John Gunnar Levén (born 25 October 1963 in

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 ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

) is a Swedish

bassist A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a Bass (instrument), bass instrument such as a double bass (upright bass, contrabass, wood bass), bass guitar (electric bass, acoustic bass), synthbass, keyboar ...

in the Swedish

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

. Levén and vocalist

Joey Tempest Rolf Magnus Joakim Larsson (born 19 August 1963), known professionally as Joey Tempest, is a Swedish singer best known as the lead vocalist of the rock band Europe. He has written the band's great hits such as " The Final Countdown", " Rock the ...

are the only band members who have performed on all of Europe's studio albums.

Career

When Levén was 7 years old, he and his family moved to the

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separate ...

Upplands Väsby Upplands Väsby () is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality and the seat of Upplands Väsby Municipality, Stockholm County, Sweden with 149,463 inhabitants in 2020. History The municipality has a long history with clear traces of settlements from t ...

, where several members of Europe grew up. He joined the band in 1981, replacing Peter Olsson. In 1985 Levén was the one who suggested that Tempest should write a song based on an old keyboard riff that the vocalist had written around 1981-82. The result was the song " The Final Countdown". After Europe went on hiatus in 1992, Levén recorded and toured with bands like

Brazen Abbot Brazen Abbot is a Finnish rock band. Originally a studio project of Bulgarian guitarist, producer and song writer Nikolo Kotzev, who is a Finnish resident, the band has since made several live performances. One of the defining aspects of Bra ...

Clockwise Two-dimensional rotation can occur in two possible directions. Clockwise motion (abbreviated CW) proceeds in the same direction as a clock's hands: from the top to the right, then down and then to the left, and back up to the top. The opposite ...

Last Autumn's Dream Last Autumn's Dream is a hard rock band formed in 2002 by vocalist and keyboardist Mikael Erlandsson from Sweden and guitarist Andy Malecek from the German hard rock band Fair Warning. When searching for other band members, they asked bassist Joh ...

, Southpaw, Europe colleague

John Norum John Norum (born 23 February 1964) is a Norwegian-Swedish guitarist and one of the founders of the rock band Europe. Concurrent to his role with Europe, he also maintains a career as a solo artist. Biography As an infant, Norum moved with his p ...

and former

Black Sabbath Black Sabbath were an English rock music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. They are often cited as pioneers of heavy met ...

Deep Purple Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in London in 1968. They are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal music, heavy metal and modern hard rock music, but their musical style has changed over the course of its existence. Ori ...

vocalist Glenn Hughes. Europe reunited in 2003, and Levén co-wrote the single " Always the Pretenders" from the 2006 album '' Secret Society'', with Tempest. He also co-wrote the song "The Beast" on the 2009 album ''

Last Look at Eden A last is a mechanical form shaped like a human foot. It is used by Shoemaking, shoemakers and cordwainers in the manufacture and repair of shoes. Lasts typically come in pairs and have been made from various materials, including hardwoods, cas ...

''.

Personal life

Levén has three sons, Daniel, Alex and Adrian. John Levén's official Facebook page
/ref>

Discography

Europe

*''

'' (1983) *''

Wings of Tomorrow ''Wings of Tomorrow'' is the second studio album by the Swedish heavy metal band Europe. It was released on 24 February 1984, by Hot Records. ''Wings of Tomorrow'' is the last album to feature drummer Tony Reno. The song "Scream of Anger" w ...

'' (1984) *'' The Final Countdown'' (1986) *'' Out of This World'' (1988) *''

Prisoners in Paradise ''Prisoners in Paradise'' is the fifth studio album by the Swedish rock band Europe. It was released on 23 September 1991 by Epic Records and spawned hits such as the title track, "Prisoners in Paradise" and "I'll Cry for You". The album did ...

'' (1991) *''

Start from the Dark ''Start from the Dark'' is the sixth studio album by the Swedish rock band Europe. It was released on 22 September 2004 by Sanctuary Records. It was the band's first release since reforming in 2003, the first original album of all-new material s ...

'' (2004) *'' Secret Society'' (2006) *''

'' (2009) *''

Bag of Bones ''Bag of Bones'' is a 1998 horror novel by American writer Stephen King. It focuses on an author who suffers severe writer's block and delusions at an isolated lake house four years after the death of his wife. It won the 1999 Bram Stoker Awar ...

'' (2012) *''

War of Kings "War of Kings" is a comic book Fictional crossover, crossover storyline written by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning, published by Marvel Comics, and set in Marvel's main shared universe, shared Marvel Universe, universe. The six-issue limited series w ...

'' (2015) *''

Walk the Earth ''Walk the Earth'' is the eleventh studio album by the Swedish rock band Europe. It was released on 20 October 2017. The album was produced by Dave Cobb and recorded at Abbey Road Studios in London. Background The album was recorded in Abbey Ro ...

'' (2017)

Other artists

* Glenn Hughes - '' From Now On...'' (1994) * Glenn Hughes - '' Burning Japan Live'' (1994) * Thin Lizzy Tribute - ''The Lizzy Songs'' (1995) * Johansson Brothers - ''Sonic Winter'' (1996) *

- ''Eye of the Storm'' (1996) *

- ''Nostalgia'' (1996) * Brazen Abbot - ''Bad Religion'' (1997) *

- ''Naïve'' (1998) * Southpaw - ''Southpaw'' (1998) *

Thore Skogman Elof Lars "Thore" Skogman (9 March 1931 – 9 December 2007) was a popular Swedish singer, songwriter, actor and entertainer. Skogman was born in Hallstahammar, Sweden. While working as an accountant and sales manager during the 1950s, he made ...

- ''Än Är Det Drag'' (1998) *

Nikolo Kotzev Nikolo Kotzev ( bg, Николо Коцев) (born 6 June 1961) is a Bulgarian guitarist, violinist, songwriter and producer, perhaps most famous for his 2001 rock opera ''Nostradamus'' and his band Brazen Abbot. Biography Kotzev was born in P ...

- '' Nikolo Kotzev's Nostradamus'' (2001) * Brazen Abbot - ''Guilty as Sin'' (2003) *

- ''Last Autumn's Dream'' (2003) *

Jayce Landberg Erik Jayce Landberg is a Swedish guitar virtuoso, composer, record producer, multi-instrumentalist, lyricist, poet, novelist, photographer and video director. Early life Landberg was born in Switzerland in 1987 and grew up between Stockholm, S ...

''Good Sleepless Night''
(2010) * Crowne - Kings in the North (2021)

References

External links

Europe's Official Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leven, John 1963 births Living people Musicians from Stockholm Europe (band) members Swedish bass guitarists Swedish heavy metal bass guitarists Swedish male musicians Brazen Abbot members Last Autumn's Dream members Clockwise (band) members