Per Erik Magnus Grönwall (born 3 December 1987) is a Swedish

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...

and heavy metal singer. In 2009, he won the Swedish ''

Idol Idol or Idols may refer to: Religion and philosophy * Cult image, a neutral term for a man-made object that is worshipped or venerated for the deity, spirit or demon that it embodies or represents * Murti, a point of focus for devotion or medit ...

'' reality television. During several of the shows, he received

standing ovation A standing ovation is a form of applause where members of a seated audience stand up while applauding after extraordinary performances of particularly high acclaim. In Ancient Rome returning military commanders (such as Marcus Licinius Crassus a ...

s from the jury for his performances. His first single, " Higher", sold gold on digital downloads after only three days. His debut album, self-titled ''

Erik Grönwall Per Erik Magnus Grönwall (born 3 December 1987) is a Swedish hard rock and heavy metal singer. In 2009, he won the Swedish ''Idol'' reality television. During several of the shows, he received standing ovations from the jury for his performan ...

'', was released just ten days after the finals and debuted at number one on the

Swedish albums chart Sverigetopplistan (, lit. "the Sweden top list") is the Swedish national record chart, formerly known as Topplistan (1975–1997) and Hitlistan (1998–2007) and known by its current name since October 2007, based on sales data from the Swedish R ...

and was certified platinum. In 2012, Grönwall joined rock band

H.E.A.T H.E.A.T is a Swedish hard rock group that was formed in Upplands Väsby in 2007, when the prior bands Dream and Trading Fate merged. Currently fronted by Kenny Leckremo, the band's heavy sound is strongly influenced by past melodic rock groups ...

as lead singer. Altogether as a solo artist and band member, Grönwall has numerous top 40 hits. In 2018, he portrayed

Simon Zealotes Simon the Zealot (, ) or Simon the Canaanite or Simon the Canaanean (, ; grc-gre, Σίμων ὁ Κανανίτης; cop, ⲥⲓⲙⲱⲛ ⲡⲓ-ⲕⲁⲛⲁⲛⲉⲟⲥ; syc, ܫܡܥܘܢ ܩܢܢܝܐ) was one of the most obscure among the apostl ...

in the NBC live television concert production of

Andrew Lloyd Webber Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber (born 22 March 1948), is an English composer and impresario of musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 21 musicals, ...

and

Tim Rice Sir Timothy Miles Bindon Rice (born 10 November 1944) is an English lyricist and author. He is best known for his collaborations with Andrew Lloyd Webber, with whom he wrote, among other shows, ''Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat'', ' ...

's ''

Jesus Christ Superstar ''Jesus Christ Superstar'' is a sung-through rock opera with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice. Loosely based on the Gospels' accounts of the Passion, the work interprets the psychology of Jesus and other characters, with ...

'', in which he received Grammy nomination for in the Best Musical Theater Album category. He left H.E.A.T in 2020 after four albums with the band, and in 2022 joined

Skid Row A skid row or skid road is an impoverished area, typically urban, in English-speaking North America whose inhabitants are mostly poor people " on the skids". This specifically refers to poor or homeless, considered disreputable, downtrodden or fo ...

Career

Early life

Erik was born in

Knivsta Knivsta is a locality and the seat of Knivsta Municipality, Uppsala County, Sweden with 19,765 inhabitants. Geography The town sits on the Stockholm-Uppsala railway 48 km north from Stockholm and 18 km south from Uppsala, and has a s ...

, a small town about 30 miles north of

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

. He started his musical career by playing the guitar in a local punk/rock band. During high school, his focus went from mostly playing the guitar to singing. He became the lead singer and rhythm guitarist of the metalband RAID from north-eastern Stockholm and played with them until summer 2008. His future as a singer really took shape for the first time as he performed the leading role as Galileo Figaro in the

Queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

musical ''

We Will Rock You "We Will Rock You" is a song written by Brian May and recorded by British rock band Queen for their 1977 album ''News of the World''. ''Rolling Stone'' ranked it number 330 of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" in 2004, and it placed at numbe ...

'', doing a number of shows at Oscarsteatern in Stockholm. Aggressive, charismatic hard rock frontmen such as

Paul Stanley Paul Stanley (born Stanley Bert Eisen; January 20, 1952) is an American musician who is the co-founder, frontman, rhythm guitarist and co-lead vocalist of the hard rock band Kiss. He is the writer or co-writer of many of the band's most popular ...

(of

Kiss A kiss is the touch or pressing of one's lips against another person or an object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely. Depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sexual attraction, ...

) and

Freddie Mercury Freddie Mercury (born Farrokh Bulsara; 5 September 1946 – 24 November 1991) was a British singer and songwriter, who achieved worldwide fame as the lead vocalist of the rock band Queen. Regarded as one of the greatest singers in the ...

(of

) proved huge influences on Grönwall.

