Carola Häggkvist
Encyclopedia
Carola Maria Häggkvist better known as simply Carola, is a Swedish singer and occasional songwriter. She has been among Sweden's most popular performers since the early 1980s, and has released albums ranging from pop
and disco to hymn
s and folk music
. Her debut album, Främling
, sold around one million copies and remains the biggest-selling album in Swedish music history. She has also worked as a songwriter. During her 25-year long career, she has recorded many top-selling albums and singles and is referred to as Sweden's most prominent female singer. Some of her biggest hits include Främling (English: Stranger) from 1983, Tommy tycker om mig (Tommy likes me) from 1984, Fångad av en stormvind (Captured by a Lovestorm) from 1991, All the Reasons to Live from 1992, I Believe in Love from 2001, Genom allt (Through it all) from 2005 and Evighet (Eternity) from 2006.
Häggkvist has represented Sweden at the Eurovision Song Contest
on three occasions: in 1983
, finishing third; in 1991
, winning the contest; and in 2006
, finishing fifth.
Carola has released records in various languages: Swedish, Dutch, German, English, Norwegian and Japanese.
in Stockholm
. She grew up in Norsborg
, south of the Swedish capital. At the age of eight, she began to perform at Stockholm's Miniteatern; she also attended Adolf Fredriks' stage school. In 1977, Häggkvist won a talent competition and appeared on television for the first time, on Sveriges magasin, performing "Krokodilbarnets klagan".
met Häggkvist after she performed on television series Hylands hörna, and offered her the chance to take part in Melodifestivalen
, the Swedish selection for the Eurovision Song Contest
in 1982. She turned down the offer. Songwriter Lasse Holm
offered Häggkvist two of his songs for Melodifestivalen 1983
, "Mona Lisa" and "Främling" ("Stranger"). "Främling" was chosen, and with it Häggkvist won the right to represent Sweden at that year's Eurovision Song Contest, in Munich. The song scored eight points, the highest possible mark, from all eleven juries. Häggkvist represented Sweden at Eurovision Song Contest 1983
on 23 April. She finished third in front of 6.1 million Swedish television viewers, 84% of the country's population. This is still a record in Sweden.
"Främling" became the title track to Häggkvist's debut album, which sold over one million copies, making it the biggest selling album in Swedish history. After Eurovision, Häggkvist embarked on a tour of European television programmes, promoting "Främling", and performing in it several languages: in English as "Love Isn't Love", in German as "Fremder", and in Dutch as "Je ogen hebben geen geheimen". The album contained hits like Mickey, Liv, Gloria and Tokyo. In December 1983, she released her first Christmas album: Julefrid med Carola. which sold in 200,000 copies. In 1984, Häggkvist release two top-selling pop/rock albums which together sold over 1 million copies. Tommy tycker om mig became a huge hit in Sweden, together with Hunger. She later travelled to Japan and recorded a single in Japanese. In 1985, Bee Gees
collaborated with her on the album Runaway
, which was written by the Gibb brothers and produced by Maurice Gibb
. The record sold double platinum when released in Sweden the following year. The Runaway, Brand New Heart, Spread your wings and Radiate became massive hits in Scandinavia. In 1987, Häggkvist embarked on a church tour with pianist Per-Erik Hallin. After this followed a career hiatus for the singer.
won the event. Her comeback album was released titled Much More
, which earned a gold certificate in Sweden. However, Häggkvist and songwriter Stephan Berg
had already begun planning another attempt at Eurovision.
In 1991, she returned to Melodifestivalen with "Fångad av en stormvind
" ("Captured by a lovestorm"). The song won the festival by thirty-two points and became the Swedish entry for the Eurovision Song Contest in Rome
. British bookmakers considered Häggkvist second favourite to win the contest. On the night, with one voting jury left to announce their scores, three countries remained in contention to win the contest: Sweden, with 146 points; Israel, with 139; and France, with 134. Neither Israel nor Sweden won any points from the Italian jury, but France won twelve, leaving Sweden and France tied for first place with 146 at the conclusion of the voting. Sweden won the contest after a count-back, having received five ten-point scores during the voting, versus France's two. "Fångad av en stormvind" became a huge hit in Europe, and was followed by a compilation album, Hits, and a Christmas album, Jul. After her victory she released an international version of Much More and went on an enormous promotion tour throughout Europe. Her album spawned several hits, among them I'll live and All the reasons to live.
Häggkvist was the first Scandinavia
n pop artist to perform in China
—in front of an estimated 600 million television viewers; she also released an album in China in 1992.
In 1992 and 1993, Rival International, released Carola's earlier albums on CD. She was originally signed to Mariann Records in Scandinavia.
After the tenth anniversary of her breakthrough in 1993, she recorded a gospel
album, My Tribute, which was released in sixteen countries, making her gospel artist of the year in the Netherlands in 1994. The album contains the hit-single My Tribute, one of Häggkvists most well-known songs. In 1994, Häggkvist released a rock-themed album, Personligt ("Personally"), marking her debut as a songwriter and sold gold. Så länge jag lever, Sanna Vänner and Guld i dina ögon became hits and received a great amount of radio airplay.
