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This Pop-Metal band started life in the late '70s, in Upplands Vasby,
SWEDEN; upon their formation, vocalist+keyboardist Joey Tempest, guitarist
John Norum, bassist Peter Olsson and drummer Tony 'Reno' Niemistö,
began playing under the moniker of Force around Stockholm. Two years later,
Olsson left the group and was replaced by John Leven. In 1982 they won
a Swedish competition called Rock-SM, which quickly garnered them a national
recording contract.
Changing their name to Europe, the quartet released their eponymous debut
album in 1983. By this time, Tony Reno had been replaced by new drummer
Ian Haugland.
"Wings Of Tomorrow", arrived a year later and generated enough
buzz to attract the attention of Epic Records who offered them a worldwide
deal and for the band's third effort, the line-up expanded to five players,
including keyboardist Mic Michaeli.
In May 1986, their massively successful album, "The Final Countdown",
was released; when the record started to rise up the charts, Norum departed
from Europe, guitarist & producer Kee Marcello stepped in to fill
his shoes. "The Final Countdown" eventually enjoyed a 70-week
chart run in the American Billboard Top 200 Albums chart and peaked at
#8; it also smashed into the top 10 in U.K. and went on to move over 8
million copies; the title-cut hit the top 10 of The Billboard Hot 100
and reached the top of the charts in 25 countries. The second single,
"Rock The Night", cracked the top 30 of both the Billboard's
Hot 100 and Mainstream Rock Tracks charts; the slow ballad, "Carrie"
achieved a career-best peak of #3 on The Billboard Hot 100 and the final
single, "Cherokee", reached the #72.
"Out of This World", the group's fourth album was released in
August 1988, the set reached the #19 on The Billboard Top 200 and its
lead single, "Superstitious", became a Top 40 seller on both
sides of the Atlantic, hitting #9 on the U.S. Rock airplay chart. The
Swedish quintet also went out on the road with Def
Leppard for an American tour.
After three full years the band resurfaced with "Prisoners In Paradise",
but it wasn't as commercially successful as its predecessors, producing
only the U.K. Top 40 single "I'll Cry For You".
A headlining tour followed, before the group stepped off the road for
long period of time and the band members started working on solo albums
and other projects.
In early October 2003 it was announced that Europe had reunited; Joey
Tempest, John Norum, John Leven, Mic Michaeli and Ian Haugland released
the band's sixth album, "Start From The Dark", in September
2004.
Europe biography is an exclusive of 100xr.com
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