Jan Lars Persson (born 3 October 1947), known by his stage name Janne Lucas, is a Swedish singer, songwriter and musician. He is best known as the lead vocalist and primary lyricist of pop band Lucas.

Early life

Janne Lucas was born Jan Persson in Gothenburg, Sweden, on 3 October 1947. As a child, he spent time in Frillesås, where his grandparents lived.

Career

1965–1969: Lucas

At the age of 18, Persson formed a pop group, Lucas. The group's name came from one of Persson's friends who thought that if you could call a pop group something as

Tages Tages was claimed as a founding prophet of Etruscan religion who is known from reports by Latin authors of the late Roman Republic and Roman Empire. He revealed a cosmic view of divinity and correct methods of ascertaining divine will concerni ...

, Lucas would work as a name too. The group was characterized by his skilful piano playing and singing. The group's breakthrough came two years later, in 1967, when they won Sveriges Radio's Pop Band Competition, and charted on ''

Tio i Topp ''Tio i Topp'' (English: ''Ten At The Top'') was a Swedish record chart and radio program broadcast by Sveriges Radio P3 between the years of 1961 and 1974. It was launched to combat pirate radio charts and was the first official Swedish record ...

'' with the song "Antisocial Season". The band had its first success with a cover version of

The Moody Blues The Moody Blues were an English rock music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1964, initially consisting of keyboardist Mike Pinder, multi-instrumentalist Ray Thomas, guitarist Denny Laine, drummer Graeme Edge and bassist Clint Warwick. The g ...

' song "

Go Now "Go Now" is a song composed by Larry Banks and Milton Bennett and first recorded by Bessie Banks, released as a single in January 1964. The best-known version was recorded by the Moody Blues and released the same year. Bessie Banks version The ...

", originally written by

Bessie Banks Bessie Banks (born February 8, 1938) is an American soul singer, best known for her original 1964 recording of " Go Now," successfully covered in the same year by UK band the Moody Blues. Life and career She was born Bessie White in New Bern, ...

in 1964. Lucas' single was one of the most popular songs in Sweden in 1968. The song peaked at No. 2 on ''Tio i Topp'' where it stayed for 8 weeks. Later in 1967, the Swedish newspaper ''

Bildjournalen ''Bildjournalen'' ( Swedish: ''The Picture Journal'') was a youth magazine published from 1954 to 1969. It was first youth magazine of Sweden. During its existence it was the most popular magazine in its category. History and profile ''Bildjourn ...

'' released its own vinyl record, on which Lucas was featured with their song "Touring". The band made several successful tours in

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Swe ...

throughout their career, playing as an opening act for

The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the g ...

Helsingborg Helsingborg (, , , ) is a city and the seat of Helsingborg Municipality, Scania (Skåne), Sweden. It is the second-largest city in Scania (after Malmö) and ninth-largest in Sweden, with a population of 113,816 (2020). Helsingborg is the cent ...

and for Jimi Hendrix at

Liseberg Liseberg is an amusement park located in Gothenburg, Sweden, that opened in 1923. It is one of the most visited amusement parks in Scandinavia, attracting about three million visitors annually. Among the noteworthy attractions is the wooden roll ...

. As pop bands became less popular in the late 1960s, Lucas disbanded in 1969.

1969–present: Solo career

As Lucas disbanded in 1969, Persson pursued a solo career. Persson played the piano on

Pugh Rogefeldt Pugh Rogefeldt, real name Anders Sture Torbjörn Rogefeldt (, ; born 2 March 1947 in Västerås, Sweden), is a Swedish singer, musician, guitarist and songwriter. Musical career Rogefeldt made his breakthrough in the late 1960s with albums such ...

's 1973 album ''Pugh on the Rocks''. In the early 1970s, Persson moved to

Las Palmas Las Palmas (, ; ), officially Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, is a Spanish city and capital of Gran Canaria, in the Canary Islands, on the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital (jointly with Santa Cruz de Tenerife), the most populous city in the auto ...

where he played the piano in the house band of a whiskey club. The Swedish music manager

Stig Anderson Stig Erik Leopold Anderson (25 January 1931 – 12 September 1997), better known as Stikkan Anderson, was a Swedish music manager, lyricist and music publisher. He was the co-founder of Polar Music, and is best known for managing the Sw ...

contacted Persson, who wanted him to go on a summer tour together with

Ted Gärdestad Ted Arnbjörn Gärdestad (; 18 February 195622 June 1997) was a Swedish singer, songwriter, musician and actor known internationally as Ted. Gärdestad began his acting career in 1966 and began playing music in 1971, signing with Polar Music. As ...

and Lena Andersson. Persson accepted and returned to Sweden. Janne Lucas participated at

Melodifestivalen 1980 For the Eurovision Song Contest 1980, 25th Eurovision Song Contest, the Sweden, Swedish entry was chosen in the national selection Melodifestivalen 1980. Tomas Ledin won with the song "Just nu!", which he had written himself. Before Eurovision ...

with the song "

Växeln hallå "Växeln hallå" is a song written by Lasse Holm (music) and Gert Lengstrand (lyrics), and performed by Janne "Lucas" Persson ending up 2nd at Melodifestivalen 1980. The single peaked at 6th place at the Swedish singles chart. The song also sta ...

", coming in second. The upcoming year he participated with the song "

Rocky Mountain The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico in ...

", ending up third. For many years, Janne Lucas also acted as pianist for ''Vi i femman''. Janne also accompanied the vocal group Noviserna for a while, where Anna-Lisa Cederquist participated. In a

issue was a commercial record with, among others, the band Lucas and the song ''One Night Stand''. On 6 November 2009, he participated at

Doobidoo ''Doobidoo'' is a Swedish musical game show first aired on 26 August 2005 on the public service network SVT. There is also a Polish, TVP2, version called ''Dubidu'' - show host Piotr Gasowski - and an Australian version that goes by ''You may ...

in SVT, playing "Växeln hallå" on the piano. He is also the choral director for the Onsala and Mölnlycke Gospel Choir.

Discography

Solo * ''Grand Piano'' (1973) * ''Ad Lib'' (1977) * ''Born to Rock'' (1978) * ''Solfeggietto'' (1978) * ''Rocky Mountain'' (1981) * ''Boeves psalm'' (1982) * ''Jag vill, jag törs, jag kan (1984) * ''White Christmas'' (1988) Lucas * ''Lucas'' (1969)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Persson, Janne Lucas 1947 births Living people 20th-century classical composers 20th-century Swedish composers 20th-century Swedish singers 21st-century classical composers 21st-century Swedish composers 21st-century Swedish singers Swedish male pianists Swedish classical composers Swedish male singers Swedish male singer-songwriters Swedish singer-songwriters Swedish multi-instrumentalists Swedish pop pianists Swedish pop rock singers Swedish pop singers Swedish rock keyboardists Swedish rock pianists Swedish rock singers Musicians from Gothenburg Singers from Gothenburg