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Legendary band Roxette chat to Heart 90s' Kevin Hughes about their iconic song 'It Must Have Been Love', paying tribute to Marie, and their upcoming UK tour.
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0:00
Marie is not here with us anymore and you know I've been struggling with the idea for many years
0:04
what to do with Roxette and in the end of the day you know I just felt like it's such a sad
0:11
thing not to be able to perform all these songs that I wrote. This is Kevin, it's Hot 90's Breakfast
0:18
We have music royalty on this show today. We have one of the finest pop bands of the last 40 years
0:24
and they're back in the UK in London on December the 1st playing Wembley Arena
0:29
Lena and Per Gessl from Rockset on the show today. Good morning, guys
0:34
Good morning. Good morning. How are you both? It's wonderful to have you on the show. We're doing great
0:39
We're sitting in Stockholm and it's a sunny day and we're very happy. Per, there is something in the water in Sweden
0:45
because you create the greatest pop music of all time. What's going on in Sweden? What's the truth
0:50
Oh, I wish I knew. I wish I knew. So now it's been, since we started out in Roxette in the 80s
0:56
you know, it's been an explosion of music coming out of Sweden for sure
1:00
The very big news is that you are coming to the UK. So it's Wembley Arena
1:04
It's London on December the 1st. Lena, how excited are you about doing this show
1:08
Oh, actually, just a little bit nervous coming to London. My God
1:13
But at the same time, I'm really looking forward to it. It's going to be so much fun
1:19
It's always exciting to play London, you know, and play in England. And we've been doing it so many times and we have lots of fans in the UK
1:25
So it's just going to be sensational. You've had so many incredible reviews that I've been reading
1:30
Lein Ampère, for this tour this year. I know you've been to Australia and other parts of Europe
1:35
and you have been busy this year. What's the experience been like for you both
1:40
getting back out there on stage and doing these songs? To do this tour, to begin with, it was pretty complicated
1:47
Marie is not here with us anymore. And, you know, I've been struggling with the idea for many years what to do with Roxette
1:53
And in the end of the day, you know, I just felt like it's such a sad thing not to be able to perform all these songs that I wrote, you know, over the last three decades or so
2:06
And I was really lucky. You know, I did an album in Swedish in 2024 with lots of duets on it
2:11
And one of the duet partners that I had was Lena Lena Philipson here and when I worked with her in the studio I just felt like hey she got the capacity to be able to sing all these you know
2:24
Queen of Rain and Listen to Your Heart and Love, all those songs. So I just asked Lena, how about going on tour with me
2:33
and, you know, cherish the Roxette legacy for a couple of years
2:38
And Lena, what was your initial response? How did you react to that
2:43
Well, my first response was actually that it's a special situation because people really don't want to see me out there on stage
2:51
They want to see Marie, but sadly enough, she's not here anymore. So I understood the situation, but it was impossible to say no
3:01
At the same time, it was totally impossible to say no. I really felt flattered that you asked me about this
3:07
And it's been a joy to work together with Per and to sing all these amazing songs
3:14
So, no, once I said yes, I started to focus just on the job and the songs and everything I needed to prepare
3:24
So that's it. Yeah, we met in the mid-80s. I wrote the lyrics to Lena's first hit song in 1986
3:32
Amazing. Yeah. But we never really socialized that much. No. We know each other, of course
3:37
I mean, it's a small country, you know, but I, you know, I've always been a fan of Lena's
3:42
She's a wonderful performer and a great singer. It's just that that particular day in the studio when I really was like three inches away from her vocal abilities
3:55
I realized that this is what's going to work. Because look, Marie could sing these songs
4:00
Marie had such a unique and wonderful vocal. So, Pei, you must have been aware of thinking, I have to find the right person to deliver that vocal
4:07
Not to be a Marie soundalite, but to honor the legacy and to honor your incredible craft, your music
4:13
