Lena Philipsson

Swedish pop singer and songwriter Lena Philipsson has enjoyed a colorful and frequently successful career in her home country. She was a regular presence on the Swedish charts in the late '80s and early '90s. As her popularity faded in the late '90s she took a seven-year recording hiatus before making a spectacular comeback with 2004's Det Gör Ont En Stund På Natten Men Inget På Dan, the best-selling album of her career, which scored three consecutive Top Ten hits on the Swedish charts, including the massive number one title track. Born on January 19, 1966, in Vetlanda, Sweden, Philipsson first came to public attention on TV talent show New Faces in 1982. She released her first single, "Boy" b/w "You Open My Eyes," in 1984, but her career really kicked off two years later when she entered Melodifestivalen, the Swedish qualifier for the Eurovision Song Contest and the most watched show on Swedish television. Her entry, "Kärleken Är Evig," written by Per Gessle and Torgny Söderberg, finished in second place with 42 points, and reached number three on the Swedish singles chart. Her debut album, also titled Kärleken Är Evig, was a Top 20 hit. She competed again in Melodifestivalen the following year with "Dansa I Neon." This time she came in fifth place, and the song was another big hit, and is considered one of her signature songs. It has been sampled by several Swedish artists, including Philipsson herself on her 2004 hit, "Lena Anthem." In 1988 she competed in Melodifestivalen yet again with the ballad "Om Igen," which finished in second place and again became a Top Ten hit. The album Talking in Your Sleep, which mixed English and Swedish-language songs, became her first Top Ten album. Released in 1989, My Name was her first album to be recorded entirely in English,...