In 1995, Häggkvist made her debut as a musical actress, playing Maria in The Sound of Music
; Tommy Körberg
was the male lead. She played the role in 325 performances and won the prestigious Guldmasken ("Golden Mask") award. Three years later, she sang the theme song in the Norwegian
musical Sophie's World which was released on the album Songs from Sophie's World. Also in 1998, Häggkvist played the voice of Mirjam, in the Swedish version of The Prince of Egypt
. In 2002, she made a short appearance as Fantine in Les Misérables
in London
and five Scandinavian cities.
In November 1997, Häggkvist released another compilation album, De bästa av Carola ("The Best of Carola"), and with it several new singles like "Dreamer". Following this came an album of tracks penned by Lina Sandell
: Blott en dag ("Just One Day"). The album received excellent reviews and revealed Carola's passion for hymns. In 1999, another Christmas album was released: Jul i Betlehem ("Christmas in Bethlehem"). The album sold 600,000 units throughout Scandinavia, including 350,000 in Sweden. and became the biggest selling album of 1999. She also co-wrote the ballad Himlen i min famn which remains a popular Christmas song, often performed at different Christmas concerts. In the summer of 1999, she toured in the Rhapsody in Rock.
In 2001, she released Sov på min arm, an album based on Christian hymns, gospel melodies and intimate ballads. It became one of the most sold albums in Scandinavia that year. In 2002, she release the pop/country album My Show which received great reviews. The album, which marked Häggkvist's return to the pop scene, contained several hits such as The Light, I believe in love, which also topped the Estonian and Brazilian charts, and A Kiss Goodbye. Even though the album only peaked at number 6 on the Swedish album chart, it sold in 100,000 copies by the end of the year. In the summer, Häggkvist embarked on a huge and luxurious Scandinavien tour.
In 2003, Häggkvist submitted a song, "Autumn Leaf", for Melodifestivalen 2003
. Having performed the demo, she was required to perform the song when it qualified for the competition. Häggkvist decided against, and the song was disqualified from the competition. "Autumn Leaf" appeared on Häggkvist's next album, Guld, platina & passion
, in Swedish as "När löven faller" ("When the leaves fall"). The ballad became an enormous hit. Guld, platina & passion
topped the Swedish charts for over a year and sold in over 300,000 copies. She also recorded her favorite Elvis Presley songs, Walk a mile in my shoes and If I can dream. The following year, Häggkvist released a religious album, Credo
, which she described as "an expression of my love for God". The album peaked at spot 2 on the Swedish album chart. This was followed by Störst av allt
, which Dan Backman of Svenska Dagbladet
wrote featured "spiritually aimed music…revolving around belonging, love, death and eternity". Genom Allt became a huge radio hit in Sweden and the soul ballad Allt kommer bli bra mamma, a dedication to her deceased mother, became popular within religious events.
, Häggkvist confirmed that she would return to the competition in 2006. She performed "Evighet" ("Eternity"), written by Bobby Ljunggren
, Henrik Wikström and Thomas G:son
, which she described as a "true winning song." The song qualified from the semifinal in Gothenburg on 11 March 2006, and was widely tipped to win the festival outright as the final at the Stockholm Globe Arena
approached. Despite finishing second with the regional juries to Andreas Johnson
, "Evighet" won the competition with 232 points. Prior to the contest, Carola visited 12 countries where she promoted her song. Invincible received a large amount of air play on the radios in these countries. The song qualified from the semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest in Athens, in English as "Invincible
". Häggkvist in the end finished fifth out of twenty-four with 170 points. This placing also made her the secondmost artist in the history of Eurovision, counting by total points earned in her performances, with her three songs scoring a total of 442 points. She's only behind Dima Bilan
, the 2006 runner up and 2008 winner.
Following Melodifestivalen, Häggkvist released a pop
album
, Från nu till evighet
("From Now to Eternity"). Lennart Wrigholm reviewed the album for Musiklandet; he criticised the amount of new material on the album: "Has this old lady really got such a workload that she cannot put more than ten new tracks on her album?" and wrote that the inclusion of the English version of "Evighet" as a bonus track was "an insult to the potential buyer". On the other hand, Expressen
's Anders Nunstedt wrote that on "Jag ger allt" ("I Give It All") "the title does not lie" and that "Vem kan älska mig" ("Who Can Love Me") features a "brilliant refrain". The album topped the Swedish sales chart, and sold in approximately 100,000 copies by the end of the year. Stanna eller gå, a Latin-inspired pop song, became a radio hit during the summer. Following the album's release, Häggkvist toured Sweden and received outstanding reviews. During the autumn, Häggkvist had problems with her voice but nonetheless sang "Because We Believe", a song written by Andrea Bocelli
, with the Italian
tenor
.
In late 2007, Häggkvist released another Christmas album, I denna natt blir världen ny ("There is a New World This Night"), a sequel to Jul i Betlehem. The album featured songs in Swedish and English, and was recorded in Jerusalem in June 2007. Stefan Malmqvist of Svenska Dagbladet
wrote that, like in previous Christmas albums, Häggkvist is "a saccharine version of herself" when singing Christmas carol
s. The album was reported to have sold in 90,000 copies. Included on the album was the gospel song Go and Tell It on the Mountain
. After the release she toured Scandinavia.