Exactly. And, you know, that's exactly what Lena is doing. Lena has got a very strong personality and a very sort of personal style when she sings
4:21
But at the same time, you know, she pays a lot of respect to the songs, to the melodies
4:26
So it becomes it like a win thing you know She doesn try to imitate Marie at all It just No not imitate and I didn want to change anything either I really wanted to stay close to the original recordings to just honor the songs and the fans and everything about and around Roxette
4:47
So, yeah. I think that's also why the reception has been so amazing everywhere
4:52
that when people go to the shows and they hear Lena perform these songs
4:58
they can't really believe that it works that well, you know. I'm getting emotional hearing this
5:04
I want to play a song called Joyride, which we love playing. There's always a great reaction when we play it
5:09
Pair, what memories do you have of this song? My wife, she left me a note on the piano and it said
5:16
in Swedish, which translates, hello, you fool, I love you. And I thought that was
5:22
such a beautiful thing of her to say. So I wrote a song
5:28
based on that line. And actually, when I was done with it
5:33
it went very fast. It took like an hour, one and a half hour maybe. I took a break
5:37
and then in the afternoon I wrote Spending My Time. Such a... As you do on the same day, Per
5:44
Listen, I want to play Listen to Your Heart right now. Per, still fond memories for you, composing this one, releasing this one
5:51
A huge hit around the world. Yes. The lyrics actually came, a friend of mine went through a divorce
5:57
and we were sat up all night and he poured out his emotions over me
6:03
and I wrote this lyric in the morning. And in the evening, what happened
6:08
Did you write another song? No. Come on. Per, you were having a lazy day that day
6:15
Yeah, it was a Tuesday. There is obviously the moment in the show when fans can't wait to hear you both perform a song called It Must Have Been Love
6:23
I mean, it's going to sound incredible. The Pretty Woman connection is well documented
6:28
But do the majority of people realise that, Amarayan saying, it's originally a Christmas song
6:34
It is, yes. It was written in 1987. A record label in Germany couldn't get the first Roxette album on the radio in Germany
6:45
so they asked me to write a Christmas song Maybe it would be easier to get on the radio for the Christmas season So I wrote It Must Have Been Love Christmas for the Brokenhearted in brackets And we delivered it to EMI Germany and they hated it
7:01
They didn't release it. So we released it in Sweden. It became a big Christmas song for us in 1987 in Sweden
7:08
Wow. Really? Yeah. I missed that too. Yeah, it was a gold record, a number one record here
7:14
Get Lena a copy. We need this. Yeah, we'll do. And then, of course, Roxette had an international breakthrough a year afterwards with the Look and the Look Sharp album
7:24
And then a year late after that, you know, over a lunch in Los Angeles, EMI in the States told us that they had the rights to a new movie with Richard Gere and a newcomer called Julia Roberts
7:39
And they wanted us to be part of it. And I said, we don't have any time to write any new songs
7:44
But I have this Christmas song, you know. And I can replace Christmas
7:50
The Christmas references make them into winter instead. Christmas Day became Winter's Day and stuff like that
7:56
It's genius. It works. And the rest, as they say, is pop history
8:01
Yeah. So, you know, and we just did a new intro and had it remixed in Los Angeles by this guy
8:11
Umberto Gattaca, who worked with Michael Jackson, and he was, you know, a wonderful guy
8:16
eventually, you know, it was a low budget movie, which turned out to be a blockbuster
8:22
So we were really proud to be part of it, of course. Did you think the movie was going to be a massive hit
8:27
Marie and I got invited to see the movie in Burbank outside Los Angeles
8:33
And we didn't like it. Really? You know, we're from Sweden. We're used to Ingmar Bergman stuff
8:40
Yeah, yeah. Come on. You know, but then I saw it again and I loved it
8:44
That's such a great story. what an iconic moment for movies and music
8:48
and Lena singing the song what's it like singing this wonderful ballad on stage now
8:52
I actually dedicate that song to Marie on stage so it's kind of special
8:57
I can't wait to see you in London both I can't wait to see the show thank you thank you so much both
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