Owe Thörnqvist (born 12 March 1929 in

Uppsala Uppsala (, or all ending in , ; archaically spelled ''Upsala'') is the county seat of Uppsala County and the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, fourth-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö. It had 177,074 inha ...

) is a Swedish singer-songwriter and

revue A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance, and sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural presence of its own duri ...

artist. Since the 1960s he has lived in Spain and Florida in the winter for health reasons, and in Sweden in the summers. He has also made regular concert tours in Sweden. In 1953, Thörnqvist produced his first revue in Uppsala, and in 1955 his first record was released. His musical style includes rock,

ballroom rumba Rhumba, also known as ballroom rumba, is a genre of ballroom music and dance that appeared in the East Coast of the United States during the 1930s. It combined American big band music with Afro-Cuban rhythms, primarily the son cubano, but also ...

and calypso, and he has also written

pastiche A pastiche is a work of visual art, literature, theatre, music, or architecture that imitates the style or character of the work of one or more other artists. Unlike parody, pastiche pays homage to the work it imitates, rather than mocking it ...

s of American

popular music Popular music is music with wide appeal that is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. These forms and styles can be enjoyed and performed by people with little or no musical training.Popular Music. (2015). ''Fun ...

; his texts are characterised by word play and humour. Thörnqvist was one of the first people to do stand-up comedy in Sweden, in venues such as Hamburger Börs and Berns in Stockholm in the 1950s. He has worked together with artists such as

Povel Ramel Baron Povel Karl Henric Ramel (; 1 June 1922 – 5 June 2007) was a Swedish entertainer. Ramel was a singer, pianist, vaudeville artist, author and a novelty song composer. His style was characterized by imaginative wit, both verbal and musical. ...

(in the revue ''I hatt och strumpa'' in 1961–62),

Anita Lindblom Anita Lindblom (14 December 1937 – 6 September 2020) was a Swedish actress and singer. She appeared in thirteen films between 1957 and 1974. Lindblom also recorded music. Her single ''Sånt är livet'' (a cover of Roy Hamilton's ''You Can Have ...

Lill Lindfors Maj Lillemor "Lill" Lindfors (born 12 May 1940) is a Swedish singer who has performed in Scandinavia since the 1960s. Career She was born in Helsinki, Finland, and made her debut as a revue actress in Uddevalla in 1960. The following year she ...

, and

Eva Rydberg Eva Gunilla Johansson Rydberg (born 20 June 1943) is a Swedish singer, actress, comedian, revue-artist and dancer. Biography Early life Eva Rydberg was born in Malmö. She started ballet school at a young age and acted at a children's theater ...

. In 1963, Thörnqvist provided guest vocals and performed the song "Wilma" on the ''

Flintstones ''The Flintstones'' is an American animated sitcom produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions. The series takes place in a romanticized Stone Age setting and follows the activities of the titular family, the Flintstones, and their next-door neighbor ...

'' episode "The Swedish Visitors". Thörnqvist wrote songs for the song contest

Melodifestivalen Melodifestivalen (; literally "the Melody Festival") is an annual song competition organised by Swedish public broadcasters Sveriges Television (SVT) and Sveriges Radio (SR). It determines the country's representative for the Eurovision Song ...

, the Swedish qualifying contest for the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...

in 1962, 1963 and 1965. In 2017, he took part in the contest as a singer, with the song " Boogieman Blues". He was the oldest person ever to perform in Melodifestivalen at that time, and his performance won the semi-finals but did not qualify Thörnqvist for the Eurovision Song Contest. In 2004, Thörnqvist received

H. M. The King's Medal H. M. ( His Majesty) The King's Medal ( sv, H.M. Konungens medalj), earlier known as the Court Medal ( sv, Hovmedaljen), is a Swedish honour that may be bestowed upon Swedish and foreign citizens. The medal was created in 1814 and is awarded in di ...

in the 8th size for his contributions to Swedish culture as a songwriter, singer and composer. He has also received the

Evert Taube Axel Evert Taube (; 12 March 1890 – 31 January 1976) was a Swedish author, artist, composer and singer. He is widely regarded as one of Sweden's most respected musicians and the foremost troubadour of the Swedish ballad tradition in the 20th c ...

prize (''Evert Taube-stipendiet'') and the

Cornelis Vreeswijk Cornelis Vreeswijk (; ; 8 August 1937 – 12 November 1987) was a Dutch-born Swedish singer-songwriter, poet and actor. He emigrated to Sweden with his parents in 1949 at the age of twelve. He was educated as a social worker and hoped to become ...

prize (''Cornelis Vreeswijk-stipendiet'').Owe får Cornelis Vreeswijk-priset

References

External links

* Swedish singer-songwriters Musicians from Uppsala 1929 births Living people Melodifestivalen contestants {{Sweden-singer-stub