This week is proving to be an emotional time for many in the worldwide Roxette community but when you stand back and really think long and hard about just how ridiculously lucky we have been since 2009, you really have to pinch yourself.

When Roxette’s career came to an ugly and abrupt halt in 2002, no one knew what would happen. By the mid to late 2000s, it was fair to say that the idea of a “legitimate” Roxette comeback was a mere fantasy.

But then the craziest thing happened. Roxette, in a soon to be revealed twist of fate, came back in 2009 to begin a long goodbye to their loyal and loving fans all over the world. It was a chance for Marie to re-connect with those who stood by her side and an opportunity for her to strut her stuff one final time to those that didn’t get a chance to prepare themselves in 2002 when the plug was harshly pulled on Roxette’s career.

Since 2009, the overwhelming thing to absorb here is that Roxette didn’t just book a few small time clubs and fumble about sounding like a cheap cover band, Roxette came back and kicked monumental ass from 2009 to 2016. Sure, perhaps they didn’t go out with the biggest bang – but who does? And when you stand back and look at the numbers, the stats and the facts, the fans have clearly been overwhelmingly spoiled since 2009.

Let’s put this in perspective and crack some numbers.

There were a total of 4 separate sets of tours, some short, some longer and one used as a series of test shows.

1. 01 – 2009 Night Of The Proms
2. 02 – The 2010 “warm up shows”
3. 03 – 2011/12 Charm School World Tour
4. 04 – 2014/15/16 XXX Tour

The biggest take home point from the “Post 2009 Phase” is that Roxette made a serious effort to say “hi” and “bye” to nearly every corner of the globe, few stones, if any, were left unturned. “Pleeeeeeassssee Per come back to my country” is something that Per and Team Rox have been inundated with for years on their various social media accounts. Well, lets list the countries Roxette visited since 2009, I count 50 countries – when you see it spelt out like that, you simply can’t complain. Even the long neglected markets like Canada, Australia and the USA got a chance to see their Swedish super heroes and to say goodbye. Heck, Roxette even returned to New Zealand in 2015 to right a wrong when they were forced to cancel in 2012. Sure, some continents got a bit luckier than others but holistically, aside from Antarctica, you just can’t complain – in fact you can’t feel anything other than amazed and bloody grateful.

1. 01 – Argentina
2. 02 – Australia
3. 03 – Austria
4. 04 – Belarus
5. 05 – Belgium
6. 06 – Brazil
7. 07 – Bulgaria
8. 08 – Canada
9. 09 – Chile
10. 10 – China
11. 11 – Czech Republic
12. 12 – Denmark
13. 13 – Dubai
14. 14 – Ecuador
15. 15 – England
16. 16 – Estonia
17. 17 – Finland
18. 18 – France
19. 19 – Germany
20. 20 – Greece
21. 21 – Hong Kong
22. 22 – Hungary
23. 23 – Indonesia
24. 24 – Ireland
25. 25 – Israel
26. 26 – Italy
27. 27 – Latvia
28. 28 – Lithuania
29. 29 – Mexico
30. 30 – New Zealand
31. 31 – Norway
32. 32 – Peru
33. 33 – Poland
34. 34 – Romania
35. 35 – Russia
36. 36- Scotland
37. 37 – Singapore
38. 38 – Slovakia
39. 39 – South Africa
40. 40 – Spain
41. 41 – Sweden
42. 42 – Switzerland
43. 43 – Taiwan
44. 44 – The Faroe Islands
45. 45 – The Netherlands
46. 46 – Turkey
47. 47 – Ukraine
48. 48 – Uruguay
49. 49 – USA
50. 50 – Venezuela

Now let’s talk about the next biggest thing we whine about – the set list. Sure, every fan wishes for their personal favourite song to be played but considering Marie had some memory problems re-learning lyrics, it’s astounding that we got anything at all! And we didn’t just get the big hits which drew the millions of people to their shows who were desperate to hear “Joyride”, “Listen To Your Heart” and “It Must Have Been Love”, but we, the die-hards, got some overlooked gems like “Silver Blue” and “Crush On You” and we even got recent material like “Way Out” and It’s Possible”. Check out the list below, 33 different songs by my count and all the key albums were represented in some way or another. Bear in mind that this woman, Ms. Fredriksson, had to systematically re-learn all these songs one by one and had to try to nail it every night, not just vocally but also lyrically. A remarkable feat that she managed to power through this impressive list below which gives a fair scope of the band’s 30 year career.

1. 01 – Soul Deep (medley with “She’s Got Nothing On”)
2. 02 – The Look
3. 03 – Dressed for Success
4. 04 – Paint (medley with “Watercolours in the Rain”)
5. 05 – Dangerous
6. 06 – Listen To Your Heart
7. 07 – It Must Have Been Love
8. 08 – Joyride
9. 09 – Fading Like a Flower
10. 10 – Spending My Time
11. 11 – Watercolours in the Rain
12. 12 – The Big L
13. 13 – Church of Your Heart
14. 14 – Things Will Never Be The Same
15. 15 – Perfect Day
16. 16 – How Do You Do!
17. 17 – The Heart Shaped Sea
18. 18 – Silver Blue
19. 19 – Queen of Rain
20. 20 – Almost Unreal
21. 21 – Sleeping in My Car
22. 22 – Crash! Boom! Bang!
23. 23 – She Doesn’t Live Here Anymore
24. 24 – Crush On You
25. 25 – Wish I Could Fly
26. 26 – 7Twenty7
27. 27 – Stars
28. 28 – Real Sugar
29. 29 – Opportunity Nox
30. 30 – Way Out
31. 31 – She’s Got Nothing On (But the Radio)
32. 32 – Only When I Dream
33. 33 – It’s Possible

And how’s about the new releases? We got a mix of new studio material, updated compilations and even a sequel to 1992’s Tourism!

1. 01 – 2011 – Charm School (with bonus live Deluxe Edition)
2. 02 – 2011 – Charm School Revisited
3. 03 – 2012 – Travelling
4. 04 – 2012 – The Sweet Hello, The Sad Goodbye (Bassflow Remix)
5. 05 – 2014 – XXX Hits
6. 06 – 2015 – RoxBox (updated from 2006)
7. 07 – 2015 – The Look 2015 Re-make
8. 08 – 2016 – Good Karma

And finally, let’s not forget the visual stuff too! Aside from new music videos made for their recent singles (and one coming up for “It Just Happens”), we also got a visual feast with some special DVD/Blu-Ray releases.

1. 01 – 2013 – Roxette Live: Travelling the World (DVD/Blu-Ray)
2. 02 – 2013 – It All Begins Where it Ends: (Documentary)
3. 03 – 2016 – The Roxette Diaries

Am I forgetting anything? Ah yes, Marie did release a solo album in 2013 too and Per released his Archive of Demos, but in terms of “Roxette” stuff, looking back since 2009, that is a fairly intense amount of output to spoil hungry international fans – and despite any sense of sadness that the community may be experiencing this week, seriously, scroll up and take a look at what we got! All the continents got their chance to say farewell – we got stadium and arena shows, the classic hits, selected b-sides and album tracks performed live. We got new studio albums, new music videos and new docos to feast our eyes on! And we’re getting another new album in June – phew, I’m exhausted!

And all this from some little Swedish band whose lead singer had to spend the 2000s fighting for her life.

Whenever you’re down, whenever you’re sad, check out that list and smile and feel grateful, we got so much more than anyone could have ever dreamt of!

What a crazy story – enough to leave you speechless! Bring on Good Karma!