Europe’s lead singer Joey Tempest turns 60
He composed and sung one of the most popular songs of all time: “The Final Countdown”
Europe’s lead singer Joey Tempest turns 60
Joey Tempest composed and sung one of the most popular songs of all time: “The Final Countdown”, and for that gift pop culture is thankful! The Swedish singer and composer was born Rolf Magnus Joakim Larsson on August 19, 1963 in Stockholm, Sweden. Though inclined to follow a sports career, having even won junior competitions, the love of music spoke louder to Tempest, in particular through his biggest influence: Led Zeppelin and Robert Plant. In 1979, Tempest formed the band Force with guitarist John Norum, and the band began building a reputation and a fan-base in the suburbs of Stockholm. In 1982 they changed their name to Europe with a different line up but with Tempest and Norum remaining the original founding members. The unexpected success came in 1986 when Europe released their single “The Final Countdown”, a pastiche of Heavy Metal and Synth Pop with a catchy riff that became iconic and symbolic of the 1980’s. Written by Tempest, “The Final Countdown” topped the sales chart in 26 countries, sold 15 million copies, and remains a airplay favorite to this day. Their 1986 album “The Final Countdown”, which included the title song, also featured other Rock hits for the band, such as “Rock The Night”, the ballad “Carrie” and “Cherokee”. Towards the late 1980’s Europe’s success started to cool down, and they only were able to score another major hit in 1988 with “Superstitious”. Though never officially disbanding, Europe went through some hiatus periods and Tempest also begun his own solo career. In recent years, the band however, has found a cult following, and they’ve been touring successfully over the last decade. In 2017 Europe released their latest album “Walk the Earth”. Joey Tempest turns 60 today.
Look back: The 1986 music video “The Final Countdown” by Europe
Watch more 1980’s related videos
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