Agnes Carlsson

Agnes

Agnes performing in Kalmar, Sweden during her summer tour 2009.
Background information
Birth name Agnes Emilia Carlsson
Also known as Agnes (stage name)
Born March 6, 1988 (1988-03-06) (age 23)
Origin Vänersborg, Sweden
Genres Pop, Dance, R&B
Occupations Singer
Instruments Vocals
Years active 2005–present
Labels Columbia/Sony BMG (2005–2007)
Roxy (2008–present)
AATW (UK)
Geffen/Universal (US)
Warner (DE, AU)
Website Official Website
Official U.S website

Agnes Emilia Carlsson, also known mononymously as Agnes (born on March 6, 1988, in Vänersborg, Sweden), is a Swedish recording artist. She rose to fame as the winner of Idol 2005, the second season of the Swedish Idol series. She was then signed to Sony Music, through which she released her self titled debut album Agnes and follow-up Stronger, both of which topped the Swedish Top 60 Albums Chart.[1] In early 2008, it was announced that Agnes had parted ways with her record label, and was now signed to small independent label Roxy Recordings. Released on October 28, 2008, her third album, Dance Love Pop, reached number five in Sweden, seventy in Austria, thirty-eight in France, forty-five in Switzerland and 13 in the United Kingdom.[1] Its first two singles, "On and On" and "Release Me" became international hits, reaching the top-ten in charts worldwide. "Release Me" topped the Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs and peaked at three in the United Kingdom, selling over 900,000 copies worldwide.

Agnes has cited the soul-singer Stevie Wonder as her inspiration[2] and has often mentioned Whitney Houston and Janet Jackson as her inspiration in music.

Contents

Life and music career

Early life

Agnes Carlsson was born in Vänersborg, Sweden on March 6, 1988 as the youngest of four siblings. Her father was an environmental engineer, her mother a nurse and social worker.[3] Agnes started taking violin lessons and joined a choir at a young age, later saying even though “I hated singing in the choir because my voice didn’t fit; you have to listen to the others and not stick out too much”. She sang solo in front of a live audience for the first time whilst still at school.[4] However, it wasn’t until she was 16 that she first had one-on-one singing lessons.[3] Agnes also sang in the Vänersborg choir named 'Voice',[4] citing legendary American singer-songwriter Stevie Wonder as her inspiration.[2]

2005-2007: "Idol" and commercial success

In the spring of 2005, a 17-year-old Agnes auditioned for the second season of popular Swedish singing competition Idol in Gothenburg, singing "Varje Gång Jag Ser Dig" by Lisa Nilsson.[4] The four judges were all hugely impressed by the strong power of her voice and she successfully passed through to the theatre rounds of the contest.[4] Her vocals continued to impress the judges, and she made it to the semi-finals.[4] To the dismay of the judges however, Agnes did not get a place in the final eleven contestants through public voting, and when she again failed to grab a place through the special 'wildcard' round, they decided to pass her through to the finals as the judges' choice contestant.[4]

Despite the lack of public support earlier in the competition, Agnes went on to amaze both the judges and the public during every week of the finals, with a result of making it into the grand finale without ever falling into the bottom two or three contestants.[4] With 57% of the one million public votes cast during the finale, she defeated Sebastian Karlsson and was crowned as the second Swedish Idol, and the first female to win the competition.[5]

Immediately after winning Idol, Agnes signed a recording contract with Sony BMG and her debut single, "Right Here Right Now (My Heart Belongs to You)" was released.[4] A week later, the song debuted at number one on the Swedish singles chart, a position it held for six weeks.[4] The song was quickly certified double platinum for the sale of over 40,000 copies in Sweden. Just one week later, on December 19, 2005, her highly anticipated debut album Agnes was released to positive critical reviews that praised the power of Agnes's voice, who was still only eighteen years old.[4] The album debuted at number one on the Swedish albums chart and was certified platinum in its first week of release, selling almost 40,000 copies.[4]

In March 2006, whilst touring in support of her debut album, she released her second single, "Stranded".[6] Although it received positive critical reviews, the single did not gain commercial success and stalled in the singles chart at number twenty-seven.[6] Despite this however, her first album continued to enjoy high sales success, selling over 90,000 copies in Sweden by the time it left the Top 60 Albums chart.[6]

