The Cardigans is a Swedish rock band formed in

Jönköping Jönköping (, ) is a city in southern Sweden with 112,766 inhabitants (2022). Jönköping is situated on the southern shore of Sweden's second largest lake, Vättern, in the province of Småland. The city is the seat of Jönköping Municipa ...

, Sweden, in 1992 by guitarist

Peter Svensson Anders Peter Svensson is a Swedish record producer, songwriter, and musician. He is the main songwriter and guitarist of the band the Cardigans. He started playing guitar at the age of eight, and in his teens he went on to play with local ban ...

, bassist

Magnus Sveningsson Magnus Sveningsson (born Johan Magnus Sveningsson on 4 April 1972 in Falköping) is best known as the bassist in the Swedish rock band, The Cardigans, and has also recorded under a solo project entitled Righteous Boy. In 2006, he restarted The ...

, drummer Bengt Lagerberg, keyboardist Lars-Olof Johansson and lead singer

Nina Persson Nina Elisabet Persson (; born 6 September 1974) is the lead singer and lyricist for the Swedish rock band The Cardigans. She has also worked as a solo artist, releasing two albums as A Camp and one under her own name, and has also appeared as a ...

. Post-hiatus shows since 2012 have been with Oskar Humlebo on guitar instead of Svensson. With their debut album ''

Emmerdale ''Emmerdale'' (known as ''Emmerdale Farm'' until 1989) is a British soap opera that is broadcast on ITV1. The show is set in Emmerdale (known as Beckindale until 1994), a fictional village in the Yorkshire Dales. Created by Kevin Laffan, ...

'' (1994) they gained a solid base in their home country and enjoyed some success abroad, especially in Japan. Their second album ''

Life Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for Cell growth, growth, reaction to Stimu ...

'' (1995) secured them an international reputation. Their popularity rose when their single "

Lovefool "Lovefool" is a song written by Peter Svensson and Nina Persson for Swedish rock band the Cardigans' third studio album, '' First Band on the Moon'' (1996). It was released as the album's lead single in Sweden in mid-1996 and on 9 September 1 ...

", from the album ''

First Band on the Moon ''First Band on the Moon'' is the third studio album by the Cardigans. It features the international single "Lovefool". It was first released on 12 August 1996 and internationally on 9 September 1996. The album was a major breakthrough for the b ...

'' (1996), was included in the

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack ...

to the 1996 film ''

Romeo + Juliet Romeo Montague () is the male protagonist of William Shakespeare's tragedy ''Romeo and Juliet''. The son of Lord Montague and his wife, Lady Montague, he secretly loves and marries Juliet, a member of the rival House of Capulet, through a pries ...

''. Other singles included "

Erase/Rewind "Erase/Rewind" is a song written by Peter Svensson and Nina Persson for the Cardigans' fourth studio album, '' Gran Turismo'' (1998). The song is the album's second track and was released as its second single in 1999, reaching number three in Ice ...

" and "

My Favourite Game "My Favourite Game" is an alternative rock song written by Peter Svensson and Nina Persson for Swedish band the Cardigans' fourth studio album, '' Gran Turismo'' (1998). The song is the album's eighth track and was released as its first single ...

" from the album '' Gran Turismo'' (1998). After a two-year hiatus, the band returned recording and releasing their fifth album ''

Long Gone Before Daylight ''Long Gone Before Daylight'' is the fifth studio album by Swedish rock band the Cardigans. Released in Japan on 19 March 2003 and in Europe from 24 March by Stockholm Records, it was their first studio album since the release of '' Gran Turismo' ...

'' (2003), a mellower

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while ...

-flavoured record. Their last album so far is ''

Super Extra Gravity ''Super Extra Gravity'' is the sixth studio album by Swedish band the Cardigans. It was produced by Tore Johansson, who last worked with the Cardigans on '' Gran Turismo'' and later with the band Franz Ferdinand. The album was released in Germany ...

'' (2005). After a 2006 tour, the band embarked on a five-year break from musical activities before reuniting in 2012 to play several concerts. They have sold over 15 million albums worldwide.

