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| Birth Name(s) : Europe |
Date of Birth: N/A |
| Status:
Single
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Partner:
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| Profession:
Musician |
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Full Europe Biography
Europe is a Swedish hard rock band originally assembled as a progressive rock group; they later added keyboards to their sound in order to soften it.
Europe is one of the most successful Swedish bands of all time, having sold more than 15 million albums worldwide.
The first incarnation of the band was named Force and came together in 1979, in Upplands Väsby, Stockholm, and was integrated by vocalist and keyboardist Joey Tempest, guitarist John Norum, bassist Peter Olsson and drummer Tony Reno. The band sent several demos to record companies, but were told that in order to be published they had to cut their hair and sing in Swedish. Two years later, Olsson left the band and was replaced by John Levén. Just a couple of months later, Levén joined Yngwie J. Malmsteen's band Rising Force, and Malmsteen's former bassist, Marcel Jacob joined Force. This only lasted for three months, though; Levén apparently had issues with Malmsteen, so he and Jacob traded places again.
In 1982, Tempest's girlfriend entered Force in the Swedish rock talent contest Rock-SM. Competing against 4000 bands, they won the contest thanks to two songs, "In the Future to Come" and "The King Will Return". Their rewards being a record deal with Hot Records. Tempest won the individual award for Best Lead Singer, and Norum won the award for Best Guitarist. During the contest, Force changed their name to Europe. Their self-titled debut album was released the following year, and sold well both in Sweden and Japan. The single "Seven Doors Hotel" became a Top 10 hit in Japan. The second album, Wings of Tomorrow was released one year later, and the single "Open Your Heart" got CBS Records interested in the band, offering them an international contract in 1985. Keyboardist Mic Michaeli was soon recruited to play in live concerts, and became an official member of the band shortly after. At the same time, Tony Reno was fired because of his lack of motivation and alleged slacking off on rehearsals. His replacement was Ian Haugland. In 1985 Europe recorded the soundtrack for youth movie On the Loose, which gave them the hit "Rock the Night". Several months later, Tempest was asked to write a song for the charity project Swedish Metal Aid. He wrote "Give A Helping Hand", which would feature the biggest stars of Swedish rock and metal. The income from the sales of the single, which was produced by Easy Action guitarist Kee Marcello, was donated to the starving people of Ethiopia.
At the end of the year they began the recording of their next album with Journey producer Kevin Elson. The result was The Final Countdown. Released in May 1986, it became a worldwide hit and established Europe as one of the biggest rock bands in the world. The album sold more than six million copies and reached number 8 on the Billboard 200 chart in the USA. The title track, which was released as the first single, sold about eight million copies and was number 1 in 26 countries. Other hits included the power ballad "Carrie", which reached number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and "Cherokee" and "Rock the Night". Not satisfied with the album's keyboard-dominated production nor the band's commercialized image, John Norum decided to leave Europe in November 1986 to pursue a solo career. "'Countdown' was mixed in L.A. with Kevin and none of us was involved in the process," Tempest said, "We liked the album, of course, but we also realised that it was very keyboard oriented and featured less guitars. That was definitely a reason for John to start thinking, 'I wonder where this is heading - I don't think I can do this.'"
Kee Marcello was asked to replace him, and after some consideration decided to join the band. The following year included successful tours through Europe and the USA. The follow-up to The Final Countdown was entitled Out of This World and was released in 1988. The biggest hits from the album were "Superstitious" and a new version of "Open Your Heart". The album sold about three million copies, which was considered a fiasco compared to previous sales figures. More touring followed, including an American tour with Def Leppard and a festival gig at the National Bowl in Milton Keynes, England with Bon Jovi, Skid Row and Vixen.
In September 1989, Europe did a gig at the Whisky a Go Go club in West Hollywood, California, under the pseudonym Le Baron Boys. That name would later be used as a title for a much-circulated Europe bootleg, which contained demo recordings from 1989-90. Two years later, the album Prisoners in Paradise was released, but received limited media attention due to the "boom" of the grunge movement, started by Nirvana and Pearl Jam. On New Year's Eve 1991, Europe kicked off a new tour with a show at the Tokyo Dome, in which Tesla, Thunder and Metallica also performed. The show was called "Final Countdown '91". After ten years of living, recording and touring together, Europe decided to take a long break when the tour ended in 1992. Since then, Joey Tempest and Kee Marcello have released solo albums, while the other members have participated in several different projects and bands. |
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