On August 22, 2006, only eight months after her Idol win, Agnes's third single "Kick Back Relax" premiered on the TV-show "Sommarkrysset".[4] The song, which would serve as the lead single from her second studio album, was released on September 7 and narrowly missed the top spot on the Swedish singles chart, peaking at number two.[4] Her second album, Stronger was released on October 11, less than a year after the release of her debut album. Like its predecessor, Stronger debuted at number one on the albums chart,[7] and went on to sell over 50,000 copies in Sweden, with it later being certified platinum.[6] One of the album's tracks, "Love Is All Around" has since been covered by numerous singers on three continents, the most notable being by Australian Idol alumni Ricki Lee Coulter, which peaked at number five in Australia[8] and became one of that country's biggest hits in 2007.

On November 15, 2006, Agnes released "Champion", the second single from Stronger, which peaked at number nineteen.[4] In early 2007, she embarked on her second national.[4] In December, she and her fellow Idol contestant Måns Zelmerlöw joined together for a huge Christmas campaign for clothing store MQ.[6] In order to promote the company, they duetted on a cover of the Mariah Carey song "All I Want for Christmas Is You", which peaked at number three on the Swedish singles chart and was certified gold for the sale of 10,000 copies.[6]

2008-2009: Dance Love Pop, departure from Sony BMG & international launch

In early 2008, it was announced that Agnes had parted ways with her record label Sony BMG, with Agnes citing "creative differences" behind the split.[4] She then signed to independent label Roxy Recordings and on August 11, "On and On", the first single from her upcoming third studio, was released.[9] The song marked a change in Agnes' music style, going towards a more dance and club style, while moving away from her original pop and R&B.[4] Agnes first performed the song live on August 16, 2008 during the Swedish TV-show "Sommarkrysset".[10] The single spent four consecutive weeks at its peak of number 8 on the Swedish singles chart and hit the top spot on the club chart, gaining a gold certification.[4] The same club style would be reflected on Agnes's third studio album, Dance Love Pop, which she had written together with Swedish producer and song-writer Anders Hansson. The album was released on October 28, 2009 and debuted on the Swedish albums chart at number five with first week sales of 10,000 copies.[4] On November 24, "Release Me" was released as the second single from the album, peaking at number nine on the Swedish chart and being certified gold.[4] Despite the song's success, it failed to match that of the album's first single.[4]

In October 2008 it was rumored that Agnes would compete in Melodifestivalen 2009, the competition that would decide Sweden's entrant to the Eurovision song contest.[11] Agnes later confirmed this in an interview in the Swedish newspaper Göteborgsposten, and it was further confirmed on December 2, 2008, by SVT.[12] The song "Love Love Love" was chosen as her official entry song. The song was written by Anders Hansson, who had previously worked with Agnes on her third studio album, co-writing almost all of the record's tracks, including the first two singles, On and On and "Release Me".[4] Originally, it was said that Agnes was to perform "Love Love Love" as a duet with fellow Swedish singer and former A-teens member Marie Serneholt, but when it was later decided that Serneholt would be competing on her own, Agnes performed "Love Love Love" as a solo performance.[13] On February 28, 2009, Agnes advanced to the final round of Melodifestivalen 2009 and eventually achieved 8th place with 40 points.[14] On February 28, she officially released "Love Love Love" as the third single from Dance Love Pop, peaking at number four on the Swedish charts. The song was included on the two-disc re-release of her third studio album, released on April 1, 2009.[4] Following the re-release, Dance Love Pop returned to the Swedish albums chart, peaking at number 12.[4]

