To help ring in 2015, The Daily Roxette got together for a bit of fun back in January and published an article full of fictitious Roxette News Headlines that we wanted, as fans, to read in 2015. Here’s a link to the original article featuring the Top 10 Headlines or you can see the list below.

1. “New Roxette album kicks ass” says everyone…
2. Roxette to tour ANOTHER 30 years
3. Live Concert to be Recorded at the Sydney Opera House
4. “Almost Unreal” performed Live in 2015! 
5. Super Combo! Jonas and Chris on stage!
6. Old Concerts from 1987-2001 released on Blu-Ray/DVD
7. Leaked 2015 Set List! 
8. Marie Releases Auto-Biography
9. Wet Your Whistle with “Joyride” again!
10. Gag about the Travelling cover

This was always intended as a bit of light-hearted reading as we tried to get in touch with our inner Nostradamus… or should we say, “Rox-stradamus” and made a few fun predictions. But low and behold, there must have been something in the water here at the offices of The Daily Roxette because as it turns out, we didn’t too badly – three out of nine (technically #10 was just a gag), isn’t too bad for a 12 month window! Let’s take a closer look.

Finally! After it disappeared at the conclusion of the Crash! Boom! Bang! World Tour in mid-1995, “Almost Unreal” made its long, overdue come back to the set list! The song made it’s surprise debut in New Zealand at the Vector Arena on the night of the 7th of February. “Almost Unreal” popped up as song number #10 in the list following “Perfect Day” before it was quickly shuffled down the order as the first song back following the encore, right before “Listen To Your Heart”. Finally, after nearly 20 years, the mystery was solved and the song was back in the spot light. However, as with all mysteries in life, someone performed a bit of hocus pocus and soon into the 2015 European leg of tour, the song mysteriously and sadly disappeared once again. Even those desperate Brits who pushed the song to a respectable #7 on the UK singles charts in 1993 missed out on the melodic ballad when Roxette stopped by in London. “Almost Unreal” is without a doubt a size-able hit by anyone’s standards and it would be pure magic to see it return as part of the 2016 leg of the XXX Tour!

Here’s a YouTube video of “Almost Unreal” Live at Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne Australia.

This is getting spooky – the three that made it to the real list were actually bunched together in our fantasy one. It’s one thing to wish for a song to be played in a fantasy set list, so to end up with THREE right guesses was pretty exciting! As we discussed, “Almost Unreal” made it but so did Have A Nice Day‘s ballsy opener “Crush On You” much to the delight of the hardcore fans. This song now serves as the lead in to the rocking “She’s Got Nothing On” but is probably best remembered as the moment where Per has a chat with Magnus and questions him on his favourite Roxette album… one day… we will have a definitive answer for sure! Finally, as if those two fan favourite songs weren’t enough, out of nowhere “Paint” sneaks into the list! Sure, it’s not the full version of “Paint” that we are used to on the Look Sharp! album, but that tender interpretation with Marie and the beautiful Dea on piano at the end of “Watercolours in the Rain” is a magical moment that always evokes a huge reaction from the crowd.

Who’d have thunk it? Not a bad wish to come true. Sure, we had hoped for an English release but according to the author of Marie’s real biography, Helena Von Zeigbergk, there will be an English re-print of Kärleken Till Livet made available for non-Swedish speaking fans. Click here for TDR’s review of Kärleken Till Livet.

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So there you have it folks, all in all, not a bad stab in the dark that was merely a bit of fun… but who knows, perhaps “Rox-stradamus” should make some 2016 predictions? And if we’re being especially cheeky, one could argue we got FOUR out of ten right with our opening Headline “New Roxette album kicks ass” says everyone… because according to Per, he did proclaim that the new Roxette album was “…probably our best LP since CBB…” – close enough, right?

In all seriousness though, 2015 has been a mega year for Roxette:

• – Sold out shows throughout New Zealand, Australia and Europe
• – An updated RoxBox
• – 25th anniversary limited edition 7″ single of “It Must Have Been Love”
• – 2015 re-make of “The Look”
• – The international premiere of The Roxette Diaries movie
• – Marie’s amazing biography Kärleken Till Livet
• – Sebestian Drums’ remix of “Some Other Summer”

So what will 2016 hold? Well, we do know that the XXX Tour will continue trekking the globe as it re-launches in South Africa in late January and of course, there is the long awaited release of Roxette’s new studio album – already a few things to look forward to, bring on the new year! And now for tomorrow’s lottery numbers…