Carola entered Melodifestivalen 2008 as part of the duo Johnson & Häggkvist with Andreas Johnson
. Their first single was called Lucky Star which became popular on the radio. In the melodifestival in February, they sang "One Love
", written by Carola, Johnson and Peter Kvint. They were the early favourites to win the whole show, taking part in the second qualifier. They qualified for the Second Chance round, missing out on an automatic final spot. Though widely tipped to qualify for the final after all, they did not even proceed from the first voting round in the Second Chance programme. Although One Love did not become an enormous success, the song Lucky Star which they released a few months prior to the contest did sell well, and topped the Swedish charts for weeks. Carola decided to take it easy the rest of the year, but did embark on a small Christmas tour at the end of the year. In 2009, Carola was reportedly working on her upcoming album, and other projects. She went to the United States to record some new material. She departed from her recording company and signed a contract with X5 Music Group, in which she aims to transfer her music abroad through the internet. In June, she hosted Carola Camp, a camp designed to help talented young singers and entertainers. In May, she performed at the Eurovision Song Contest held in Moscow at the kick-off ceremony, performing her 3 Eurovision songs. In July, she performed, together with the Eurovision winner Alexander Rybak
in Norway and sang "Fairytale
" and "Främling
" and The Jackson 5's "I'll Be There".
At the end of 2009, she released the album Christmas in Bethlehem, which contained duets with artists like Paul Potts. She embarked on yet another Christmas tour, visiting Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland. She also launched her new website.
faith and much of the focus has been around her membership in the evangelical church Livets Ord
(Life's Word).
She was married to Runar Søgaard
, a Norwegian Christian preacher, with whom she has a son, Amadeus, which means "Loves God". Her parents both died in 2004.
, she alienated many gay and some heterosexual fans by alleging that she knows homosexual people who have become heterosexual through prayers. She also said that homosexuality would always remain "unnatural" to her.
Four years later, her comment was brought up when she participated in the Swedish national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest
in March 2006. During a press conference a journalist tried to ask her if she still had the same opinion. According to the Swedish newspaper Expressen
, Carola did not answer the question because her advisors told her to keep quiet because answering questions about her stance on homosexuality could cost her the trip to Athens and could also cause a lot of embarrassment and negative media attention.
On March 15, 2006, Rickard Engfors
, who is gay and Carola's cooperating partner during the Melodifestivalen
and Eurovision Song Contest 2006
, said "Carola doesn't hate gays. If she did, I wouldn't work for her. She is a fantastic person."
During an exclusive interview for one of the Eurovision-related websites before the 2006 contest, Carola was also questioned about this, and stated that she "would love for every gay person to feel that she loves them" and that she does not think that "being gay is a sickness". She went on to criticize the tabloids for misinterpreting her original words and making an issue out of it. Later in the interview, she also commented on one of her supporting dancers being gay and his boyfriend being "great".
In 2008, she spoke to the newspaper Aftonbladet
and again revisited her opinions about homosexuality, which she insisted have evolved over the past two decades and are now very inclusive. She said, "I actually invited gays from QX to my 25 year anniversary [concert], but QX turned it down. So what can I do? I love all people. I love the gays. So I think that I am definitely not homophobic in any way. We are here for the music and I have no wacky opinions. And I feel love from the homosexuals too."
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
and disco to hymn
Hymn
A hymn is a type of song, usually religious, specifically written for the purpose of praise, adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification...
s and folk music
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
. Her debut album, Främling
Främling
Främling is an album from Swedish pop singer Carola Häggkvist, released on March 26, 1983. It was her debut album. On the album charts, the albums peaked at number 1 in Sweden and number 2 in Norway."Främling" is Stranger in English...
, sold around one million copies and remains the biggest-selling album in Swedish music history. She has also worked as a songwriter. During her 25-year long career, she has recorded many top-selling albums and singles and is referred to as Sweden's most prominent female singer. Some of her biggest hits include Främling (English: Stranger) from 1983, Tommy tycker om mig (Tommy likes me) from 1984, Fångad av en stormvind (Captured by a Lovestorm) from 1991, All the Reasons to Live from 1992, I Believe in Love from 2001, Genom allt (Through it all) from 2005 and Evighet (Eternity) from 2006.
Häggkvist has represented Sweden at the Eurovision Song Contest
Eurovision Song Contest
The Eurovision Song Contest is an annual competition held among active member countries of the European Broadcasting Union .Each member country submits a song to be performed on live television and then casts votes for the other countries' songs to determine the most popular song in the competition...
on three occasions: in 1983
Eurovision Song Contest 1983
The Eurovision Song Contest 1983, the 28th in the series, was held in Munich, then West Germany, on 23 April 1983. The presenter was Marlene Charell. Corinne Hermes was the winner of this Eurovision with the song, "Si la vie est cadeau". This was Luxembourg's fifth victory in the contest which...
, finishing third; in 1991
Eurovision Song Contest 1991
The Eurovision Song Contest 1991 was the 36th Eurovision Song Contest and was held on 4 May 1991 in Rome. Due to the Gulf War and mounting tensions in Yugoslavia, RAI decided to move the contest from Sanremo to Rome, which was perceived to be more secure....
, winning the contest; and in 2006
Eurovision Song Contest 2006
The Eurovision Song Contest 2006 was the 51st Eurovision Song Contest, held at the Olympic Indoor Hall in Athens, Greece on 18 May and 20 May 2006 . The hosting national broadcaster of the contest was Ellinikí Radiofonía Tileórasi . The Finnish band Lordi won the contest with the song "Hard Rock...
