Ace of Base

Originally formed around vocalists Jenny Berggren and Malin "Linn" Berggren together with keyboardists Jonas "Joker" Berggren and Ulf "Buddah" Ekberg, the Swedish quartet Ace of Base achieved massive worldwide fame through their 1993 debut album The Sign, ranking among the best-selling first releases in history. Their straightforward, hook-driven Euro-disco style found equal favor on broadcast playlists and dance floors, producing three U.S. Top Ten singles for the group: "All That She Wants," "Don't Turn Around," and "The Sign," the last of which held the top chart position for six weeks. At their commercial peak the quartet stood as the third most successful Swedish act behind only ABBA and Roxette.

Prior to the quartet’s formation in 1990, sisters Jenny and Linn Berggren performed in Gothenburg church choirs. Their brother Jonas created tracks on synthesizers alongside Ulf Ekberg. The pair later brought Jenny and Linn into the lineup for club dates that began in late summer 1990. Within a year the foursome secured a contract with Mega Records and issued their first single, "Wheel of Fortune," in 1992. By then they had begun working with John Ballard, who produced their sessions and wrote most of their material, sometimes collaborating directly with Jonas Berggren. "Wheel of Fortune" reached audiences across Scandinavia, prompting German label Metronome to arrange European distribution. Ace of Base’s initial European single "All That She Wants" rose to number one in ten territories after extensive MTV rotation. Their European debut album Happy Nation appeared in spring 1993.

The U.S. release of "All That She Wants" followed in fall 1993 and quickly earned platinum status, launching a run of platinum-certified Top Ten hits stateside. Ace of Base’s American debut The Sign, a revised edition of Happy Nation containing four additional tracks, arrived the same season and soon approached two million copies sold domestically. Throughout 1994 the band saturated airwaves on both continents as "All That She Wants," "Don't Turn Around," and "The Sign" received broad rotation across Top 40, adult contemporary, urban, and modern rock formats alike. By year’s end The Sign had moved more than eight million units in the U.S. alone. That year Ace of Base earned three Grammy nominations, among them Best New Artist.

Their second album The Bridge surfaced in fall 1995. Although certified platinum within six months, it did not replicate the multi-platinum scale of its predecessor. Following a three-year break the group returned with Cruel Summer (issued as Flowers in Europe), which met comparable commercial restraint. Citing vocal strain and fatigue with public attention, founding vocalist Linn began withdrawing from the spotlight, positioning Jenny as lead singer. A singles anthology appeared in 1999, succeeded by an official Greatest Hits collection in 2000. By the time Da Capo arrived as their fourth album the original configuration had splintered, leaving only Jenny and Ulf to handle promotional dates. After reuniting in 2007 following a five-year absence, the band confirmed Linn’s permanent departure. The remaining trio continued performing across Europe and Asia and later issued another hits package featuring newly recorded 2009 versions of earlier material. At the close of 2009 Jenny exited to launch a solo career, reducing the roster of original members to Jonas and Ulf.

Even after both vocalists departed, the two remaining founders sustained Ace of Base by engaging Clara Hagman and Julia Williamson as replacements. The refreshed lineup produced just one album, 2010’s The Golden Ratio, before activity subsided. Jonas and Ulf nevertheless persisted, launching the “Ace Thursdays” online series that delivered unreleased tracks to fans between 2011 and 2012. In 2014 announcements verified that Williamson and Hagman had left the project. Later that year remastered editions of the original quartet’s four studio albums appeared, followed in 2015 by the B-sides and demos compilation Hidden Gems.