Singer Marie Fredriksson Dead at 61

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.” Her partner in Roxette, Per Gessle, expressed his love for Fredriksson and her family, and said: “Things will never be the same.”

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ABC News

Iconic singer Marie Fredriksson had passed away at the age of 61. Fredriksson was one of the most popular songs from the 80s and 90s pop and even had several hits in the past few years. She was suffering from a prolonged illness and succumbed to the same recently.

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.” Her partner in Roxette, Per Gessle, expressed his love for Fredriksson and her family, and said: “Things will never be the same.”

According to The Guardian, the pair, who first met in the late 1970s, formed in 1986 on the suggestion of a Swedish record executive. Fredriksson had had a moderate solo career, while Gessle had found success with his band Gyllene Tider, who had broken up after renaming themselves Roxette.

Roxette had a hiatus while Fredriksson was treated for and recovered from her brain tumor, but reformed in 2009 after she went to see Gessle perform a solo show in Holland, and made an impromptu guest appearance. “She had no self-confidence, and said she couldn’t sing anymore,” Gessle told the Guardian in 2012. “But she staggered up on stage anyway – and the audience just died… people were crying to the left and right. Afterward, she was like a changed person and two weeks later she called me asking if I’d want to write another Roxette album.” They ended up releasing three more, with their final album, Good Karma, released in June 2016.

In a statement, Gessle paid further tribute to Fredriksson following her death: “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 colors.” 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.

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