, finishing fifth.
Carola has released records in various languages: Swedish, Dutch, German, English, Norwegian and Japanese.
Early life
Carola Maria Häggkvist was born on 8 September 1966 at SödersjukhusetSödersjukhuset
Södersjukhuset is one of the largest hospitals in Stockholm, Sweden. Constructed between 1937 and 1944, it was designed by architects Hjalmar Cederström and H. Imhäuser. Södersjukhuset has the largest emergency department in northern Europe....
in Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
. She grew up in Norsborg
Norsborg
Norsborg is a part of Botkyrka Municipality in Stockholm County, Sweden. Norsborg and Hallunda are continuous suburbs.Norsborg has the south-western terminus of the Stockholm metro system's red line. It was opened in 1975 and is the westernmost of all Stockholm metro stations.The largest fresh...
, south of the Swedish capital. At the age of eight, she began to perform at Stockholm's Miniteatern; she also attended Adolf Fredriks' stage school. In 1977, Häggkvist won a talent competition and appeared on television for the first time, on Sveriges magasin, performing "Krokodilbarnets klagan".
1981–1989: Early career and Främling
In 1981, Swedish music promoter Bert KarlssonBert Karlsson
Bert Willis Karlsson is a Swedish record company manager, entrepreneur, former politician and front figure of the New Democracy party....
met Häggkvist after she performed on television series Hylands hörna, and offered her the chance to take part in Melodifestivalen
Melodifestivalen
Melodifestivalen is an annual music competition organised by Swedish public broadcasters Sveriges Television and Sveriges Radio . It determines the country's representative for the Eurovision Song Contest, and has been staged almost every year since 1959...
, the Swedish selection for the Eurovision Song Contest
Eurovision Song Contest
The Eurovision Song Contest is an annual competition held among active member countries of the European Broadcasting Union .Each member country submits a song to be performed on live television and then casts votes for the other countries' songs to determine the most popular song in the competition...
in 1982. She turned down the offer. Songwriter Lasse Holm
Lasse Holm
Lars-Eric Gustav "Lasse" Holm, born 9 December 1943 in Stockholm, Sweden, is known as a composer, lyricist and singer.Since childhood, he was interested in music and was a member of a lot of pop music and rock music groups in the 1960s: Doug and the Millsmen, The Spacemen and The Moonlighters...
offered Häggkvist two of his songs for Melodifestivalen 1983
Melodifestivalen 1983
Melodifestivalen 1983 was the selection for the 23rd song to represent Sweden at the Eurovision Song Contest. It was the 22nd time that this system of picking a song had been used. 90 songs were submitted to Sveriges Television for the competition. The final was broadcast on TV1 but was not...
, "Mona Lisa" and "Främling" ("Stranger"). "Främling" was chosen, and with it Häggkvist won the right to represent Sweden at that year's Eurovision Song Contest, in Munich. The song scored eight points, the highest possible mark, from all eleven juries. Häggkvist represented Sweden at Eurovision Song Contest 1983
Eurovision Song Contest 1983
The Eurovision Song Contest 1983, the 28th in the series, was held in Munich, then West Germany, on 23 April 1983. The presenter was Marlene Charell. Corinne Hermes was the winner of this Eurovision with the song, "Si la vie est cadeau". This was Luxembourg's fifth victory in the contest which...
on 23 April. She finished third in front of 6.1 million Swedish television viewers, 84% of the country's population. This is still a record in Sweden.
"Främling" became the title track to Häggkvist's debut album, which sold over one million copies, making it the biggest selling album in Swedish history. After Eurovision, Häggkvist embarked on a tour of European television programmes, promoting "Främling", and performing in it several languages: in English as "Love Isn't Love", in German as "Fremder", and in Dutch as "Je ogen hebben geen geheimen". The album contained hits like Mickey, Liv, Gloria and Tokyo. In December 1983, she released her first Christmas album: Julefrid med Carola. which sold in 200,000 copies. In 1984, Häggkvist release two top-selling pop/rock albums which together sold over 1 million copies. Tommy tycker om mig became a huge hit in Sweden, together with Hunger. She later travelled to Japan and recorded a single in Japanese. In 1985, Bee Gees
Bee Gees
The Bee Gees are a musical group that originally comprised three brothers: Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb. The trio was successful for most of their 40-plus years of recording music, but they had two distinct periods of exceptional success: as a pop act in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and as a...
collaborated with her on the album Runaway
Runaway (Carola album)
Runaway is an album from Swedish singer Carola Häggkvist, released on 12 May 1986 in Sweden and Norway. The album was produced by Maurice Gibb and written by him together with brothers Robin and Barry Gibb otherwise known as the Bee Gees...
, which was written by the Gibb brothers and produced by Maurice Gibb
Maurice Gibb
Maurice Ernest Gibb, CBE was a musician, singer-songwriter and record producer. He was born on the Isle of Man, the twin brother of Robin Gibb, and younger brother to Barry. He is best known as a member of the singing/songwriting trio the Bee Gees, formed with his brothers...
. The record sold double platinum when released in Sweden the following year. The Runaway, Brand New Heart, Spread your wings and Radiate became massive hits in Scandinavia. In 1987, Häggkvist embarked on a church tour with pianist Per-Erik Hallin. After this followed a career hiatus for the singer.
