The Cardigans biography
The Cardigans are a Swedish rock band formed in the town of Jönköping in October 1992.
Their debut album Emmerdale (1994) gave them a solid base in their home country and enjoyed some success abroad, especially in Japan. It was not until their second album Life (1995) that an international reputation was secured. Their popularity rose when their single "Lovefool", from the album First Band on the Moon (1996), was included in the soundtrack of Baz Luhrmann's 1996 film William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet. Other hit singles include "Erase/Rewind" and "My Favourite Game" from the album Gran Turismo (1998).
History
First years: 1992-1995
Peter Svensson and Magnus Sveningsson, both heavy metal musicians, formed the group on 31 October 1992 in Jönköping, Sweden, with drummer Bengt Lagerberg, keyboardist Lars-Olof Johansson and lead singer Nina Persson. 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 tracklist. A&R man Ola Hermanson heard the demo and signed the band to his Trampolene imprint. In 1994, they released their debut album
Emmerdale in Sweden and Japan; 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 magazine.
The remainder of 1994 was spent touring Europe and recording Life, 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 in the US, but this release was essentially a compilation of tracks from Emmerdale and Life.
Commercial success: 1996-1999
After their success with
Life, The Cardigans signed to Mercury Records, under which they released
First Band on the Moon worldwide in 1996. "Lovefool" 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
Romeo + Juliet starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes. It also featured in the film
Cruel Intentions (1999).
In 1997, the band played themselves on the graduation episode of Beverly Hills, 90210.
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 soundtrack of the PlayStation video game Gran Turismo 2 in the intro movie on CD1. That year also saw their song "Deuce" appearing on The X-Files: The Album.
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