Genre: 90s artists

Jenny Berggren, lead singer of the internationally renowned Swedish pop group Ace of Base and now solo artist, looked into the face of success rather suddenly at the age of 19.

The group’s first two released songs ‘All That She Wants’ and ‘Wheel of Fortune’ coupled in the number one and number two spots on the Danish charts before a single publicity photo had ever been snapped of Ace of Base.

The band’s album The Sign skyrocketed to the top of worldwide music charts in the early nineties, selling over 21 million copies and making it the all-time most selling debut album ever—a title unsurpassed to this day. The album’s success even raked in more revenue for Sweden that year than the country’s signature auto company, Volvo.

“Meeting the top of the world in music is very challenging in a good way,” Jenny says.

The group, originally comprising of siblings Jenny, Linn, and Jonas Berggren and later their friend Ulf Ekberg, started their music from the basement of the Berggrens’ house in their hometown of Gothenburg, Sweden.

The shock of Ace of Base’s success was one that delighted their listeners worldwide, but also one that caught the young Swedes off guard. The rise to fame was swift and especially had an impact on Jenny. In April 1994, she was awakened in her parents’ home with a knife held to her throat by an intruder that wanted to meet the rest of the band.

The event was enough to stop Jenny and her family still that night, and yet there was no pause button for the sensation that Ace of Base had become.

Only one month after the attack, Jenny and her fellow band members hit number one on the Billboard charts both with their single, ‘The Sign,’ and with their album of the same title. The prestigious chart positions held for six consecutive weeks.

The band continued making music, and Jenny found a strength within her Christian faith to press forward. She wrote a song about the attack on the group’s following album, The Bridge, which was released a mere 18 months after the intruder woke Jenny in her parents’ home that fateful night.

Jenny and her fellow band members gave hundreds of performances through their concerts and promotions from 1992-2009, their largest audience being 55,000 in Tel Aviv.

Overall, Ace of Base released four albums plus a greatest hits record in less than a decade. Jenny, along with her fellow band members, stand out as four of very few Swedish artists to have earned two American Music Awards and two Billboard Awards. Ace of Base sold more than 30 million copies with their four totaled albums.

It was because of their record-breaking debut success that Jenny and her fellow band members have become a well-known musical icon of the nineties, though their albums went on into the early 2000s.

After the promotion of their last album, Da Capo, in 2002, they finally took a well-deserved break. During this period, Jenny married long-time boyfriend and classical pianist Jakob PetrÉn in 2004 and they had their first child in 2005.
A few months after Jenny’s son was born, she, Jonas and Ulf performed Ace of Base classics in the notable European summer concert series, Night of the Proms, in Antwerp, Belgium.

The following year, Jenny was invited to perform in a concert series with the Original ABBA Orchestra, performing many of the ABBA classics heard in Mamma Mia! the movie and Broadway play. (Ace of Base had frequently been compared to ABBA due to the fact that Jenny, brunette, and Linn, blond, served as co-lead singers alongside two male musicians.) The concerts took place only months after Jenny and Jakob’s second child, a daughter, was born.

Jenny’s performances of the ABBA songs ‘Fernando,’ ‘Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!,’ ‘Money, Money, Money,’ ‘I’m a Marionette,’ ‘Voulez Vous’ and ‘Summer Night City’ at this concert series turned many heads, as the ABBA classics showed off Jenny’s wide vocal range far more than most Ace of Base songs had to that point.

In Summer 2009, Jenny, Jonas and Ulf—again as a trio—held their Ace of Base Redefined world tour.

Now, Jenny has produced her first solo album entitled My Story, sidekicked by her autobiography, To Win the World. The book title is based off of the Bible verse Mathew 16:26, “What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world yet forfeits his soul?” Jenny says both the book and the album depict her life experience as an international pop artist and how through her faith, she survived the trials that come along with stardom.

“Music is my first language, and it is in the music my friends in my fan base can recognize me,” Jenny says. “I want to reveal my story in both music and in words. I can’t think of a better way of doing it than using both ways, but in my own fashion. Here I am.”

Most of you who like Italo-Dance for sure know his name. Ice MC‘s real name is Ian Campbell. Originally from Nottingham in the East Midlands of England where he was born on the 22nd March 1965, Ian grew up in the area of Nottingham called Hyson Green (sounds like Ice n’ Green). His parents had moved there from Jamaica in the 1950’s along with a large number of their country men.

They lived together and strived to keep their identity and maintain their cultural traditions. They continued to speak their own dialect “Jamaican Patua” which is not easy for other English people to understand although 30 years of Reggae Music has helped them. No better dialect for Raps and Rhymes just like the ones that he wrote for hits including Easy, It”s a Rainy Day,, Think About The Way, Take Away The Colour. Unfortunately he was never credited for these lyrics.