1990–1991: New image and independence: Eurovision victory
In 1990, she returned to Melodifestivalen, with "Mitt i ett äventyr" ("In the middle of an adventure"). The song finished second in the festival, failing to earn Häggkvist the right to represent Sweden at Eurovision. Edin-ÅdahlEdin-Ådahl
Edin-Ådahl were a Swedish CCM group from 1977 to 1994, composed of brothers Bertil & Lasse Edin and Simon & Frank Ådahl. The group are most well known for their 1990 hit "Som en vind" . It won the 1990 Melodifestivalen and went on to place sixteenth at the Eurovision Song Contest. The following...
won the event. Her comeback album was released titled Much More
Much more
Much More is an album by the Swedish singer Carola Häggkvist. The album contains among others the winning song from the Eurovision Song Contest 1991, "Fångad av en stormvind".-Swedish release:#"Every Beat of My Heart"...
, which earned a gold certificate in Sweden. However, Häggkvist and songwriter Stephan Berg
Stephan Berg
Stephan Berg is a Swedish composer. He was the writer of the Carola song Fångad av en stormvind, which won the Eurovision Song Contest in 1991. He has been director of the Kunstmuseum Bonn since April 2008...
had already begun planning another attempt at Eurovision.
In 1991, she returned to Melodifestivalen with "Fångad av en stormvind
Fångad av en stormvind
"Fångad av en stormvind" is a 1991 single by Swedish pop singer Carola which was the winning Swedish entry to the Eurovision Song Contest 1991 in Rome, with the smallest margin of victory since 1969....
" ("Captured by a lovestorm"). The song won the festival by thirty-two points and became the Swedish entry for the Eurovision Song Contest in Rome
Eurovision Song Contest 1991
The Eurovision Song Contest 1991 was the 36th Eurovision Song Contest and was held on 4 May 1991 in Rome. Due to the Gulf War and mounting tensions in Yugoslavia, RAI decided to move the contest from Sanremo to Rome, which was perceived to be more secure....
. British bookmakers considered Häggkvist second favourite to win the contest. On the night, with one voting jury left to announce their scores, three countries remained in contention to win the contest: Sweden, with 146 points; Israel, with 139; and France, with 134. Neither Israel nor Sweden won any points from the Italian jury, but France won twelve, leaving Sweden and France tied for first place with 146 at the conclusion of the voting. Sweden won the contest after a count-back, having received five ten-point scores during the voting, versus France's two. "Fångad av en stormvind" became a huge hit in Europe, and was followed by a compilation album, Hits, and a Christmas album, Jul. After her victory she released an international version of Much More and went on an enormous promotion tour throughout Europe. Her album spawned several hits, among them I'll live and All the reasons to live.
1992–2004: Albums, tours and musicals: Establishment as a singer
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
n pop artist to perform in China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
—in front of an estimated 600 million television viewers; she also released an album in China in 1992.
In 1992 and 1993, Rival International, released Carola's earlier albums on CD. She was originally signed to Mariann Records in Scandinavia.
After the tenth anniversary of her breakthrough in 1993, she recorded a gospel
Gospel music
Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....
album, My Tribute, which was released in sixteen countries, making her gospel artist of the year in the Netherlands in 1994. The album contains the hit-single My Tribute, one of Häggkvists most well-known songs. In 1994, Häggkvist released a rock-themed album, Personligt ("Personally"), marking her debut as a songwriter and sold gold. Så länge jag lever, Sanna Vänner and Guld i dina ögon became hits and received a great amount of radio airplay.
In 1995, Häggkvist made her debut as a musical actress, playing Maria in The Sound of Music
The Sound of Music
The Sound of Music is a musical by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It is based on the memoir of Maria von Trapp, The Story of the Trapp Family Singers...
; Tommy Körberg
Tommy Körberg
Bert Gustav Tommy Körberg is a Swedish singer, actor, and musician. In 1969, he won Swedish Recording Industry Award Grammis in a category Best Debut Performance. English-speaking audiences know him best for his role in the Benny Andersson–Björn Ulvaeus–Tim Rice musical Chess...
was the male lead. She played the role in 325 performances and won the prestigious Guldmasken ("Golden Mask") award. Three years later, she sang the theme song in the Norwegian
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
musical Sophie's World which was released on the album Songs from Sophie's World. Also in 1998, Häggkvist played the voice of Mirjam, in the Swedish version of The Prince of Egypt
The Prince of Egypt
The Prince of Egypt is a 1998 American animated musical drama film and the first traditionally animated film produced and released by DreamWorks Animation. The film is an adaptation of the Book of Exodus and follows the life of Moses from being a prince of Egypt to his ultimate destiny to lead the...
. In 2002, she made a short appearance as Fantine in Les Misérables
Les Misérables (musical)
Les Misérables , colloquially known as Les Mis or Les Miz , is a musical by Claude-Michel Schönberg, based on the novel of the same name by Victor Hugo....
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and five Scandinavian cities.
In November 1997, Häggkvist released another compilation album, De bästa av Carola ("The Best of Carola"), and with it several new singles like "Dreamer". Following this came an album of tracks penned by Lina Sandell
Lina Sandell
Lina Sandell was a Swedish writer of Gospel hymns.Born Karolina Wilhelmina Sandell in a rectory at Fröderyd, Småland, Sweden...
