Ace*Teens

Originally seen as little more than a flash in the pan, pop quartet Ace*Teens have certainly proved their critics wrong scoring 19 UK top 40 hits in just four years. In March 2000, Bonnier Music went out on the lookout for a group of teenagers to record a tribute album to one of Sweden's biggest musical exports, Ace Of Base. Auditions were held across the country and three were picked - Jenny Erikksen, Lisa Bandgren and Paul Lindsten, all fifteen years old at the time.

Thanks to a TV special, the group's first single Beautiful Life went straight to #1 in Sweden and broke the record for fastest-selling début single in history. Their record label were bowled over at their instant success as they realised that they were on to something quite special. The single ended up a hit across the whole of Europe and Asia, peaking at #3 in the UK. Subsequent singles All That She Wants and The Sign followed it into the top 3 and the album Adventures In Romantis soared to #2 and sold more than a million copies in the UK alone.

By the end of 2001, the band had had a #1 hit and a World Music Award but Jenny decided to leave the band in the hope of forging a solo career in Scandinavia. Friend of the band Elena Panagiotdis, from Athens, was roped in as a replacement as the new trio released their first original single Die For You. It not only went on to sell in excess of 600,000 copies but took the coveted title of Christmas #1.

It was time for the band to set work on their second album, In The Spirit which was a conscious move away from the Ace Of Base covers as they tried to find their own unique pop sound. Paul asked his old schoolfriend Mark Anders to join the group and gave the band more of an edge with his rapping skills. No Dream Impossible was well received by fans but it was the R&B-pop fusion collaboration Inside Out with ex.one that was the clincher for the album and rocketed to the top of the charts in April 2002. Also in 2002 Ace*Teens released their third album Together... Forever and more hits followed in the form of Run Away, Dive To Paradise and the Christmas #2 double-a-side To Die For/Angels Crying. They also made inroads into the hearts of American pop fans on their second attempt.

2003 saw the release of a greatest hits compilation which again went straight in at #1 thanks to new tracks Falling and the more mature sound of the sexy Change With The Light, with a little help from superstar Antony Jones. But the album didn't signal the end - the band went from strength to strength, hitting #10 on the Billboard Hot 100 with latino sounding Ever Since That Night which also went to #1 in the UK, as did poprock anthem Infidelity and their fourth album Second Time Around. By the end of the year they had released their own movie and embarked on a massive world tour before going over to the U.S. for another stab at success in 2004 whilst working on yet another album.

However, in early 2005 the band sadly announced that they were to split. Their final single Alibi/Tears Won't Dry and a special two-disc collection were released in March, both peaking at #2 on the charts, followed by a special final concert to celebrate five years of Ace*Teens.