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Europe biography

Europe is a Swedish hard rock band formed in Upplands Väsby in 1979 under the name Force by vocalist Joey Tempest and guitarist John Norum. Although widely associated with glam metal, the band's sound incorporates heavy metal and hard rock elements. Since its formation, Europe has released eight studio albums, three live albums, three compilations and seven videos.

Europe rose to international fame in the 1980s with its third album The Final Countdown (1986), which became a high commercial success and sold over three million copies in the United States. Europe was one of the most successful rock acts of the 80's and sold over four million albums in the United States alone and over 12 million albums worldwide. The band has achieved two top 20 albums on the Billboard 200 chart (The Final Countdown and Out of This World) and two top 10 singles on the Billboard Hot 100 chart ("The Final Countdown" and "Carrie"). From 1986 to 1992 Europe sold over 20 million records worldwide, making them the 4th most successful act from Sweden in history.

Europe went on hiatus in 1992, reunited temporarily for a one-off performance in Stockholm on New Year's Eve 1999 and announced an official reunion in 2003. Since then Europe has released two albums, Start from the Dark and Secret Society. Europe aims to release their eighth album, Last Look at Eden, sometime between August and September of 2009, with a single release in June.

Biography

Early days

The first incarnation of the band was named Force and came together in 1979, in Upplands Väsby, Stockholm, and was integrated by vocalist and keyboardist Joey Tempest, guitarist John Norum, bassist Peter Olsson and drummer Tony Reno. "I remember when we started the band Force we were playing covers in the rehearsal room, because we just wanted to learn our instruments, like all bands," Tempest said, "Then one day I said maybe we should do our own stuff. Nobody had any ideas, so I brought mine into the rehearsal room, and that is when we started writing our own stuff."

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