John Levén

John Levén
Background information
Birth name John Gunnar Levén
Born October 25, 1963
Stockholm, Sweden
Genres Heavy metal, hard rock, glam metal
Instruments bass, vocals
Years active 1981–present
Associated acts Europe, Glenn Hughes, Brazen Abbot, Clockwise, Last Autumn's Dream
Notable instruments
Fender Precision

John Gunnar Levén (born October 25, 1963 in Stockholm, Sweden) is the bassist in the Swedish rock band Europe. Levén and vocalist Joey Tempest are the only band members who have performed on all of Europe's studio albums.

Career

When Levén was 7 years old, he and his family moved to the suburb Upplands Väsby, where several members of Europe grew up. He joined the band in 1981, replacing Peter Olsson. In 1985 Levén was the one who suggested that Tempest should write a song based on an old keyboard riff that the vocalist had written around 1981-82. The result was the song "The Final Countdown".

After Europe went on hiatus in 1992, Levén recorded and toured with bands like Brazen Abbot, Clockwise, Last Autumn's Dream, Southpaw, Europe colleague John Norum and former Black Sabbath / Deep Purple vocalist Glenn Hughes.

Europe reunited in 2003, and Levén co-wrote the single "Always the Pretenders" from the 2006 album Secret Society, with Tempest. He also co-wrote the song "The Beast" on the 2009 album Last Look at Eden.

Personal life

Levén is in a relationship and has three sons, Daniel, Alex and Adrian.[1][2]

Discography

Europe

Main article: Europe discography

Other artists

References

  1. ↑ "// John Leven Biography". Europetheband.com. 1963-10-25. Retrieved 2011-07-16.
  2. ↑ John Levén's official Facebook page

External links