: Blott en dag ("Just One Day"). The album received excellent reviews and revealed Carola's passion for hymns. In 1999, another Christmas album was released: Jul i Betlehem ("Christmas in Bethlehem"). The album sold 600,000 units throughout Scandinavia, including 350,000 in Sweden. and became the biggest selling album of 1999. She also co-wrote the ballad Himlen i min famn which remains a popular Christmas song, often performed at different Christmas concerts. In the summer of 1999, she toured in the Rhapsody in Rock.
In 2001, she released Sov på min arm, an album based on Christian hymns, gospel melodies and intimate ballads. It became one of the most sold albums in Scandinavia that year. In 2002, she release the pop/country album My Show which received great reviews. The album, which marked Häggkvist's return to the pop scene, contained several hits such as The Light, I believe in love, which also topped the Estonian and Brazilian charts, and A Kiss Goodbye. Even though the album only peaked at number 6 on the Swedish album chart, it sold in 100,000 copies by the end of the year. In the summer, Häggkvist embarked on a huge and luxurious Scandinavien tour.
In 2003, Häggkvist submitted a song, "Autumn Leaf", for Melodifestivalen 2003
Melodifestivalen 2003
Melodifestivalen 2003 was the selection for the 43rd song to represent Sweden at the Eurovision Song Contest. It was the 42nd time that this system of picking a song had been used. Five semifinals had taken place to select the ten songs for the final, in Jönköping, Gothenburg, Luleå, Sundsvall and...
. Having performed the demo, she was required to perform the song when it qualified for the competition. Häggkvist decided against, and the song was disqualified from the competition. "Autumn Leaf" appeared on Häggkvist's next album, Guld, platina & passion
Guld, platina & passion
Guld, platina & passion is an album by the Swedish singer Carola Häggkvist. It was released in May 2003 in Sweden and Norway. On the album charts, the album peaked at number 1 in Sweden and number 5 in Norway...
, in Swedish as "När löven faller" ("When the leaves fall"). The ballad became an enormous hit. Guld, platina & passion
Guld, platina & passion
Guld, platina & passion is an album by the Swedish singer Carola Häggkvist. It was released in May 2003 in Sweden and Norway. On the album charts, the album peaked at number 1 in Sweden and number 5 in Norway...
topped the Swedish charts for over a year and sold in over 300,000 copies. She also recorded her favorite Elvis Presley songs, Walk a mile in my shoes and If I can dream. The following year, Häggkvist released a religious album, Credo
Credo (Carola album)
Credo is an album by the Swedish singer Carola Häggkvist. It was released in May 2004 in Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Norway. On the album charts, the album peaked at number 2 in Sweden.-Track listing:*01. Ditt ord består...
, which she described as "an expression of my love for God". The album peaked at spot 2 on the Swedish album chart. This was followed by Störst av allt
Störst av allt
Störst av allt is an album by the Swedish singer Carola Häggkvist. On the album charts, the album peaked at number 1 in Sweden and number 16 in Norway.-Track listing:*01. Störst av allt...
, which Dan Backman of Svenska Dagbladet
Svenska Dagbladet
Svenska Dagbladet is a daily newspaper in Sweden. The first issue appeared on 18 December 1884. Svenska Dagbladet is published in Stockholm and provides coverage of national and international news as well as local coverage of the Greater Stockholm region...
wrote featured "spiritually aimed music…revolving around belonging, love, death and eternity". Genom Allt became a huge radio hit in Sweden and the soul ballad Allt kommer bli bra mamma, a dedication to her deceased mother, became popular within religious events.
2005–present: Return to contest
Having performed as part of the interval act at Melodifestivalen 2005Melodifestivalen 2005
Melodifestivalen 2005 was the selection for the 45th song to represent Sweden at the Eurovision Song Contest. It was the 44th time that this system of picking a song had been used. Five semifinals had taken place to select the ten songs for the final, in Gothenburg, Linköping, Skellefteå, Växjö and...
, Häggkvist confirmed that she would return to the competition in 2006. She performed "Evighet" ("Eternity"), written by Bobby Ljunggren
Bobby Ljunggren
Bobby Ljunggren is a Swedish songwriter. He has entered the Eurovision Song Contest as a composer six times, five times for his native Sweden , and once for Lithuania, in 2005. He is a veteran of the Melodifestivalen competition, with 39 entries...
, Henrik Wikström and Thomas G:son
Thomas G:son
Thomas Gustafsson is a Swedish composer and musician from Skövde, Västergötland, Sweden, north-east of Göteborg. However, he is much more known nationally and internationally simply as Thomas G:son, his artistic name. Since 1998, Thomas has worked full time as a songwriter for the company G:songs...
, which she described as a "true winning song." The song qualified from the semifinal in Gothenburg on 11 March 2006, and was widely tipped to win the festival outright as the final at the Stockholm Globe Arena
Stockholm Globe Arena
The Ericsson Globe is the national indoor arena of Sweden, located in the Johanneshov district of Stockholm . The Ericsson Globe is currently the largest hemispherical building in the world and took two and a half years to build...
approached. Despite finishing second with the regional juries to Andreas Johnson
Andreas Johnson
Andreas Johnson is a Swedish pop/rock singer-songwriter and musician.-Career:...
