The Cardigans are a Swedish rock band formed in Jönköping, Sweden, in 1992[2] by guitarist Peter Svensson, bassist Magnus Sveningsson, drummer Bengt Lagerberg, keyboardist Lars-Olof Johansson and lead singer Nina Persson.

[3] With their debut album Emmerdale (1994) they gained a solid base in their home country and enjoyed some success abroad, especially in Japan.

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.

'"[5] 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 track list.

"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.

In 1997, the band played themselves in an episode of Beverly Hills, 90210 as the featured entertainment at their college graduation party, hosted by Kelly Taylor's dad.

The band was also asked to submit the theme song for the James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies but rejected the request due to exhaustion that would be exacerbated by the potential added workload; Persson has called her decision to turn down the offer "one of my biggest mistakes.

In 1999, the Cardigans recorded a duet cover of Talking Heads' "Burning Down the House" with Tom Jones for his album Reload.

Indeed, even lead singer Nina Persson dyed her once light blonde hair to jet black, reflecting the band's change of mood.

Some found the change of direction welcome, and felt the band had matured, making songs that were even better than other experienced country-pop styled artists.

[citation needed] In 2012, the Cardigans received a lucrative offer from Hultsfred Festival to perform the album Gran Turismo in full.

[9] After initial hesitation, the band decided to accept the offer "as it felt like a good way of tearing us out of our strange new everyday life," according to Persson.

[9] Ultimately, the band made their live comeback with shows in Lund and Copenhagen ahead of Hultsfred, before playing in Poland, Finland, Russia, Indonesia, Taiwan and Japan, with a scheduled concert in Israel cancelled by the promoter.

Still with Humlebo in place of Svensson, the band played career-spanning sets when touring resumed during late 2013 with shows in Japan, China and Russia, followed by more dates in 2015 which took them to South Korea, Europe and Latin America.

In interviews promoting her 2014 solo album Animal Heart, Persson suggested that the success of their most recent live dates opened the possibility for future Cardigans recordings, though there were no firm plans.

In June 2018, the band announced their only live shows of the year: a four-date UK tour in December to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Gran Turismo in which they would perform the album in full again.

During the band's first break Nina Persson released an album as A Camp, and Peter Svensson and Bengt Lagerberg worked on the project Paus with help from Joakim Berg from Kent, and Magnus Sveningsson recorded as Righteous Boy.

Persson also appeared on the Manic Street Preachers' album Send Away the Tigers (May 2007), providing guest vocals on the UK Chart #2 single "Your Love Alone Is Not Enough".

[18] She shared vocals with Manics frontman James Dean Bradfield, who also appeared on stage with the band at the Glastonbury Festival 2007, and who has rated Peter Svensson as his second favourite guitarist.

[21][22] In 2010, Persson appeared on Danger Mouse & Sparklehorse's collaboration (Dark Night of the Soul) singing "Daddy's Gone" (with Mark Linkous).