Gösta Sundqvist

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Gösta Sundqvist (May 17, 1957 - August 15, 2003) was a famous Finnish musician and radio personality. He was the lead singer for Leevi and the Leavings since the forming of the band. The name "Leevi" is often taken to mean Sundqvist personally, although this is incorrect, and "Leevi" refers to a late friend of the band members. Sundqvist kept himself almost completely hidden from publicity and Leevi and the Leavings never performed in front of a live audience, with only one exception under the name "Tarmo Dynamo". In the 1980s and 90s, Gösta and the band gave some interviews but after the year 2000 Sundqvist became a total media hermit.

Sundqvist is best remembered by the songs he composed, arranged and wrote the texts for. His lyrics were down-to-earth which was probably the key to success among the Finnish public. In 1990 Sundqvist expanded his work to include radio comedy. He wrote several humorous shows for the radio station formerly known as Radiomafia, including Tietokoneenkorjauskurssi ("Computer repair lesson") and Koe-eläinpuisto ("Test animal park").

Sundqvist also wrote songs for singer Aarne Tenkanen, who was originally one of the characters appearing in Koe-eläinpuisto.

Gösta Sundqvist died abruptly in the middle of a creative period. Only hours before his untimely death, he was in a studio recording a new version of a Leavings song meant to appear on their next single. Gösta Sundqvist died in his home in Espoo on August 15 2003, being only 46 years old.