During Agnes' attempts to promote Melodifestivalen in the spring of 2009, "Release Me" began to receive attention from abroad, with Roxy Recordings later stating that the song would receive an international release. The move marked the first time that Agnes' music would be distributed outside Sweden. The single made its first international appearance in Denmark,[15] where it peaked at number six selling over 25,000 copies, but most of all, "Release Me" gained massive remarks in the UK and Agnes was signed to the small independent record company 3Beat, where the song received its official UK release on May 31, 2009, proving to be a big hit, being picked up by most music channels, also with Agnes performing the song and a few others at G-A-Y, the UK's biggest gay nightclub venue and also a live performance on GMTV, one of the UK's biggest breakfast shows. Release Me hit the top of Radio 1's A-list playlist, and eventually debuted at number three in the UK Singles Chart, and continued to ride high in the top ten for many weeks.[16] After eight weeks it managed to get a Silver certification with over 300,000 copies sold. In Ireland the song debuted at thirty-eight and later peaked at ten. "Release Me" continued to reign European charts during the summer and autumn, being released in most European countries, becoming a success in France, Belgium, Italy and Germany. Agnes made her first appearance outside of Europe in late July after being signed by Warner Music in Australia with "Release Me" as her first Australian entering the Australian chart at number eleven in its first week of release.[17]

Agnes' second international single was "On and On" which was first released in the Netherlands where it peaked at number fourteen.[18] Later that year, "On and On" started to climb the charts in the francophone areas of Europe due to digital downloads from Dance Love Pop. It debuted at number twenty-seven in the Belgian-Wallonia Singles Chart[19] and after its release, peaked at seventeen. In the Belgian-Flandern Singles Chart it peaked at eight, making it the second top-ten hit in Belgium for Agnes.[18] A new version had been recorded for the French release, called "On Se Donne",[20] but even before it was released as a single, it peaked at number fourteen on the French Download Chart[21] and thirthy-seven in the Swiss Singles Chart.[22] "On and On" was released as the second single in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Hungary in May 2010, and as the third single for the UK in June.

In the UK the second single was "I Need You Now", which was rerecorded from the previous version on Dance Love Pop.[23] "I Need You Now" was officially released in the UK on November 16, 2009[24] and peaked at forty in the UK Singles Chart. But fared better in the dance chart at 5.[25] "I Need You Now" was then released in Sweden on November 23, 2009 as an iTunes exclusive single.[26] Later the same week it was released to other digital markets and despite no promotion and little airplay, it entered the Swedish Singles Chart at number ten and later peaked at number eight, making it Agnes' seventh top-ten hit in Sweden.[27] The song was also released in a few other countries such as Italy, The Netherlands, Norway and Australia but failed to enter any charts.

2010-present: Fourth studio album and Royal wedding

In February 2010 it was confirmed that Agnes's third French single would be Sometimes I Forget. It will serve as the follow-up to the massive success of "Release Me" and "On and On", which combined has sold over 160,000 copies in France.[28] The song will be released in Sweden as well, as Agnes' fifth single from "Dance Love Pop".

In July 2009 the major American record company Geffen Records had announced that they had signed Agnes[29] and would release "Release Me" in the U.S. on August 18, 2009.[30] She also received a signing bonus of 1 million dollars ($1,000,000).[31] This made Agnes the first and to date only Swedish Idol contestant to be launched in America. Before landing on Interscope/Geffen's table, three of America's biggest record companies fought over Agnes and her hit potential. In early 2010 a team consisting of 35 people that, in 2009, was assigned to make Lady Gaga the next star, started to plan Agnes' U.S. launch.[32]

Agnes made her first appearance in the U.S. on August 27, 2009 at a release party for her single "Release Me". Among the guests where the CEO of Interscope Records, Ron Fair, and he made a comment about their new signing "She has it all. She is an amazing singer, looks good, is fearless and humble. She is a mix of Alanis Morissette, Gwen Stefani and Christina Aguilera"[31] The launch of Agnes in the U.S and Canada continued during the spring 2010 and in the summer of 2010 "Release Me" was added to mainstream radio.

On June 19, 2010 Agnes and Björn Skifs performed at the Wedding of Victoria, Crown Princess of Sweden, and Daniel Westling[33] The song When You Tell the World You're Mine is the official wedding song, written especially for this occasion. The lyrics were written by Jörgen Elofsson, who has worked with Agnes before, and the music was written by Jörgen Elofsson & John Lundvik as the official wedding song. As a tribute to Victoria, Crown Princess of Sweden, Prince Daniel, Duke of Västergötland engaged Elofsson to compose a song that express what we feel when we fall in love with someone.[34] The song entered the Sweden Top 60 Singles at fourteen and peaked at one the week after, it did also manage to peak at nineteen in Finland. The song was released Worldwide in June, but will also be released as a CD Single and as Agnes' third single in Germany on August 25.[35]