, "Evighet" won the competition with 232 points. Prior to the contest, Carola visited 12 countries where she promoted her song. Invincible received a large amount of air play on the radios in these countries. The song qualified from the semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest in Athens, in English as "Invincible
Invincible (Eurovision song)
"Invincible" is the name of the 2006 Eurovision Song Contest entry from Sweden, sung by Carola Häggkvist. Being one of the favourites to win, it ended up finishing 5th out of 24....
". Häggkvist in the end finished fifth out of twenty-four with 170 points. This placing also made her the secondmost artist in the history of Eurovision, counting by total points earned in her performances, with her three songs scoring a total of 442 points. She's only behind Dima Bilan
Dima Bilan
' is a Russian actor and pop singer . Bilan represented Russia at the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 with "Never Let You Go", finishing second, and he won the contest in 2008 in Belgrade, with the song "Believe". He has had several Russian no. 1 hits....
, the 2006 runner up and 2008 winner.
Following Melodifestivalen, Häggkvist released a pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
, Från nu till evighet
Från nu till evighet
Från nu till evighet is an album by the Swedish singer Carola Häggkvist. It was released in May 2006 in Sweden and Norway. On the album charts, the album peaked at number 1 in Sweden, number 22 in Finland and number 25 in Norway.-Track listing:...
("From Now to Eternity"). Lennart Wrigholm reviewed the album for Musiklandet; he criticised the amount of new material on the album: "Has this old lady really got such a workload that she cannot put more than ten new tracks on her album?" and wrote that the inclusion of the English version of "Evighet" as a bonus track was "an insult to the potential buyer". On the other hand, Expressen
Expressen
Expressen is one of two nationwide evening tabloid newspapers in Sweden, the other being Aftonbladet. Expressen was founded in 1944; its symbol is a wasp and slogans "it stings" or "Expressen to your rescue", always on the reader's side....
Andrea Bocelli
Andrea Bocelli, is an Italian tenor, multi-instrumentalist and classical crossover artist. Born with poor eyesight, he became blind at the age of twelve following a soccer accident....
, with the Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
tenor
Tenor
The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...
.
In late 2007, Häggkvist released another Christmas album, I denna natt blir världen ny ("There is a New World This Night"), a sequel to Jul i Betlehem. The album featured songs in Swedish and English, and was recorded in Jerusalem in June 2007. Stefan Malmqvist of Svenska Dagbladet
Svenska Dagbladet
Svenska Dagbladet is a daily newspaper in Sweden. The first issue appeared on 18 December 1884. Svenska Dagbladet is published in Stockholm and provides coverage of national and international news as well as local coverage of the Greater Stockholm region...
wrote that, like in previous Christmas albums, Häggkvist is "a saccharine version of herself" when singing Christmas carol
Christmas carol
A Christmas carol is a carol whose lyrics are on the theme of Christmas or the winter season in general and which are traditionally sung in the period before Christmas.-History:...
s. The album was reported to have sold in 90,000 copies. Included on the album was the gospel song Go and Tell It on the Mountain
Go Tell It on the Mountain (song)
"Go Tell It on the Mountain" is an African-American spiritual song, compiled by John Wesley Work, Jr., dating back to at least 1865, that has been sung and recorded by many gospel and secular performers...
. After the release she toured Scandinavia.
Carola entered Melodifestivalen 2008 as part of the duo Johnson & Häggkvist with Andreas Johnson
Andreas Johnson
Andreas Johnson is a Swedish pop/rock singer-songwriter and musician.-Career:...
. Their first single was called Lucky Star which became popular on the radio. In the melodifestival in February, they sang "One Love
One Love (Johnson & Häggkvist song)
One Love is a song by Swedish singers Carola Häggkvist & Andreas Johnson. It was their Melodifestivalen 2008 entry, but failed in "Andra Chansen", the Second Chance round.-Release history:-External links:*...
", written by Carola, Johnson and Peter Kvint. They were the early favourites to win the whole show, taking part in the second qualifier. They qualified for the Second Chance round, missing out on an automatic final spot. Though widely tipped to qualify for the final after all, they did not even proceed from the first voting round in the Second Chance programme. Although One Love did not become an enormous success, the song Lucky Star which they released a few months prior to the contest did sell well, and topped the Swedish charts for weeks. Carola decided to take it easy the rest of the year, but did embark on a small Christmas tour at the end of the year. In 2009, Carola was reportedly working on her upcoming album, and other projects. She went to the United States to record some new material. She departed from her recording company and signed a contract with X5 Music Group, in which she aims to transfer her music abroad through the internet. In June, she hosted Carola Camp, a camp designed to help talented young singers and entertainers. In May, she performed at the Eurovision Song Contest held in Moscow at the kick-off ceremony, performing her 3 Eurovision songs. In July, she performed, together with the Eurovision winner Alexander Rybak
Alexander Rybak
Alexander Igoryevich Rybak or in Belarusian Alyaksandr Igaravich Rybak , born 13 May 1986 in Byelorussian SSR is a Norwegian singer-composer, violinist, pianist, writer, and actor...
in Norway and sang "Fairytale
Fairytale (Alexander Rybak song)
"Fairytale" is a song written and composed by Norwegian violinist/singer Alexander Rybak, and the first single from Rybak's debut album Fairytales...