History

First years: 1992–1994

and

, both heavy metal musicians, formed the group on 31 October 1992 in

, Sweden, with drummer Bengt Lagerberg, keyboardist Lars-Olof Johansson and lead singer

. Persson did not want to be a musician growing up, having an interest in art instead, which resulted in her attending art school. "I never really strived to be a musician; I was just, sort of, recruited into this band. I was bored out of my mind in this small, safe place (Jönköping). I was like, 'Awesome, I get to hang with fun guys.'""The Cardigans Nina Persson talks w Eric Blair 2014"
blairingoutshow, YouTube, 14 November 2015 Living together in a small apartment, The Cardigans recorded a demo tape with Persson providing lead vocals on only one of the songs towards the end of the track list. A&R man Ola Hermanson heard the demo and signed the band to his Trampolene imprint. They released their debut album ''

'' in Sweden and Japan in 1994; it was re-released internationally in 1997. The album included the Swedish radio hit "Rise & Shine", which was later voted the best of 1994 in a poll in ''

Slitz ''Slitz'' was a Swedish men's magazine that was published in Stockholm, Sweden, between 1980 and 2012. History ''Slitz'' was initially created in 1985 when the two music magazines '' Schlager'' and '' Ritz'' merged. The magazine continued to be a ...

'' magazine.

Commercial success: 1995–2000

The remainder of 1994 was spent touring Europe and recording ''

'', which was released worldwide in 1995. ''Life'' became an international success, selling more than a million copies and achieving platinum status in Japan. In 1996, ''Life'' was released under the label

Minty Fresh Minty Fresh is a Chicago-based record label, founded in 1993 by Jim Powers with Anthony Musiala. The label is known for launching the careers of Veruca Salt. They also gave the Swedish band The Cardigans their first US release and released the d ...

in the US, but this release was essentially a compilation of tracks from ''Emmerdale'' and ''Life''. After their success with ''Life'', The Cardigans signed with

Mercury Records Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. In the United States, it i ...

, under which they released ''

'' worldwide in 1996. "

" was a hit worldwide, particularly in the US and Japan, where the album reached platinum status in three weeks. The album also achieved gold sales status in the US. "Lovefool" was shown on MTV in the late 1990s as a music video with clips from the 1996 hit film ''

'' starring Leonardo DiCaprio and

Claire Danes Claire Catherine Danes (born April 12, 1979) is an American actress. She is the recipient of three Primetime Emmy Awards, four Golden Globe Awards, and two Screen Actors Guild Awards. In 2012, ''Time'' named her one of the 100 most influenti ...

. It also featured in the film ''

Cruel Intentions ''Cruel Intentions'' is a 1999 American teen romantic drama film written and directed by Roger Kumble and starring Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ryan Phillippe, Reese Witherspoon, and Selma Blair. The film is a modern retelling of Pierre Choderlos d ...

'' (1999). In 1997, the band played themselves in an episode of ''

Beverly Hills, 90210 ''Beverly Hills, 90210'' (often referred to by its short title, ''90210'') is an American teen drama television series created by Darren Star and produced by Aaron Spelling under his production company Spelling Television. The series ran for ...

'' as the featured entertainment at their college graduation party, hosted by Kelly Taylor's dad. The band performed "

" and "

Been It "Been It" is a song by Swedish band the Cardigans, released from their third studio album, ''First Band on the Moon''. In additional to reaching number 26 on the UK Singles Chart, the song also became an alternative hit in Canada, climbing to numb ...

." The band was also asked to submit the theme song for the

James Bond The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...

film ''

Tomorrow Never Dies ''Tomorrow Never Dies'' is a 1997 spy film, the eighteenth in the ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions and the second to star Pierce Brosnan as fictional MI6 agent James Bond. Directed by Roger Spottiswoode from a screenplay ...

'' but rejected the request due to exhaustion that would be exacerbated by the potential added workload; Persson has called her decision to turn down the offer "one of my biggest mistakes." 1998's '' Gran Turismo'' was followed by a long hiatus during which the band members pursued solo side projects. The same year they also released a compilation album of rare B-sides, '' The Other Side of the Moon'' as a Japan-only release. The video of the song "My Favourite Game" was censored by MTV for showing reckless driving. Despite this, it went on to become their second global hit song. "My Favourite Game" was featured on the

of the PlayStation video game ''

Gran Turismo 2 ''Gran Turismo 2'' is a 1999 racing game developed by Polyphony Digital and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation. It is the sequel to '' Gran Turismo''. It was well-received critically and financially, shipping 1.71&nbs ...

