Today we will tell you about the Swedish singer best known as the lead vocalist of "Europe" - Joey Tempest:
1. He was born in Stockholm, Sweden as Rolf Magnus Joakim Larsson, on August 19, 1963.
2. At the age of eight, he showed early musical interest by recording songs with a tape recorder off the radio and television.
3. He learned to play the piano and, with the help of a friend of his father's, began playing basic chords on his sister's acoustic guitar.
4. During his teenage years, Joey played in several bands, including "Jet", "Blazer", "Made in Hong Kong", and "Roxanne", where he took on various roles like rhythm guitar, bass, and lead vocals.
5. His musical influences included bands like "Thin Lizzy" and "Led Zeppelin".
6. In 1979, Joey adopted the stage name "Joey Tempest," inspired by both Shakespeare's "The Tempest" and the song "Sparks of the Tempest" by the band "Kansas".
7. Together with guitarist John Norum, bassist Peter Olsson, and drummer Tony Reno, he formed the band "Force", which later evolved into "Europe".
(Photo: Fanart.TV)
8. "Force" gained recognition in the Stockholm suburbs and changed their name to "Europe" after winning the Rock-SM music competition in 1982.
9. "Europe" released their self-titled debut album in 1983, containing songs like "In the Future to Come" and "Seven Doors Hotel" which was the first single for the band and one of the first songs Joey ever wrote, inspired by the Italian horror film "The Beyond".
10. Already at this point Joey was the main songwriter for the band, writing all songs, lyrics and music, except one instrumental track.
11. In 1984 the band released their second studio album "Wings of Tomorrow", setting the foundation for their rock sound. Again Joey wrote all tracks except an instrumental track written by John Norum.
12. Four singles were released from this album, including "Dreamer" and "Open Your Heart" (which will be re-recorded for the album "Out of This World").
13. The huge breakthrough came in 1986 with the band'sUnplugged third album "The Final Countdown" which propelled Europe to international stardom, with the title track becoming a worldwide hit.
14. Again Tempest penned all of Europe's biggest hits from that album, including "Rock the Night" "Cherokee", "Danger on the Track", "Carrie" and the iconic "The Final Countdown".
15. Judging only by the outtake from the album - "On Broken Wings", then this album was just perfect.
16. "Europe" continued to release albums like "Out of This World" (1988), "Prisoners in Paradise" (1991), and then went on a hiatus in 1992 after a farewell concert.
17. In 1995, Joey Tempest released his solo debut album, "A Place to Call Home," showcasing his singer-songwriter skills and selling well both in Sweden and internationally.
18. "Azalea Place" followed in 1997, exploring more experimental and improvised musical territories.
19. "Joey Tempest," his third solo album, was released in 2002 and demonstrated his continued evolution as a musician.
20. Outside of "Europe", Joey contributed to various projects, Including on his friend John Norum's "Face the Truth" album and writing and producing for artists like Tone Norum - John Norum's sister.
21. "Europe" made a comeback in 2004 with "Start from the Dark"ת followed by the albums "Secret Society" (2006), "Last Look at Eden" (2009), "Bag of Bones" (2012), "War of Kings" (2015), "Walk the Earth" (2017).
22. In Addition to the 11 Studio albums with "Europe" Joey released 'with the band an EP, 5 Compilations albums, and 8 Live Albums, On of the is "Almost Unplugged" from 2008, containing stripped-down versions of "Europe" songs and some covers songs of "Pink Floyd", "Led Zeppelin", "Thin Lizzy", "UFO" and more.
23. Joey Tempest resides in London with his wife Lisa Worthington and their children, James Joakim and Jack Johnston Larsson.
24. He does not have any social media pages apart from the official ones for Europe listed on their website.
25. Known for his charismatic stage presence, beautiful writing ability, and powerful vocal range, he continued to be a significant presence in the music industry.