He is best known as the male half and primary songwriter of the pop rock duo Roxette, which he formed with Marie Fredriksson in 1986 and which was disbanded after her death in 2019.

(1988) and Joyride (1991), and topped the charts in the US four times, most notably with "It Must Have Been Love" which was featured in the film Pretty Woman.

In-between periods in Roxette and Gyllene Tider reunions, Gessle recorded numerous solo albums, both in Swedish and English.

The album was a critical and commercial success for Gessle and started the beginning of a long-term collaboration with the backing vocalist Helena Josefsson.

After the success of their first hit "Neverending Love", which was written by Gessle, they quickly recorded Pearls of Passion using material which was originally intended for Per's third solo album.

After Roxette's early nineties success, Per released a demo compilation album in 1992, På väg, 1982–86.

After Roxette released Have a Nice Day (1999) and Room Service (2001) to moderate success, Fredriksson collapsed and was diagnosed with a brain tumor in 2002.

The subsequent album Mazarin (2003), was a critical and commercial success in Sweden and started the beginning of a long-term collaboration with the backing vocalist Helena Josefsson.

[4] "I remember driving a car between Lund and Lomma when Christoffer called and wondered if I was interested in starting singing with Per who wanted a girl for his solo projects.

[7] The lead single from the album "Här kommer alla känslorna (på en och samma gång)" ("Here comes all the emotions (at the same time)"), is Gessle's most successful song in his home country, spending two months at No.

Also in 2004, saw Gessle and Gyllene Tider reunite for a 25th-anniversary celebration that included the band's first album in 20 years, Finn 5 fel!, and another very successful tour in Sweden.

They beat the Ullevi stadium attendance record, which was later broken by fellow Swede Håkan Hellström in 2016 (70,144),[13] and the band played to almost half a million fans.

Jens Jansson along with previous collaborators Josefsson and Lundquist, helped Gessle create his second English album.

In June 2007, he released another solo album in Swedish with the name En händig man, which shipped three times platinum.

The single previews an album Gessle has recorded with members of Roxette's live touring band called Pop-up Dynamo.

In 1996 he worked with Belinda Carlisle and wrote two songs for her album, A Woman and a Man; "Always Breaking My Heart" and "Love Doesn't Live Here".

[14][19][20] Gessle married his long-time girlfriend Åsa Nordin (born 1961) in 1993 at Västra Strö Church, Eslöv, Sweden.