Group Europe and its path to success

The Swedish group Europe was formed in Stockholm in 1980 by two former school buddies - Joachim Larsen (vocals) and John Norum (guitar). But first the guys called their band Force. The group also played John Leven (bass guitar) and Tony Niemisto (drums). After a long series of performances in small clubs and pubs, the Force musicians in 1982 decided to take part in the competition for beginners and won it.

Way to the top

The musicians change their names - Larsen takes the name Joey Tempest, and Tony Niemisto becomes Tony Reno. At the same time, they rename their team and already as a group Europe get their first contract to record their debut album. It turns out very good. Songs of the group Europe in the style of hard rock like listeners, and very soon their first album takes 8th place in the Swedish hit parade. The second album "Wings Of Tomorrow" also had success with the public and showed that the team grew in quality of the performed music. Group Europe actively tours and participates in different projects - performs several compositions for the film "On The Loose", together with the most famous Swedish musicians, records the single "Give A Helping Hand" for the charity event Swedish Metal Aid. In the beginning of 1986 their third album "The Final Countdown" was released. He has a fantastic success, in Sweden the album topped the national hit parade, in the US took eighth place. The album sales made it platinum, and the single "The Final Countdown" reached eight million copies.

The promotion of the Europe group has attracted the most prestigious music companies of the world - and the musicians are leaving for their first world tour. Triumph accompanies them in all countries. But in the group there are the first disagreements, as a result of which John Norum leaves it. The place of the guitarist is Ki Marcello. In 1988, Europe released another album, "Out Of This World". In Sweden for the first day the album became platinum, it was very well received in the USA. The new world tour again had a huge success. Despite this, the musicians are trying to return to a heavier sound, move away from pop music, try new club material in the style of hard rock. Fans take it with delight. The album "Prisoners In Paradise", released in 1991, became the most mature "metal" album of the band.

The last concert

Another world tour, the release of a collection of the best singles - and suddenly the musicians announce that the rock band Europe has ceased to exist for a while. Joey Tempest explains this by the fact that the band members, being continuously on tour and in the studio, did not have a normal personal life, could not see their loved ones. Also, other versions surfaced - the group has serious conflicts with the recording company and its management. Officially, the breakup was not announced, and this left hope to the fans that Europe will re-join after some time. But the band once again gathered in full force only once, on December 31, 1999, 15 minutes before the turn of the century, to perform their hits "Rock The Night" and "The Final Countdown". This famous concert was broadcast around the world and became the brightest event in the history of rock music. After a long silence in 2005, Europe appeared before the audience in an updated composition with the album "Start from the dark". In the following years, several more albums were recorded, the band toured extensively with tours to support them.