According to the Swedish tabloid Expressen, Agnes fourth album will be released within the first six months of 2011,[36] and the first single is expected during the summer of 2011.[37] First official single is "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" was premiered on August 5 at Mr. Gay Sweden Show [38] The song is written by Agnes, Vincent Pontare, Magnus Lidehäll, The Nervo Twins and produced by Vincent Pontare and Magnus Lidehäll.[39] A music video for the single release was shoot on September 12, 2011 and directed by Mikeadelica.[40]

Musical style and influences

Agnes started out in Swedish Idol, and when it came to choose the songs for the competition she had a particular taste of genres. The first song she ever sang on Swedish television was "Varje gång jag ser dig" (Each time I see you), a soul ballad with a strong love lyrics. Throughout the competition she continued to impress with her vocals in songs like Flashdance... What a Feeling, I'm So Excited, Young Hearts Run Free and Can't Take My Eyes Off You. Already in this early stage of her career she cited legendary soul-singer Stevie Wonder as her inspiration.[2] Both her self-titled debut album and her second album consisted strongly of R&B, soul, and pop songs, continuing the path she began during her time in "Idol".

But after leaving Sony Music and signing on to Roxy, she geared towards the dance and club genre, she was introduced to the songwriter and producer Anders Hansson. Agnes recalls when his name first came up for the album “They said maybe you should just meet first and see if you like each other, as opposed to just working together.” They got on – so well that Hansson ended up producing an album that helped Agnes realise her vision, Dance Love and Pop together in one album[3] “A lot of things changed for me when I started to work with this album. I really liked it, because I knew that I wanted to do something totally different to the two others. I wanted to do uptempo, disco-orientated songs and I really wanted to work with Anders because he felt the same way."[3] When released the first single "On and On" from her third album, it immediately showed a clear change of artistic direction for her music. This was clearly observed by the critics who all homaged her new musical style. Other remarks are "The album fits the dance floor at any club. A mood trigger with bubbling enjoyment."[41] and "Agnes Carlsson once and for all gets rid of the "Idol"-dust."[42]

Agnes has often cited strong female soul singers like Beyoncé, Whitney Houston and Janet Jackson as her inspiration in music. In an interview she said that whenever she was home alone she would play Whitney Houston and Beyoncé's songs “at the highest volume” and sing along. “Whitney’s voice is so emotional, and if there’s one thing I learnt from listening to her, it’s that it’s important to put emotion in.”[3]

