I decided to wait a few days before writing my reflection on Roxette as it has been too hard to type anything without becoming upset.
Instead of writing something sad, I would share with you how I fell in love with Per & Marie.
Rewind to 1989. I was 15 years old. A friend of mine used to introduce me to new music after school, each week, in the school library.
In one particular week in June, he introduced me to 2 bands. One was a Swedish band called Roxette with a song called The Look.
The other was an Australian band called 1927 with debut single That's When I Think Of You.
I loved both songs.
Then later that year, I was in a van in Malaysia, where my cousin was playing Look Sharp! on cassette.
I heard Chances and Dangerous for the very first time. Wow - I wished for both songs to be singles in Australia.
They would do well. Especially Chances, which sounded so beautifully electronic. Dangerous was also an incredible track.
(Of course Dangerous became a single in OZ and did very well)
At this point The Look, Dressed For Success and Listen To Your Heart had gone through the OZ charts and did really well.
This band was huge in Australia by this time and I was already into them on the strength of the 3 singles.
But after buying Look Sharp! cassette in Malaysia I was in love with them.
From then on, I ended up collecting almost everything Roxette released.
I would love them so much that I would even have dreams owning Roxette tracks that actually don't exist in reality.
Especially 12 inch singles with glorious picture sleeves with Per and Marie containing non existent extended mixes/remixes. (To this day I would pine for a 7 min extended mix of Dance Away as a bside)
Fast forward to 2012, I turned up at the Roxette concert in Adelaide without any knowledge who the support act was.
It was 1927. It was like coming full circle. This was such a huge surprise.
Both bands put on a great show. Per and Marie and the band were great.
It would be the last time I would get to see them live.
And now In Dec 2019, I think this band will always be part of my life.
Like many in this condolences book, they have brought me such great joy, especially in the low times.
Thank you for the music - you were/are one of the most unique bands ever to grace my ears
Remembrance book for Marie Fredriksson
Dear fellow friends, dear fans of Marie Fredriksson, dear Roxette fans, dear kind people in this world,
our friend Marie has passed away on December 9, and many, many people in the world are heartbroken and would like to express their feelings. Not everyone can do so on the social media, not everyone can do so by coming to Sweden and signing the official remembrance book laid out in Stockholm.
We want to collect your thoughts, your grieve, but also your finest memories with Marie here. Please write down what you always wanted to say to her, we will collect each single entry of yours, put them into one single book and send it over to Marie’s family to show them how much she made this world better through you.
Thank you.
[All entries made before January 1, 2020 were taken over for the book. You will still be able to add your messages now but we cannot consider them for the book to Marie’s family anymore as it has been printed by now.]
The Daily Roxette had one copy of the book printed early January 2020 and handed it over to Marie Dimberg, Roxette’s manager and a very good friend of Marie Fredriksson and her family, in Göteborg on January 20, 2020. The printed version of the book is nearly 800 pages thick and it has a white cover. Its title “Tack för allt Marie” (Thank you for everything Marie) is written in silver and red letters on its sleeve.
Here you see some quick photos of the book, sadly there has never been a chance to take proper photos of this one copy as it arrived just before the evening we headed to Göteborg for the “En kväll för Marie Fredriksson” show.
If you are interested, you can download a simplified version (the printed version contains a few more blank pages to separate the chapters, for instance) of the book with all entries right here.
The entries are sorted alphabetically by names, this file is also searchable.
Entries with non-latin character sets are at the very end of the book. Most URLs have been removed as they make little sense in a printed book.
Download the file “TackForAlltMarieByTDR.pdf”
6662 entries.
You were the great part of my life and I will miss You forever. RIP Marie.
Eure Lieder haben mich meine ganze Jugend begleitet. Auch meine zwei Kinder sind dadurch auch zu großen Fans geworden. Bis heute sind die Lieder ein Teil meines Lebens. Ich wünsche der Familie ganz viel Kraft. Wir werden Marie immer in guter Erinnerung behalten. R. I. P. Marie
Kære Marie
Jeg håber du må hvile i fred.
Tak for alt den fine musik og din smukke stemme!
Æret være dit minde,
Vibeke
Marie I will never forget you, your music and your voice touched my soul. I remember the first time i listened your songs and felt a deep connection with your music and your voice. Listening your songs raised my spirits, made me cry, gave me goosebumps, excited me and sometimes took me to a place where I am alone with only your music. Today world is poorer by losing a great soul like you. You will always be missed by me and everyone whose lives were so deeply touched by your music. May your soul rest in peace dear Marie.
I have been love so much, but Now I Will love you for ever
Eure Musik hat mich durch meine Kindheit und Jugend begleitet. Damals wie heute berühren mich Texte und Liebe mit der die Lieder gesungen wurden. Vielen Dank dafür. ❤
Marie dir wünsche ich alles Gute auf Deiner neuen Reise, und Deiner Familie wünsche ich viel Liebe und Kraft in dieser traurigen und schweren Zeit Deinen Verlust zu überwinden.
Herzlichste Grüße
Silvia
The World is diminished by your passing.
