OREANDA-NEWS. The soloist of the Swedish pop rock band Roxette Marie Fredriksson died.

This was reported by Expressen newspaper with reference to the manager of the artist Marie Dimberg. “Marie Fredriksson died in the morning of December 9,” Dimberg’s press release said. The report also notes that the 61-year-old singer died from a “previous illness.”

Marie Fredriksson’s relatives, her husband Mikael Bolyos and their children Josefin and Oscar appealed to the public with a request to respect their grief. The funeral ceremony will be held in the family circle.

Roxette duo was founded in 1986 by Per Gessle and Marie Fredriksson. The total number of records with their songs sold in the world exceeds 75 million. The most famous songs of the duet are It Must Have Been Love, The Look, How Do You Do, Joyride. Roxette released their last album Good Karma in 2016.

In parallel with Roxette, Fredriksson developed her own solo career. Her latest album named Nu with songs in Swedish was released in 2013. In total, the singer released eight studio albums.

For many years, Fredriksson has had health problems. In 2002, she was diagnosed with a brain tumor. The singer underwent surgery, and then radiotherapy courses. This stopped the cancer, but for many years Fredriksson struggled with the consequences of antitumor therapy. Fredriksson returned to the stage, but in 2016, doctors recommended her to leave the concert activities because of her health condition, and she had to cancel the tour in honor of the 30th anniversary of Roxette.