| Formed: 1981 Influences: Asia, Def Leppard, Journey, Rush, Styx Joey Tempest met John Norum in 1978 and they both liked hard rock and wanted to tour the world together, so they formed the band force. In 1982 they entered a big contest called "Rock SM" and they changed the name of there band to Europe. The lineup for Europe was Joey Tempest - Vocals, John Norum - Guitar, John Leven - Bass, & Tony Reno - Drums. They were competing against 80 bands in this contest and they happend to be the winners of that contest. The reward was a recording contract with HOT Records and the next year they released there self titled debut album which contained awsome tracks like; "In The Future To Come", "Seven Doors Hotel", "The King Will Return", "Paradize Bay", & "Memories". The next year they added Mic Michaeli to the band and released there second album "Wings Of Tomorrow" which contained killer tracks such as; "Stormwind", "Scream Of Anger", "Open Your Heart", "Treated Bad Again", "Dreamer", and many others. In the middle of the "Wings Of Tomorrow Tour" They fired their drummer Tony Reno. Reno was replaced by Ian Haugland. In 1985 Europe stared in the movie (and made the soundtrack for) "On The Loose" which gave them their first number one hit in Sweden "Rock The Night". In 1986 Europe released their MONSTER break through "The Final Countdown" which contains super tracks like "The Final Countdown", "Rock The Night", "Carrie", "Cherokee", & "Love Chaser". After the huge sucess of "The Final Countdown" John Norum left the band in late 86' to work on a solo project, Norum was replaced by Kee Marcello. Their 4th album was called "Out Of This World" which contained cool tracks such as "Superstitious", "Let The Good Times Rock", The rerecording of "Open Your Heart", "More Then Meets The Eye", "Sign Of The Times", & "Tomorrow". In 1991 They released "Prisoners In Paradise" which contained sweet tracks like "All Or Nothing", "Halfway To Heaven", "I'll Cry For You", "Talk To Me", & the title track "Prisoners In Paradise". The album didn't get much attention since Grunge was taking over at that time, after their last show in 1992 Europe desided to take a long break. During the break Joey Released 3 solo albums; "A Place To Call Home" (1995), "Azalea Place" (1997), "Joey Tempest" (2002) while John Norum was still releasing solo albums; "Total Control" (1987), "Live In Stockholm" (1990), "Face The Truth" (1992), "Worlds Away" (1996), "Face It Live 97" (1997), "Slipped Into Tomorrow" (1999). John Leven, Mic Michaeli, & Ian Haugland joined the band "Brazen Abbot" during the break. In 2003 Europe reunited as and the next year they realeased "Start From The Dark" Which Contained tracks like "Got To Have Faith", "Start From The Dark", "Flames", & "Hero". Europes current lineup is the same ol' "Final Countdown" lineup. Joey has just wrapped up the "Start From The Dark world tour" and is currentlly writing new material for their next album which hopefully gonna be released next year in 2006. ~Joey Tempest~ Birthname: Joakim Larsson Birthdate: August 19th, 1963 Birthplace: Upplands Vasby, Stockholms Ian, Sweden Instrument: Vocals Spouse: Lisa Worthington (September 29th, 2000 - present) Bands He likes: UFO, Thin Lizzy, Deep Purple Trivia: Had his own band "Jet" at age 11 Met John Nourm in 1978 and together they formed the band "Force" The song "Hero" was written as a special tribute to Joey's childhood hero, Phil Lynott from Thin Lizzy He has a pet cat He has an older sister and a younger brother His band, Europe, used to rehearse under the name "Le Baron Boys" in order to avoid fans In between the disbanding of Europe in 1992 and the reunion of the band in 2003, he had a successful career as a solo artist with 3 CDs: A Place To Call Home (1995), Azalea Place (1997) and Joey Tempest (2002) ~John Norum~ Birthname: John Terry Norum Birthdate: February 23rd, 1964 Birthplace: Vardo, Norway Instrument: Guitar Spouse: Michelle Meldrum (1995 - present) 1 child Bands He Likes: Thin Lizzy, UFO, Deep Purple, Black Sabbath Trivia: Grew up in Upplands Väsby, a suburb of Stockholm 2001 Member of Dokken Older brother of Tone Norum Appears on Don Dokken's solo LP "Up from the Ashes" His first job as a musician was with Eddie Meduza when he was 14 His sister Tone is a singer His wife is also a guitar player released several solo album since he left Europe in 1986 Good friends with Yngwie Malmsteen, and the two have worked together ~John Leven~ Birthname: John Leven Birthdate: October 25th, 1963 Birthplace: Stockholm, Sweden Instrument: Bass Spouse: Karin Winkler (? - ?) (divorced) 2 children Bands He Likes: Jimi Hendrix, Black Sabbath, Aerosmith, Van Halen, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple and many more. ~Mic Michaeli~ Birthname: Gunnar Mathias Michaeli Birthdate: November 11th, 1962 Birthplace: Upplands Vasby, Stockholms Ian, Sweden Instrument: Keyboards Spouse: Mia Hertler (1989 - 2001) (divorced) 3 children Bands He Likes: Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, ELP, Thin Lizzy, Deep Purple, Rainbow, Frank Zappa, Howlin´ Wolf, the Beatles, Aerosmith, Iggy Pop, Captain Beyond, Robert Johnson, Brian Eno, James Brown, MSG, TSOOL, QOTSA, Queen ~Ian Haugland~ Birthname: Ian Haugland Birthdate: August 13th, 1964 Birthplace: Norway Instrument: Drums Spouse: Marita (? - present) 3 children Bands He Likes: Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Thin Lizzy, Audioslave, Aerosmith, Rush Trivia: Has DJ position with the morning rock show Rockklassiker |
 |
 |