''Swedish Idol 2009''

Grönwall first auditioned for Swedish Idol in 2007, but he did not reach the final auditions at that time. In 2009, he came back, and made quite an impression on the jury who reacted with a mix of crying and laughing after his audition singing Skid Row's "18 and Life". Grönwall performed several rock songs during the show (

– " Shout It Out Loud",

Iron Maiden Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. While fluid in the early years of the band, the lineup for most of the band's history has consisted of Harri ...

– "

Run to the Hills "Run to the Hills" is a song by the English heavy metal band Iron Maiden. It was released as their sixth single and the first from the band's third studio album, '' The Number of the Beast'' (1982). It is their first single with Bruce Dickinson ...

" and

– "

The Show Must Go On "The show must go on" is a phrase in show business, meaning that regardless of what happens, whatever show has been planned still has to be staged for the waiting patrons. There is no evidence to suggest that it is the abbreviation of a longer phra ...

"). He subsequently won the competition.

After ''Idol''

Immediately following Idol, Grönwall released his debut single, "Higher", which debuted at number one on

Sverigetopplistan Sverigetopplistan (, lit. "the Sweden top list") is the Swedish national record chart, formerly known as Topplistan (1975–1997) and Hitlistan (1998–2007) and known by its current name since October 2007, based on sales data from the Swedish R ...

. One week later, his self-titled debut album "Erik Grönwall" was released, which included songs performed during the Idol shows. The album made it right into the number one spot on Sverigetopplistan. The album has been certified with platinum. In 2009, Grönwall began working on his second studio album titled " Somewhere Between a Rock and a Hard Place" scheduled to be released on 2 June 2010. The lead single for the album, "Crash and Burn", was released on 19 April 2010. The album included songs written by Joey Tempest, Paul Stanley, Jörgen Elofsson, Nicke Borg, etc. He made his acting debut in America in the live televised concert rendition of

and

's ''

'' as the

apostle An apostle (), in its literal sense, is an emissary, from Ancient Greek ἀπόστολος (''apóstolos''), literally "one who is sent off", from the verb ἀποστέλλειν (''apostéllein''), "to send off". The purpose of such sending ...

on 1 April 2018, Easter Sunday.

H.E.A.T

Following the departure of former vocalist Kenny Leckremo in 2010, Grönwall joined Swedish rock band

as lead vocalist. In 2012, they released the album ''

Address the Nation ''Address the Nation'' is the third studio album by the Swedish rock group H.E.A.T and first album with the vocalist Erik Grönwall, released in 2012 by the record company Gain/Sony Music. In January 2013, Dave Ling of ''Classic Rock'' named ''Add ...

''. It was listed number one on the rock charts and was well received by critics. In 2013 H.E.A.T started recording their album, ''

Tearing Down the Walls ''Tearing Down the Walls'' is the third studio album by American singer, actress and musician, E. G. Daily, which was released in 1999. Background ''Tearing Down the Walls'' was Daily's first album since 1989's '' Lace Around the Wound''. After ...

'', which was released in 2014. The band subsequently started their tour with the album. They have played all over the world and been the opening act for bands like

Scorpions Scorpions are predatory arachnids of the order Scorpiones. They have eight legs, and are easily recognized by a pair of grasping pincers and a narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic forward curve over the back and always end ...

. In late 2020, Grönwall left H.E.A.T after four albums with the band, and former vocalist Kenny Leckremo rejoined.

New Horizon

In 2021, it was announced that Grönwall and former bandmate Jona Tee had a new project going, the power metal band New Horizon. Official audio of the track ''We Unite'' dropped online on 29 November 2021. Already signed to

Frontiers Records Frontiers Music – formerly Frontiers Records – is an Italian record label, predominantly producing hard rock. It was founded in 1996 by Serafino Perugino and is based in Naples. History In 1996, Serafino Perugino started working in the m ...

, they will have their debut album ''Gate of the God''s out in early 2022. A video for the track was launched on 5 January 2022, featuring project guest musicians Robban Bäck (Mustasch, ex-Eclipse, ex-Sabaton, ex-Ammunition) and Dave Dalone (also former bandmate in H.E.A.T.) among others.

Skid Row

In March 2022 Grönwall announced that he would be joining American heavy metal band

as their new vocalist, replacing ZP Theart.

Discography

Solo

* ''

'' (2009) * '' Somewhere Between a Rock and a Hard Place'' (2010)

H.E.A.T

* ''

'' (2012) * ''

'' (2014) * ''

Into the Great Unknown ''Into the Great Unknown'' is the fifth studio album by Swedish melodic hard rock band H.E.A.T. Released worldwide on 22 September 2017 by the label Gain (working with Sony Music) and produced by Tobias Lindell. The album has received praise f ...

'' (2017) * '' H.E.A.T. II'' (2020)

New Horizon

* ''Gate of the Gods'' (2022)

Skid Row

* '' The Gang’s All Here'' (2022)

Singles

Other charted songs

References

External links

Official website
(archived) {{DEFAULTSORT:Gronwall, Erik 1987 births Living people People from Knivsta Municipality Idol (Swedish TV series) winners 21st-century Swedish singers 21st-century Swedish male singers Skid Row (American band) members