Tove Styrke

Swedish singer Tove Styrke first surfaced with a forward-thinking electronic pop style reminiscent of Robyn and Annie, achieving her breakthrough in 2010 via the single “White Light Moment.” That song featured on her self-titled debut album, which earned platinum status and reached the Swedish Top Ten. Her later albums Kiddo and Sway likewise performed strongly on domestic charts, while the tracks “Borderline,” “Mistakes,” and “Bara du och jag” each received gold certification.

Born Tove Anna Linnea Ostman Styrke in the university town of Umeå, Västerbotten, in 1992, she grew up encouraged by her mother, a ballet instructor, and her father, Anders Östman, who had topped the Swedish charts in the 1970s. Her grandfather, a piano teacher, prompted her to begin playing the instrument early on; by her teenage years she was singing with a traditional jazz ensemble, drawing influence from Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, and Simon & Garfunkel. In 2009 she competed on the Swedish edition of Pop Idol, delivering notable covers of songs by Michael Jackson, Katy Perry, and the Beatles before finishing third behind winner Erik Grönwall and runner-up Calle Kristiansen. She subsequently signed with Sony Records and began recording her debut album alongside co-writers Patrik Berger, Lykke Li, and Shout Out Louds’ Adam Olenius. Issued in 2010, the Swedish Grammy-nominated Tove Styrke yielded the hits “Million Pieces” and “White Light Moment” and attained platinum status at home. Following the Borderline EP, she delivered her second album, Kiddo, on RCA in 2015; the record included the singles “Borderline” and “Ego” and was supported by international touring and television spots. Two years later she issued “Say My Name” and “Mistakes.” After wrapping a late-2017 tour with Bleachers and Bishop Briggs, she released “Changed My Mind” in early 2018, and those three songs appeared on her third album, Sway, which arrived that May.

Throughout the rest of the decade Styrke joined forces with Alma on “Good Vibes,” Clean Bandit on “Last Goodbye,” Lost Kings on “Stuck,” NOTD on “Been There, Done That,” and Ritual on “Love Me Back.” She also participated in the eleventh season of the Swedish reality series Så mycket bättre. In 2021 she returned with the single “Mood Swings,” then teamed with Cheat Codes and Travis Barker for “All Things $ Can Do” and closed the year with “Start Walking.” She began 2022 by unveiling “Show Me Love.”