expressed his love for Fredriksson and her family, and said: “Things will never be the same” he said.
“Time goes by so fast. It feels like just recently when Marie and I were sitting in my little apartment in Halmstad sharing dreams. And what a fantastic dream we got to share! Thank you, Marie, thank you for everything. You were a truly unique musician, a singer on a level we will hardly ever experience again. You painted my black and white songs with the most beautiful colours,” he said.
Fredriksson is survived by her husband, music producer Mikael Bolyos, who she married in 1994, and their two children: Josefin Bolyos, 26, and Oscar Bolyos, 23.