'' in the intro movie on CD1. That year also saw their song "Deuce" appearing on '' The X-Files: The Album''. Their song "

" was featured in the 1999 films ''

Never Been Kissed ''Never Been Kissed'' is a 1999 American romantic comedy film directed by Raja Gosnell and starring Drew Barrymore, Jessica Alba, David Arquette, Michael Vartan, Leelee Sobieski, Jeremy Jordan, Molly Shannon, Garry Marshall, John C. Reilly ...

'' and '' The Thirteenth Floor''. In 1999, the Cardigans recorded a duet cover of

Talking Heads Talking Heads were an American rock band formed in 1975 in New York City and active until 1991.Talki ...

' "

Burning Down the House "Burning Down the House" is a song by new wave band Talking Heads, released in July 1983 as the first single from their fifth studio album ''Speaking in Tongues''. Inspiration and composition "Burning Down the House" is a new wave and funk s ...

" with Tom Jones for his album '' Reload''.

Back to spotlight and hiatus: 2002–2006

The Cardigans returned in 2002 to record ''

'' (2003), a collection of songs mainly written by Persson and Svensson. ''Long Gone Before Daylight'' became one of the best selling albums in Sweden in 2003. After a two-year hiatus from their last album, it was released in Japan on 19 March 2003 and in Europe on 24 March 2003. Later it was also released in Canada (22 April 2003) and the United States (25 May 2004). The album differs from the band's earlier works. Their familiar "happy" pop sound takes on a change to pop songs with more of an American country music influence. It is a much darker album than their previous works, and quieter than '' Gran Turismo''. Indeed, even lead singer

dyed her once light blonde hair to jet black, reflecting the band's change of mood. The album was produced by Per Sunding after the group's regular producer Tore Johanssen stepped down, feeling himself unable to provide the country sound the group wanted. Criticism was generally mixed. Some found the change of direction welcome, and felt the band had matured, making songs that were even better than other experienced country-pop styled artists. Others missed the old pop sound, and accused the band of possibly being ashamed of their former "happy" pop sound. The first single of the album, "

For What It's Worth "For What It's Worth (Stop, Hey What's That Sound)" (often referred to as simply "For What It's Worth") is a song written by Stephen Stills. Performed by Buffalo Springfield, it was recorded on December 5, 1966, released as a single on Atco Reco ...

" was released on 17 February 2003. The second single was " You're the Storm" released on 2 June 2003. The third and final single was " Live and Learn" released on 3 December 2003. In the summer of 2004, The Cardigans toured with

Liz Phair Elizabeth Clark Phair (born April 17, 1967) is an American singer-songwriter. Born in New Haven, Connecticut, Phair was raised primarily in the Chicago area. After graduating from Oberlin College in 1990, she attempted to start a musical career ...

Katy Rose Kathryn Rosemary Bullard (born January 27, 1987), known professionally as Katy Rose, is an American singer-songwriter and producer. Rose released two studio albums, '' Because I Can'' (V2 Records) and ''Candy Eyed'' (River Jones Music). Since her ...

and

Charlotte Martin Charlotte Ann Martin (born October 31, 1976) is an American singer-songwriter and voice coach, who performs predominantly on the piano. She has written several studio albums, two of which have received mainstream commercial releases, 2004's ' ...

on the Chicks With Attitude tour. On 28 April 2005, the band's ''iTunes Originals'' album was released through iTunes. On 19 October 2005, the band released their sixth album ''

'' to generally favourable reviews. ''Super Extra Gravity'' went straight to the #1 spot on the Swedish album chart and was certified gold (sales over 40,000). After the band finished promotional activities in Autumn 2006, the band entered an extended hiatus and devoted themselves to other projects.