" and "Främling
Främling (song)
"Främling" , written by Lasse Holm and Monica Forsberg and arranged by Lennart Sjöholm, was the song performed by the 16-year-old Carola Häggkvist which won the Swedish Melodifestivalen 1983....
" and The Jackson 5's "I'll Be There".
At the end of 2009, she released the album Christmas in Bethlehem, which contained duets with artists like Paul Potts. She embarked on yet another Christmas tour, visiting Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland. She also launched her new website.
Elvis, Barbra och Jag
In the Summer of 2010, Carola embarked on tour across Sweden, singing the hits of both Elvis Presley and Barbra Streisand. The influence came from Carola's childhood, where her father and her mother would play records by both their favourite artists. The tour was an instant success, selling out and becoming one of the few tours to sell out that year. She took time out from the tour to appear on Allsang pa Skansen, and in March 2011 she released a studio album, containing twelve songs.Personal life and media attention
Her status as one of the most popular national celebrities of her country made her more or less constantly followed by the tabloid press. She has often talked about her ChristianChristian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
faith and much of the focus has been around her membership in the evangelical church Livets Ord
Livets Ord
Livets Ord, literally Word of the Life, is the largest parish within the Swedish Word of Faith movement. The parish was founded in Uppsala by Ulf Ekman on May 24, 1983, who also served as its leader until 2000. Ekman passed on the local pastorship in Uppsala to Robert Ekh that year and instead...
(Life's Word).
She was married to Runar Søgaard
Runar Søgaard
Runar Søgaard is a Norwegian leadership trainer, life-coach and a motivational speaker.In May 2004 he created some reaction during a speech in Stockholm, by saying that Muhammad had been a pedophile - see also criticism of Muhammad#Aisha...
, a Norwegian Christian preacher, with whom she has a son, Amadeus, which means "Loves God". Her parents both died in 2004.
Controversy regarding opinions on homosexuality
In an interview in 2002 for the Swedish gay magazine QXQX
QX may refer to:* Horizon Air, an airline* QX , a magazine in Scandinavia for LGBT people* QX , a free weekly magazine distributed in London and Brighton for LGBT people* Epson QX-10 or QX-16, a computer...
, she alienated many gay and some heterosexual fans by alleging that she knows homosexual people who have become heterosexual through prayers. She also said that homosexuality would always remain "unnatural" to her.
Four years later, her comment was brought up when she participated in the Swedish national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest
Eurovision Song Contest
The Eurovision Song Contest is an annual competition held among active member countries of the European Broadcasting Union .Each member country submits a song to be performed on live television and then casts votes for the other countries' songs to determine the most popular song in the competition...
in March 2006. During a press conference a journalist tried to ask her if she still had the same opinion. According to the Swedish newspaper Expressen
Expressen
Expressen is one of two nationwide evening tabloid newspapers in Sweden, the other being Aftonbladet. Expressen was founded in 1944; its symbol is a wasp and slogans "it stings" or "Expressen to your rescue", always on the reader's side....
, Carola did not answer the question because her advisors told her to keep quiet because answering questions about her stance on homosexuality could cost her the trip to Athens and could also cause a lot of embarrassment and negative media attention.
On March 15, 2006, Rickard Engfors
Rickard Engfors
Rickard Engfors is a Swedish drag queen, model, and stylist.His career began in 1996 as an artist in Swedish drag troupe After Dark and he was quickly appointed to "Christer Lindarws crown prince" and was also known as "Sweden's best looking girl"...
, who is gay and Carola's cooperating partner during the Melodifestivalen
Melodifestivalen
Melodifestivalen is an annual music competition organised by Swedish public broadcasters Sveriges Television and Sveriges Radio . It determines the country's representative for the Eurovision Song Contest, and has been staged almost every year since 1959...
and Eurovision Song Contest 2006
Eurovision Song Contest 2006
The Eurovision Song Contest 2006 was the 51st Eurovision Song Contest, held at the Olympic Indoor Hall in Athens, Greece on 18 May and 20 May 2006 . The hosting national broadcaster of the contest was Ellinikí Radiofonía Tileórasi . The Finnish band Lordi won the contest with the song "Hard Rock...
, said "Carola doesn't hate gays. If she did, I wouldn't work for her. She is a fantastic person."
During an exclusive interview for one of the Eurovision-related websites before the 2006 contest, Carola was also questioned about this, and stated that she "would love for every gay person to feel that she loves them" and that she does not think that "being gay is a sickness". She went on to criticize the tabloids for misinterpreting her original words and making an issue out of it. Later in the interview, she also commented on one of her supporting dancers being gay and his boyfriend being "great".
In 2008, she spoke to the newspaper Aftonbladet
Aftonbladet
Aftonbladet is a Swedish tabloid founded by Lars Johan Hierta in 1830 during the modernization of Sweden. It is one of the larger daily newspapers in the Nordic countries. Aftonbladet is owned by the Swedish Trade Union Confederation and Norwegian media group Schibsted, and its editorial page...
and again revisited her opinions about homosexuality, which she insisted have evolved over the past two decades and are now very inclusive. She said, "I actually invited gays from QX to my 25 year anniversary [concert], but QX turned it down. So what can I do? I love all people. I love the gays. So I think that I am definitely not homophobic in any way. We are here for the music and I have no wacky opinions. And I feel love from the homosexuals too."