Roxette is a Swedish pop rock duo originally consisting of Marie Fredriksson and Per Gessle, both of whom were already established musicians in Sweden prior to the band's formation.

Have a Nice Day and Room Service were released in 1999 and 2001, respectively, and earned numerous gold and platinum awards in Europe and Latin America.

[2] In 1981, Fredriksson performed backing vocals on Gyllene Tider's song "Ingenting av vad du behöver" (English: "Nothing of What You Need").

[26] It was around this time that Touchstone Pictures approached EMI and Roxette about contributing a song to the soundtrack of an upcoming film, Pretty Woman, starring Richard Gere and Julia Roberts.

[27] Gessle and producer Clarence Öfwerman then took the old recording, had Fredriksson replace a single Christmas-reference line in the song and added some instrumentation and background vocal overlays.

Considine of Rolling Stone magazine reviewed Joyride: "By emphasizing its sense of personality, Roxette delivers more than just well-constructed hooks; this music has heart, something that makes even the catchiest melody more appealing.

[32] Its follow-up, "Fading Like a Flower (Every Time You Leave)", a power ballad similar to "Listen to Your Heart", with Fredriksson on lead, spent a week at No.

On reviewing their Universal Amphitheater performance, Dennis Hunt of the Los Angeles Times said, "Fredriksson is squandering her talents in pop's low-rent district.

She's clearly superior to Roxette's uncomplicated, hook-crammed material..."[36] "I believed this ("Spending My Time") was going to be our biggest hit ever, which might have happened if not our American record company had fired a lot of...ah, never mind.

"[43] In a 2009 interview with BBC News, Gessle highlighted the popularity of Nirvana and grunge music as a contributor to Roxette's downturn in success.

[18] Although Roxette's commercial momentum in America was slowing down dramatically, elsewhere, singles from the Joyride album continued to become hits when "Spending My Time" and "The Big L." charted in many countries.

[16] In October 1992, Fredriksson released her first solo album in Swedish for five years, titled Den ständiga resan (The Eternal Journey).

In the same year, Roxette recorded and released "Almost Unreal", a song originally slated for the film Hocus Pocus starring Bette Midler.

[13] However, the song was moved to the soundtrack of the film based on the Nintendo video game Super Mario Bros.[13] Supported by an expensive video and ultimately receiving respectable airplay, "Almost Unreal" managed to briefly reach the lower end of the Billboard Hot 100 but charted highest in the UK reaching the top 10, the group's first time there since "Joyride" two years before.

Bryan Buss of Allmusic wrote, "They rock harder than on their pop-friendly albums prior to this, and the result shows growth but not the fun that made them so popular in the first place...

[44][50] It was noted by journalists that the McDonald's promotion CD (and other CDs by Tina Turner, Garth Brooks and Elton John) led to US music retailers of the time being unhappy with the promotion for several reasons, including that it bypassed established music stores and that the price of the CD was way below normal wholesale costs.

[26][22] The compilation sold 6 million copies worldwide,[44] and featured four new songs, three of which were released as singles, including the ballad "You Don't Understand Me", co-written by Desmond Child.

[13] Also that year, a compilation of demos, B-sides and remixes, alongside some of the 1993 MTV Unplugged material, was released in Japan and parts of South America under the title Rarities.

Gessle briefly reunited with Gyllene Tider in 1996, then Roxette took instrumental masters of many of its ballads and recorded translated Spanish lyrics over them.

[61][62] The single "Un día sin ti" ("Spending My Time") accompanied by a video directed by Jonas Åkerlund, became their first Latin Pop Airplay chart entry.

[66] To promote the release the duo did a small tour of The United States, performing at the Boston Mixfest and at the Virgin Megastore in Times Square.

"Probably the best Roxette album since Joyride," wrote Leslie Mathew of Allmusic, "Room Service is an exciting, immediate, high-gloss pop gem that contains very little filler indeed.

He did praise the three singles, "Real Sugar", "The Centre of the Heart", and "Milk and Toast and Honey", but he ended the review with the prediction: "Roxette is not finished.

[83] After waiting several weeks for the fracture to subside, she underwent surgery to remove the malignant tumour, followed by months of chemotherapy and radiation treatment.

They were far from the only guitar-based pop act on the airwaves in the '80s, but they came too late to be mentioned alongside Journey, Survivor, or REO Speedwagon, and they didn't have the rock legacy of Heart or Starship."

[9] Despite being unable to read or write, Fredriksson rediscovered her love of drawing during her illness, and began using charcoal to create artwork as a form of therapy.

The band embarked on a tour of large arenas and stadiums in Sweden, and released the album Dags att tänka på refrängen (Time to Think About the Chorus).

[127] French DJ Sebastien Drums created a remix and music video for a new Roxette song titled "Some Other Summer", which was released in late 2015.

She issued a statement saying: "Sadly, now my touring days are over and I want to take this opportunity to thank our wonderful fans that [have] followed us on our long and winding journey.

[144] Paying tribute to Fredriksson, Gessle said she was "the most wonderful friend for over 40 years", and "an outstanding musician, a master of the voice, an amazing performer.