Reunion, tour and future: 2012–present

In 2012, the Cardigans received a lucrative offer from

Hultsfred Festival The Hultsfred Festival ( sv, Hultsfredsfestivalen) was an annual music festival held in Hultsfred, Sweden. It took place at the lake Hulingen during three days in the June or July, from Thursday to Saturday. Since the first festival in 1986, it ...

to perform the album '' Gran Turismo'' in full. After initial hesitation, the band decided to accept the offer "as it felt like a good way of tearing us out of our strange new everyday life," according to Persson. Peter Svensson declined to participate, although he had no objection to the band touring without him. They recruited singer-songwriter Oskar Humlebo to fill in for Svensson, and asked their agent to seek more shows for them to play. Ultimately, the band made their live comeback with shows in Lund and Copenhagen ahead of Hultsfred, before playing in Poland, Finland, Russia, Indonesia, Taiwan and Japan, with a scheduled concert in Israel cancelled by the promoter. Most of these shows involved performing ''Gran Turismo'' in full, followed by an assortment of hits from their other albums. Still with Humlebo in place of Svensson, the band played career-spanning sets when touring resumed during late 2013 with shows in Japan, China and Russia, followed by more dates in 2015 which took them to South Korea, Europe and South America. In interviews promoting her 2014 solo album ''

Animal Heart ''Animal Heart'' is the debut studio album by Nina Persson, singer of The Cardigans, released on February 10, 2014 through Lojinx in Europe and The End Records in North America. A video for the title track of the album was released in November 20 ...

'', Persson suggested that the success of their most recent live dates opened the possibility for future Cardigans recordings, though there were no firm plans. "It's really fun to do greatest hits things, since there's nothing else, but I think if we continue having this much fun we would like to make another record, because we like to create new things," said Persson. The band's only scheduled show for 2016 was at

Qstock Qstock is an annual two-day rock festival held at the end of July in Oulu, Finland. The festival lineup includes some of the biggest names in both domestic and international music scene, regardless of the genre. The first Qstock festival was orga ...

( Oulu,

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

) on 29 July. In 2017, they performed in Stockholm in Turku, Finland and in Yammatovo 3 festival in Croatia. In June 2018, the band announced their only live shows of the year: a four-date UK tour in December to celebrate the 20th anniversary of ''Gran Turismo'' in which they would perform the album in full again. In an interview to promote the tour, Persson stated, "There won’t be any more Cardigans records, I’m pretty sure. But we’ll keep doing little tours and shows as long as it’s fun, as long as we can do it well and feel that it’s something that’s current to us."

Solo projects

During the band's first break

released an album as

A Camp A Camp is the solo side project of Nina Persson, vocalist for the Swedish indie pop band The Cardigans, her husband, composer Nathan Larson, and former Atomic Swing guitarist Niclas Frisk. Persson formed A Camp when The Cardigans took a break af ...

, and Peter Svensson and Bengt Lagerberg worked on the project Paus with help from Joakim Berg from

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

, and Magnus Sveningsson recorded as

Righteous Boy Righteous Boy is the solo project of Magnus Sveningsson, bassist from Swedish rock group The Cardigans. Sveningsson began the project during the long hiatus between the Cardigans' '' Gran Turismo'' and ''Long Gone Before Daylight'' albums. To date ...

. In 2006, Sveningsson restarted their old label ''Trampolene'' and became an A&R for it. The first signing was the Swedish popband ''The Animal Five'', which was a minor success in Sweden and Germany. Lagerberg and Johansson formed the group Brothers Of End, releasing a debut album ''The End'' in 2009, and a second album ''Mount Inside'' in 2011. A third album, ''Shakers Love'', was released in 2014, and Nina Persson appeared on the track "Heat". In November 2006, Persson featured on '' The Cake Sale'', an album set up by Oxfam Ireland. It contained nine tracks from some of Ireland's leading artists. Proceeds from the album went to the fair trade campaign. Persson also appeared on the

Manic Street Preachers Manic Street Preachers, also known simply as the Manics, are a Welsh rock band formed in Blackwood in 1986. The band consists of cousins James Dean Bradfield (lead vocals, lead guitar) and Sean Moore (drums, percussion, soundscapes), plus ...

