SWEDEN (CelebrityAccess) – Roxette singer Marie Fredriksson passed away Monday (Dec. 9) following a 17-year battle with cancer. She was 61.
Her death was confirmed in a statement released by her management company, Dimberg Jernberg Management.
“Marie leaves us a grand musical legacy. Her amazing voice — both strong and sensitive — and her magical live performances will be remembered by all of us who was lucky enough to witness them,” the statement read. “But we also remember a wonderful person with a huge appetite for life, and woman with a very big heart who cared for everybody she met.”
Fredriksson and bandmate Per Gessle formed Roxette in their native Sweden in 1986. The duo was best known for their breakout single “The Look,” which reached No. 1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1989, and “It Must Have Been Love,” which became a global hit when it was featured on the soundtrack of the 1990’s “Pretty Woman.”
In a statement to Swedish newspaper Expressen, Gessle paid further tribute to Fredriksson saying: “Time goes by so fast. It feels like just recently when Marie and I were sitting in my little apartment in Halmstad sharing dreams. And what a fantastic dream we got to share! Thank you Marie, thank you for everything. You were a truly unique musician, a singer on a level we will hardly ever experience again. You painted my black and white songs with the most beautiful colours.”
Fredriksson is survived by her husband, music producer Mikael Bolyos, and their two children: Josefin Bolyos, 26, and Oscar Bolyos, 23.
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