Håkan Hellström(I)

Håkan Hellström, one of Sweden's most popular artists in the 21st century, was born on 2 april 1974. His mother is a psychologist, and Håkan has a 3 year older brother, Tomas. It was his brother that got him interested in rock music, and artists like Morrissey, Bruce Springsteen and The Smiths. In school Håkan and his friends formed a band, Broder Daniel. They played together for a few years, but in 1995 Håkan left the band to play the drums in another Gothenburg band - Honey is Cool. Unfortunately, just 2 weeks later the band signed their first record contract. Håkan returned to play the bass with Broder Daniel and in 1998 they released their third and most successful album so far - "Broder Daniel Forever". In 1999 Håkan took the money he'd saved in a cookie jar and recorded 4 demo-songs in a studio in Gothenburg. He sent the demos to six record companies and their reactions were positive.

Early in 2000 Håkan signed a contract with Virgin and in May, his first single, "Känn ingen sorg för mig Göteborg" was released. It became a big success and Håkan became on of the most talked about new artists of the summer. In October 2000 his debut album, with the same name as his first single, was released. It sold over 80,000 copies and Håkan was the King of Swedish music. Early in 2001 he received a Swedish Grammy, for best song writer. He was nominated for 5 more and many wondered why he didn't win more. He also won 2 Rock Bears, for best album and male performer. He released 3 other singles from the album: "Ramlar" in October 2000, "En vän med en bil" in February 2001 and "Nu kan du få mig så lätt" in June 2001. Two of these songs got a part in the 2001 pop-festival movie "Festival".

In June 2001 Håkan played on the biggest stage on Sweden's biggest music festival - The Hultsfred Festival. He also played with his band Broder Daniel on the very same stage the night before. The band replaced American hiphoppers Outkast who had to cancel their visit to Sweden. After the Hultsfred Festival, Håkan went on a tour with old Swedich rock idol Magnus Uggla and newcomers The Ark, who also released a very successful debut album the previous year.

For half a year nobody heard anything from Håkan, but in January 2002 he released a single, containing re-maked of 4 of his favorite old songs, called "Luften bor i mina steg". It was also a big success, selling over 30,000 copies (= Platinum). Even though he didn't release any album in 2001, he won yet another Rock Bear early in 2002, for best male performer. In October 2002 he released his first new single, "Kom igen Lena!" which, of course, was a big hit. The second track on the single, though, forced him to withdraw the single, because it sounded just like Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Pie Jesus". In November the single was released again, but with another second track. On the 28th October 2002, Håkan's 2nd full length album, "Det är så jag säger det", was released. In record stores all over the country, there was only ONE album people went to buy - Håkan's! Håkan went on a truly successful tour throughout the country, and also visited Norway, where his music is quite popular. Early in 2003 Håkan won his 4th and 5th Rock Bears, for best song ("Kom igen Lena!") and best male performer. The very same month, February, Håkan announced that he was no longer going to play with his old band Broder Daniel. He was just to busy to have the time. Ín February 2003 he released the 2nd single from his new album, called "Den fulaste flickan i världen". In July he released the third single from the album, called "Mitt Gullbergs Kajparadis", the first track on the album.