Ace of Base
Ace of Base
Ace of Base in Vantaa, Finland 2008.
Background information
Origin
Gothenburg, Sweden
Genre(s)
Dance
Techno
Europop
Adult contemporary
Years active 1987–present
Label(s)
Playground Music (Scandinavia)
Universal (Europe & Australia)
EMI (Japan)
Sony-BMG (Americas & Japan)
Website
Official website
Official MySpace
Members
Jenny Berggren
Jonas Berggren (Joker)
Ulf Ekberg (Buddha)
Former members
Malin "Linn" Berggren
Ace of Base is a pop band from Gothenburg,
Sweden, comprising Ulf Ekberg (Buddha)
and siblings Jonas Berggren (Joker) and
Jenny Berggren. They released their debut al-
bum in 1993 and went on to sell more than
30 million albums worldwide, topping the
charts with hits such as "All That She Wants"
and "The Sign". Following the formal depar-
ture of
former member Malin
"Linn"
Berggren in 2007, the trio have recently been
playing gigs in Europe and Asia, and plan to
release their fifth studio album in 2009.
Formation
In 1987, following a number of years as part
of a new romantic and punk covers band
called G Konrad, Jonas Berggren formed a
band with two friends, Johnny Lindén and
Niklas Tränk for a school project; his sisters
Linn and Jenny joined as singers. The new
band went through several names: Kalinin
Prospect
(a
street
in Moscow); CAD
(Computer-Aided Disco);
and Tech-Noir
(French
for black
technology,
after
a
nightclub in the film The Terminator).[1] They
toured the clubs of Sweden with their new
self-written material, techno inspired by the
likes of The KLF and Snap!
Johnny left the group in 1989. Niklas
made his departure known by failing to ap-
pear at a gig at the Bältesspännarparken on
6 August 1990; he preferred to attend a
Rolling Stones concert on the other side of
town.[2] Jonas asked his friend Ulf Ekberg to
stand in for Niklas. The new quartet sought a
new name to make a fresh start; Linn was re-
ported saying: "No one could pronounce the
name of the group and nobody could remem-
ber it". They settled on Ace of Base, because
they were the "masters of their studio", t