Discography

Studio albums

Tours

Awards and nominations

References

  1. ^ a b "Swedish Charts > Agnes" (in Swedish). swedishcharts.com. Hung Medien. http://www.swedishcharts.com/showinterpret.asp?interpret=Agnes. Retrieved 09-10-2009. 
  2. ^ a b c "Agnes biography" (in Swedish). agnes-carlsson.nu. Agnes Carlsson and Roxy Recordings. http://www.agnes-carlsson.nu/agnes/biografi/biografi.html. Retrieved 2010-01-02. 
  3. ^ a b c d e "Agnes English biography". agnescarlsson.se. Agnes Carlsson and Roxy Recordings. http://agnescarlsson.se/biography/. Retrieved 2010-01-17. 
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x "Agnes's Biography". Starz TV. http://www.starztv.co.uk/ArtistDetail.aspx?ArtistID=549. Retrieved 1-23-2011. 
  5. ^ (Swedish)Söderström, Martin (2005-12-02). "Nu är Agnes Idol – på riktigt" (in Swedish). Aftonbladet. http://www.aftonbladet.se/nojesbladet/article334470.ab. Retrieved 2010-07-11. 
  6. ^ a b c d e f "Sverigetopplistan" (in Swedish). sverigetopplistan.se. Agnes Calrsson and Roxy Recordings. http://www.sverigetopplistan.se. Retrieved 2010-03-31. 
  7. ^ ""Stronger" in swedish charts". swedishcharts.com. Swedish. http://swedishcharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Agnes&titel=Stronger&cat=a. Retrieved 2010-03-31. 
  8. ^ ""Love is all around" in Australian charts (Ricki Lee Coulter)". australian-charts.com. Hung Medien. http://australian-charts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Ricki%2DLee&titel=Love+Is+All+Around&cat=s. Retrieved 2010-03-31. 
  9. ^ "Agnes - Official Website". agnescarlsson.se. Agnes Carlsson and Roxy Recordings. http://www.agnescarlsson.se/. Retrieved 1-23-2011. 
  10. ^ (Swedish)Karin Skogh (2008-08-16). "Agnes gjorde comeback i sommarkrysset" (in Swedish). Express Entertainment. Expressen. http://www.expressen.se/noje/1.1267616/agnes-gjorde-comback-i-sommarkrysset. Retrieved 2009-05-16. 
  11. ^ Viniker, Barry (2008-11-26). "Second wildcard revealed tonight". ESCToday. http://www.esctoday.com/news/read/12567. Retrieved 2008-11-26. 
  12. ^ (Swedish)Andersson, Carl (2008-12-02). "De är med i Melodifestivalen - igen" (in Swedish). Express Entertainment. Expressen. http://www.expressen.se/noje/musik/1.1389177/de-ar-med-i-melodifestivalen-igen. Retrieved 2008-12-02. 
  13. ^ (Swedish)Susanne Nylén, Niklas Strömberg (2008-12-02). "Lili och Susie till Melodifestivalen" (in Swedish). Aftonbladet. http://www.aftonbladet.se/nojesbladet/melodifestivalen2009/article3898218.ab. Retrieved 2009-05-16. 
  14. ^ (Swedish)SVT.se (2009). "Votingresults Melodifestivalen" (in Swedish) (PDF). SVT. http://svt.se/content/1/c8/01/44/24/54/Slutresultat%20FOLKET%20MElo%202009%20FINAL.pdf. Retrieved 2009-05-16. 
  15. ^ "Copenhagen Records - Agnes" (in Danish). Copenhagen Records. 2009. http://cphrec.dk/da/Video_ReleaseME. Retrieved 2010-03-31. 
  16. ^ (Swedish)Martin Ekelund (2009-05-29). "Agnes etta i England" (in Swedish). Aftonbladet. http://www.aftonbladet.se/nojesbladet/musik/article5253095.ab. Retrieved 2010-03-31. 
  17. ^ ""Release Me" in Australian ARIA charts". ariacharts.com. Hung Medien. http://www.ariacharts.com.au/pages/charts_display_dance.asp?chart=1D20. Retrieved 2009-11-11. 
  18. ^ a b "Agnes - On and On" (in German). swisscharts.com. Hung Medien. http://www.swisscharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Agnes&titel=On+and+On&cat=s. Retrieved 1-23-2011. 
  19. ^ ""On and On" in Beligium-Wallonian charts". ultratop.be. Hung Medien. http://www.ultratop.be/fr/showitem.asp?interpret=Agnes&titel=On+And+On&cat=s. Retrieved 2009-12-31. |language=German
  20. ^ "Agnes: "On Se Donne (On And On)"" (in French). musique radio. http://www.musiqueradio.com/article_news8615_agnes--on-se-donne-on-and-on-en-ecoute-gratuite.php. Retrieved 1-22-2011. 
  21. ^ "On and On in French charts". lescharts.com. Hung Medien. http://lescharts.com/weekchart.asp?cat=si. Retrieved 02-11-2009. 
