12.10.19 Hero of the Day: Marie Fredriksson

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 A VERY SPECIAL HERO OF THE DAY!

Name: Marie Fredriksson
Age: was 61
Occupation: singer of Roxette
Last Seen: The Great Beyond
Awarded For: being a huge contributor to our lives

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Another piece of my youth is gone.

We learned today that Marie Fredriksson, the female half of the 1980s and 90s Swedish pop-rock duo Roxette died after battling a brain tumor for 17 years. She was just 61.

Born in a tiny village in Sweden, Össjö, pop. 192, Fredriksson first rose to fame in her native homeland with a punk rock band called Strul before starting a career as a solo artist in the early 80s. She started working with future partner Per Gessel as a backup singer for his band Gyllene Tider before they broke up in 1985. Then, Per and Marie formed Roxette, which was named for a song by the British rock group Dr. Feelgood.

Their first album, 1986's "Pearls of Passion" was a modest success. Their 1988 album "Look Sharp!" did well internationally but wasn't a hit here in the States when it was released. However, a man from Minneapolis, Dean Cushman, a 21-year-old exchange student to Sweden, brought home a copy of the album. He loved it so much that he gave his copy to his local top 40 station, KDWB to play. Soon, requests for the song "The Look" exploded and the station sent copies to their sister stations. Roxette's label, EMI originally had no faith in the band doing well here in America. Only a short time after Cushman slipped KDWB a copy of the album, "The Look" was the number one song in America.

Throughout the late 80s and early 90s, Roxette were on top of the musical world with #1 smashes like "Listen to Your Heart", "It Must Have Been Love" and the Beatles-inspired "Joyride". Other big hits for the duo included "Dressed For Success" and the #2 hits "Fading Like a Flower" and "Dangerous". Per and Marie were the most-successful duo from Sweden, only behind - you guessed it - ABBA, selling over 75 million copies of their albums.

But like ABBA, Roxette's popularity started to falter after many years of success. And oddly enough, the Golden Arches played a role. As a promotion, McDonald's sold a shortened version of their 1994 album "Crash! Boom! Bang!" at their restaurants. It did sell over a million copies and proceeds did support their Ronald McDonald House charity. However, many felt that Roxette became sell-outs for allowing McDonald's to sell the album. As a result, none of the album's singles hit the Billboard Top 40 here in America, though "Sleeping In My Car" was a modest radio hit, peaking at #22.

Roxette continued to record and tour internationally to millions of people, though here in America, they became another "where are they now?" band. Sadly, in 2002, Marie collapsed in her bathroom after jogging with her husband, Micke Bolyos. She had a seizure and while at the hospital, doctors discovered a tumor at the back of her head. It was malignant and was successfully removed. However, she was now partially blind and had mobility issues. She and Per returned to recording and touring, but sadly, the cancer returned. Doctors told her to retire from touring in 2016 due to poor health, which she did.

As somebody who spent his pre-teen years listening to Roxette's hits on the radio, I am very upset about Ms. Fredrikkson's passing. Not only that, she died from the same cancer that took my aunt away from us. Plus, the two were born the same year: 1958.

I hope that Marie's final days on Earth were at peace and filled with love. Not only that, I hope her children gave her the love she needed that my aunt didn't get from her kids while she was on her death bed.

Cancer sucks. Period.

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