Per "Pelle" Almqvist (born 29 May 1978), also known as Howlin' Pelle Almqvist, is a Swedish singer and songwriter. He is the lead singer of
garage rock
Garage rock (sometimes called garage punk or 60s punk) is a raw and energetic style of rock music that flourished in the mid-1960s, most notably in the United States and Canada, and has experienced a series of subsequent revivals. The style is ...
band
The Hives.
Biography

Almqvist was born to a doctor father and a teacher mother. Almqvist and his brother
Nicholaus Arson formed the band in 1993, and, according to a fictional biography about the band, attracted the attention of promoter/manager/songwriter Randy Fitzsimmons. Prior to success with the Hives he worked as a postman and a sixth-grade teacher.
Almqvist is known for being particularly animated during live shows, and his onstage antics have earned the band the title of "The best live band in the world" from ''
Spin Magazine'', who also put Almqvist in their list of the "50 Greatest Frontmen of All Time". Some of his onstage antics include regularly mixing with the crowd, climbing on amps and other equipment, and banter between songs that is often nonsensical and seemingly arrogant.
Almqvist was previously in a relationship with
Maria Andersson, lead vocalist of the Swedish rock band
Sahara Hotnights, until a 2006 breakup. Since May 2010 he has been in a relationship with Catrin Nilsson.
In January 2007, Almqvist led the awards show for the radio station
P3 Guld.
In 2016, he presented
Musikhjälpen which was broadcast from
Örebro.
Almqvist is an
atheist.
In 2021, he took part in the sixth season of the Swedish game show ''Alla mot alla med Filip och Fredrik'' ''
/small>">v/small>'', with teammate
Little Jinder.
Collaborations
Almqvist collaborated with Swedish rock artist
Moneybrother on a cover of the
Operation Ivy song "Freeze Up". They used Swedish lyrics and called it "", which translates as "I Won't Sign Anything". He was also featured on the single "Dance to our Disco" by the DJ duo Punks Jump Up.
Discography
*''
Barely Legal'' (1997)
*''
Veni Vidi Vicious'' (2000)
*''
Tyrannosaurus Hives'' (2004)
*''
The Black and White Album'' (2007)
*''
Lex Hives'' (2012)
*''
The Death of Randy Fitzsimmons'' (2023)
References
External links
Official website of The HivesOfficial FacebookOfficial MySpace
{{DEFAULTSORT:Almqvist, Pelle
1978 births
English-language singers from Sweden
Living people
People from Fagersta Municipality
Swedish atheists
Swedish male singers
Swedish rock singers
Swedish tenors
The Hives members
21st-century Swedish singer-songwriters
Swedish male songwriters
People from Fagersta