Thank you for all the memories your music still recalls.
Rest In Peace
My all time favourite group of the 80s 90s and 2000s went to every concert when you came to the uk. Rest in peace beautiful lady . So so missed xx
Minha adolescência e juventude foi ao som de Roxette. E nada de ouvir de forma moderada nos meus fones de ouvidos, tinha que ser no ultimo volume e cantar junto. Até hoje, a voz de Marie me trasporta aos melhores momentos de minha vida, ao lado de meus amigos e viagens que fiz. Obrigado Marie, por ter nos proporcionado o prazer de ouvi-la, de sentir toda sua vibração e entrega em sua voz. Aos que ficam, meus sentimentos.
Dear Marie, dear Family, i send you lot's of love. And i'm so sad that we lost such a Person 🙁 Thanks for all. RIP!!!!
Mucha tristeza..
Gran artista,gran guerrera.. siempre en mis recuerdos
Con tu voz acompañandome...
Siempre en mi corazón...
One of my fav bands.I first heard of Roxette during my college days in the early 90s in India. Sadly my dream of seeing a live performance goes unfulfilled. I don't think they did any tours to the USA where I currently live. Marie Rest in Peace. You will be missed but your music will keep the memories alive.Love you
My loved Marie, I'm speechless and so sad that you had to go. I thank you so much for your music, your voice and your wonderful warm heart. With your powrful and soulful way to manage your life you were always an inspiration for me. Roxette was the first music I loved. Later I discovered your great solo albums. And I can say you and your music went with me growing up from a child to a woman. In 2002 I was shocked hearing that you became so ill. But I was always very proud of you how you fighted so strongly against this illness. And I'm so proud that you were 17 years stronger than this bad tumor. You have all my respect and love.
I wish your family a lot of strength in this hard times. You will be always in my mind and in my heart. And your music will make you undyingly.
Marie, I will never forget your look and voice! You were an icon for all young wannabe-music singers and artists! I still yearn to listen to your hits, 'It must have been love', 'Fading like a flower', 'Listen to your Heart', 'The Look', 'Centre of my hear is the suburb to my brain', 'Spending my time', 'Wish I could fly'...There's a lot of emotion and meaning in the way you sing and transform words into music! You showed younger women that they could be pop and rock stars! RIP Marie, you will be remembered for ages...You've left behind a legacy.
Marie was one of the great icons and influence in my life. She was such an idol. Its such a big loss to the music industry. I wish Per and her family all the strength in this difficult time.
För mig var hon en av de största, med sin fantastiska röst och musikalitet och trots alla framgångar verkade hon vara väldigt ödmjuk och jordnära, inga divalater där inte, vilket i mina ögon gör henne till en extra stor stjärna.
Dear Marie, I am listening to Roxette’s songs now (now is “so far away”). I must say I am so shock to hear you pass away. I keep watching Roxette’s MVs and live performances via YouTube to pretend that you are still around.
I remembered that I knew Sweden was because of Roxette. I first heard of Roxette was when I was a teenager watching “Listen to your heart” MV from a music program on TV. I was impressed by your powerful voice. I even attended Roxette’s live concert in Taipei in 2015. I also introduced your music to my high school classmates (I didn’t remember that until they told me so recently).
I didn’t know that you’ve been fighting with the cancer for 17 years. Thank you so much for still thinking of your fans when you were sick. I didn’t know that you were just recovery when I attended Roxette’s live concert in Taipei in 2012 cause your performance was still awesome !!!
You are really a warrior and inspire us a lot. From the long list of guestbook, I know you are loved and will never be forgotten! Rest In Peace, Marie.???
Thank you, Marie for all you songs. I will keep them in my heart forever.
Estos días han sido muy tristes.. No tengo palabras para describir el dolor de la muerte de uno de los seres humanos más maravillosos que tuve la oportunidad de admirar, seguir y conocer. Descansa en paz Mi Reina... te admire desde el primer momento por tu voz tan cálida, me volví tu fanático porque la música de Roxette ponía color a mi vida...llegaste a ser la banda sonora de mi vida. Luego, la vida te pone una dura prueba difícil con esa enfermedad y compartí tu dolor y tu renacer. Te convertiste en una luchadora cuando te vi de nuevo en el escenario (Argentina,2012) y el regalo más grande fue conocerte en tu última visita a Venezuela (2013) esos minutos hoy pasan por mi mente como una película donde lloró y sonrió. Yo conocí a Marie Fredrikkson... yo te abracé, reimos, conversamos y ese momento único quedo grabado en mi memoria como una de las experiencias más maravillosas de mi vida. ADIOS MARIE. DESCANSA EN PAZ.... MI REINA... mi Diva... mi guerrera. Te has ido pero tu voz queda como una leyenda en la historia de la música y tu lección de vida queda como inspiración para todos aquellos que ante tantas dificultades de salud ven en tu lucha un aprendizaje para siempre querer vivir. Hoy te has ido y Vuela alto... siempre estarás en mi corazón y en mi vida. @roxettevenezuela