  22. ^ ""On and On" in Swiss charts" (in German). hitparade.ch. Hung Medien. http://hitparade.ch/showitem.asp?interpret=Agnes&titel=On+And+On&cat=s. Retrieved 2009-11-11. 
  23. ^ "I Need You Now (UK Radio Edit): Agnes". Amazon UK. Amazon.com, Inc.. http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B002X0CJE0. Retrieved 1-23-2011. 
  24. ^ "I Need You Now: Agnes". Amazon UK. Amazon.com, Inc.. http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B002TZS4YI. Retrieved 1-23-2011. 
  25. ^ "Agnes - I Need You Now". Chart Stats. http://www.chartstats.com/songinfo.php?id=34640. Retrieved 1-23-2011. 
  26. ^ "I Need You Now - Single by Agnes". iTunes. Apple Inc.. 11-23-2011. http://itunes.apple.com/se/album/i-need-you-now-single/id340826801. 
  27. ^ ""I Need You Now" in Swedish charts". swedishcharts.com. Hung Medien. http://swedishcharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Agnes&titel=I+Need+You+Now&cat=s. Retrieved 05-12-2009. 
  28. ^ (French)"Agnes : Ecoutez son nouveau tube, ’Sometimes I Forget’" (in French). Musique Evous. Evous. http://www.evous.fr/musique/Agnes-Sometimes-I-Forget-clip,9203.html. Retrieved 26-02-2010. 
  29. ^ "Interscope Records - Agnes". interscope.com. http://www.interscope.com/agnes. Retrieved 2009-11-11. 
  30. ^ ""Release Me" release-details". Interscope Records. http://interscope.com/artist/releases/detail.aspx?pid=2281&aid=1142. Retrieved 2009-11-11. 
  31. ^ a b (Swedish)Magnus Sundholm (2009-08-29). "Agnes värvades av världens största bolag" (in Swedish). Aftonbladet. http://www.aftonbladet.se/nojesbladet/musik/article5710863.ab. Retrieved 2009-08-30. 
  32. ^ (Swedish)Joacim Persson (2009-12-20). "Agnes fick Hollywood att gråta" (in Swedish). Aftonbladet. http://www.aftonbladet.se/nojesbladet/musik/article6320247.ab. Retrieved 2009-12-20. 
  33. ^ "KYSSEN | Bröllopet | Aftonbladet" (in Swedish). Aftonbladet.se. http://www.aftonbladet.se/brollopet/article7333349.ab. Retrieved 2010-06-19. 
  34. ^ "Den officiella bröllopslåten "When you tell the world you're mine" släpps!" (in Swedish). roxyrecordings.se. Roxy Recordings. http://www.roxyrecordings.se/. Retrieved 2010-06-20. 
  35. ^ "Amazon.de - When You Tell the World You're Mine - CD Single" (in German). Amazon.de. Amazon.com, Inc.. http://www.amazon.de/dp/B003TJSAIS. Retrieved 2010-08-06. 
  36. ^ a b (Swedish)Anders Nunstedt (2011-01-01). "ANDERS NUNSTEDT: Musikåret 2011 kan bli superbra" (in Swedish). Express Entertainment. Expressen. http://www.expressen.se/noje/kronikorer/andersnunstedt/1.2274562/anders-nunstedt-musikaret-2011-kan-bli-superbra. Retrieved 2011-01-11. 
  37. ^ "Some new performances from Agnes!". Scandipop.co.uk. Scandiopo. 2011-05-08. http://www.scandipop.co.uk/?p=5714. Retrieved 2011-05-16. 
  38. ^ "Twitter - Stop everything in your f**king life! @agnescarlsson signs new single "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" at Mr. Gay Sweden http://t.co/n7dZSL6". 2011-08-06. https://twitter.com/#!/josepvinaixa/status/99852791207575552. Retrieved 2011-08-06. 
  39. ^ "Listen to Don't Go Breaking My Heart". agnescarlsson.se. http://agnescarlsson.se/2011/09/listen-to-dont-go-breaking-my-heart/. Retrieved 2011-09-28. 
  40. ^ "Video Shoot for Don't Go Breaking My Heart". agnescarlsson.se. http://agnescarlsson.se/wordpress/2011/09/video-shoot-for-dont-go-breaking-my-heart/. Retrieved 2011-09-12. 
  41. ^ Sandra Wall (2008-10-29). "Dance Love Pop". nt.se. Norrköpings Tidningar. http://www.nt.se/noje/artikel.aspx?articleid=4402301. Retrieved 2008-11-05. 
  42. ^ Appelqvist, Lisa (2008-10-29). "Agnes: Dance Love Pop" (in Swedish). Kristianstadsbladet. http://www.kristianstadsbladet.se/noje/skivrecensioner/article1005982.ece. Retrieved 2008-11-05. 

External links

Preceded by
Daniel Lindström
Winner of Swedish Idol
2005
Succeeded by
Markus Fagervall
Preceded by
Neverstore
Winner of MTV Europe Music Awards for best Swedish Act
2009
Succeeded by
Swedish House Mafia