Øystein Sunde

Øystein Sunde entered the world on January 24, 1947, in Oslo, Norway, and took up an array of instruments while still a child before settling on guitar and beginning to compose during the 1960s. His first commercial recordings came in 1967 when he joined the band Hi-Five as guitarist for a pair of CBS singles. Solo work followed with the 1970 CBS release 1001 Fnatt, whose breakout track “Jaktprat” propelled both the album and single into the Norwegian Top Five. The next year brought Det Året Det Var Så Bratt, which reached number one. After moving from CBS to Philips, Sunde kept a steady release schedule for the rest of the decade, maintaining his humorous folk approach with a pronounced bluegrass flavor yet failing to duplicate the commercial heights of 1970–1971. The 1980s restored his broad appeal through four successive Top Five albums—Barkebille Boogie (1981), I Husbukkens Tegn (1984), Overbuljongterningpakkemesterassistent (1986), and Kjekt Å Ha (1989)—the last of which was cut in Nashville and earned him two Spellemannprisen trophies. Sporadic later projects, launched by the 1990 retrospective Øystein Sundes 40 Beste, continued to dominate the charts, frequently hitting the summit or landing just beneath it. Issued five years after Kjekt Å Ha, Du Må’kke Komme Her og Komme Her (1994) proved especially durable, claiming the top spot and remaining on the listing for more than six months.