' album '' Send Away the Tigers'' (May 2007), providing guest vocals on the UK Chart #2 single "Your Love Alone Is Not Enough". She shared vocals with Manics frontman

James Dean Bradfield James Dean Bradfield (born 21 February 1969) is a Welsh singer-songwriter, musician and record producer. He is known for being the lead vocalist and guitarist for the Welsh alternative rock band Manic Street Preachers. Biography Early life B ...

, who also appeared on stage with the band at the Glastonbury Festival 2007, and who has rated Peter Svensson as his second favourite guitarist. In the band's break of 2007, Persson recorded the second A Camp album '' Colonia'', which was released in early 2009. A Camp supported the US release of ''Colonia'' with a tour, which began in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

on 26 May and completed on 15 June in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

. In 2010, Persson appeared on Danger Mouse & Sparklehorse's collaboration (Dark Night of the Soul) singing "Daddy's Gone" (with

Mark Linkous Mark Linkous (September 9, 1962 – March 6, 2010) was an American singer, songwriter and musician, best known as leader of Sparklehorse. He was also known for his collaborations with such notable artists as Tom Waits, PJ Harvey, Daniel John ...

). Persson released the album ''

'' under her own name in 2014.

Band members

* Lars-Olof Johansson – keyboards, piano, guitar * Bengt Lagerberg – drums, percussion *

– lead vocals, keyboards *

– bass, vocals *

– guitar, vocals

Discography

Albums

* ''

'' (1994) * ''

'' (1995) * ''

'' (1996) * '' Gran Turismo'' (1998) * ''

'' (2003) * ''

'' (2005)

Awards and nominations

BMI Pop Awards , - , 1999 , "

" , Award-Winning Song , Billboard Music Awards , - , 1997 , "

" , Top Hot 100 Airplay Track , Billboard Music Video Awards , - , 1997 , "

" , Pop/Rock Clip of the Year , Brit Awards , - ,

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...

, Themselves , Best International Group , Danish Music Awards , - , 2000 , '' Gran Turismo'' , Foreign Album of the Year , Denmark GAFFA Awards !Ref. , - , rowspan=2, 1998 , rowspan=2, " My Favorite Game" , Best Foreign Video , , rowspan=4, , - , rowspan=2, Best Foreign Hit , , - , 1999 , "

" (with Tom Jones) , , - , 2005 ,

, Best Foreign Female Act ,

Grammis The Grammis are music awards presented annually to musicians and songwriters in Sweden. The oldest Swedish music awards, they were instituted as a local equivalent of the Grammy Awards given in the United States. The awards ceremony is generall ...

, - , 1995 , rowspan=3, Themselves , rowspan=2, Best Pop Group , , - , rowspan=4, 1997 , , - , Best Artist , rowspan=3 , - , ''

'' , Best Album , - , "

" , Best Song , - , rowspan=5, 1999 , rowspan=2, Themselves , Best Pop Group , , - , Best Artist , , - , '' Gran Turismo'' , Best Album , , - , rowspan=2, " My Favorite Game" , Best Song , rowspan=2 , - , Best Music Video , - , rowspan=2, 2004 , ''

'' , Best Album , rowspan=2 , - , rowspan=2, Themselves , rowspan=2, Best Rock Group , - , 2006 , MTV Europe Music Awards , - , 1996 , Themselves , Best New Act , rowspan=6 , - ,

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

, "

" , Best Song , - , rowspan=3,

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shoot ...

, rowspan=4, Themselves , Best Group , - , Best Rock , - , rowspan=2, Best Nordic Act , - , 2003 Rockbjornen , - , 1998 , Themselves , Best Swedish Band , Smash Hits Poll Winners Party !Ref. , - , 1996 , Themselves , Best International Band , , TMF Awards , - , 1999 , " My Favorite Game" , Best Video International , Žebřík Music Awards !Ref. , - , 1998 , " My Favorite Game" , Best International Video , ,

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cardigans, the Musical groups established in 1992 Musical groups disestablished in 1999 Musical groups reestablished in 2003 Musical groups disestablished in 2006 Swedish musical groups Swedish alternative rock groups Swedish pop rock music groups Swedish indie rock groups Swedish indie pop groups MNRK Music Group artists English-language singers from Sweden 1992 establishments in Sweden Female-fronted musical groups