At school his intials IC soon got him the nickname Ice. After leaving school he hung around Nottingham for a couple of years until in 1983 he joined a group of breakdancers and started touring Europe with them. One such tour landed him up in Florence and he decided to check it out. He”s still checking. For a while he worked teaching breakdance then started doing a bit of DJing. In his spare time he was soon rapping and improvising in local bars and clubs. He also made two promo records one for a Club in Rimini and one for a label in Florence. In 1989 he met Robyx (Roberto Zanetti) the writer, producer and singer for now classic Italo-Disco group Savage. Exactly in 1989 he released his first hit Easy. This first single, was an immediate success and went Top 5 throughout Europe, no. 3 in Germany and also was very big in South America. The LP Cinema followed shortly afterwards and was also a big success. The artist has toured throughout Europe including Russia and even Siberia, South America , and North Africa. Then came My World and then Ice ‘n’ Green which was his biggest selling CD with three big hits. His image was of “clean, next door guy”. Not anymore. When he released his mega hits like Take Away The Colour (1993), Think About The Way, It’s A Rainy Day (both 1994), he got that Bob Marley Jamaican look that he keeps also today. Also in his songs produced from 1989 to 1995 main female vocal was done by Alexia. Songs from that time are very rhythmic and typical Hi-Energy records with Reggae influence.

In 1995 Ice MC was in dispute with his Manager, Label, Producer, Agent, Publisher and Co- author. That’s not as bad as it sounds as they were all one and the same, Roberto Zanetti. Ice first got himself a new Management and then a new Label (Polydor Germany). The dispute has still not been settled and Ice MC is sueing Zanetti for his songs and a couple billion Lire which might not sound a lot. After long period of silence, in 1996 he released his single called Give Me The Light, that become an immediate hit in the Euro-dancefloor in the summer 1996. This song was a join production of Ice MC and Mega-Dance German group Masterboy. In August of 1996 Ice MC released his newest album called Dreadatour with new songs written actually by several different writers. This new album has been given different reviews, from raving to mediocre or even bad. In this album Ice MC presents his new image, lyrics has a political content and in many of the songs Ice MC expresses his feelings. You will find there many hot, dancable tracks. You will also for the first time can hear the new female vocalist Valentina Ducros (born, 06,19, 1974). She is an Italian girl originally from Rome. Valentina has a fiery temperament and quite strong and nice voice.

Ice MC is very dynamic when he performs. Rapping, Hip-hopping, Raggamuffining and Jamaican Rhythms that all well describes Ice MC.

The Hermes House Band is one of a kind. In the last few years, they have been among Holland’s best selling international music groups with their catchy remake of Gloria Gaynor’s I Will Survive. To this day, more than 1.2 million copies were sold world-wide and that number is still growing each day.

Should there be a single secret to the success, it’s called Fun, for that’s what the Hermes House Band is all about. They don’t just perform, they create a party on stage, such that it is contagious to the audience. It’s the same atmosphere they put into their recordings, which is why so many people like to listen and dance to them on different occasions. History In 1984, a bunch of students, who sought some diversion from their daily routines, picked up their instruments and founded the Hermes House Band. They named the band after their
fraternities home “Hermes” in Rotterdam. Before long, the band incorporated a full horn section and played the various stages in Holland. After having some initial commercial success with their CD “Hallo Rotterdam” which listed songs in the Dutch language, they had their big brake with “I Will Survive”. January 1995 it reached #1 and platinum in the Dutch charts and became one of the biggest selling records of the year. By that time the catchy “LaLaLa” sing-a-long tune was heard all over the country in the stands at soccer games and other big sporting venues. That same period the song entered the top 10 in Belgium. In the autumn of 1997, “I Will Survive” was released in France, quickly becoming well known as the anthem for French Top Division Rugby team “Le club Stade Français”. It was an instant hit at sporting events and reached the #3 position in the French charts, selling over 400,000 copies! In Belgium the song re-entered the charts, this time reaching #3 and gold.

During the summer of 1998, the French soccer audience cheered their home team all the way to World Cup glory chanting LaLaLa, causing a second wind in France all the way back to number 3 in the charts. Another 500,000 copies were sold! In the summer of 1999 I Will Survive climbed to the #17 position in Germany and has had great success in Mexico. Meanwhile the follow up single Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You was released in Germany followed by Back To Brasil and in May 2001 Country Roads which reached #2 in the charts in Germany.

The story continues. Country Roads is now spread throughout Europe. Releases in Ireland, UK , Denmark and Holland with enormous success!! Last but not least the Hermes House Band released a new album (The Album). All previous hit singles are included as well as some brand new party tracks!! The fun is just about to begin…