Ace of Base

Ace of Base are only the third most successful band ever to come out of Sweden, but when the top two are ABBA and Roxette, you’d probably be happy to settle for that. The band have sold more than forty million albums, a decent figure by anybody’s standards, and also hold the record for the longest consecutive number of weeks at number one on the Billboard chart in the U.S., with an impressive fourteen for ‘The Sign’ back in 1994. They’ve maintained a high level of popularity with their fanbase over the twenty-plus years they’ve been going for, although 2010 saw a new lineup formed. Singers Malin and Jenny Berggren departed in confusing circumstances, and were replaced with two new vocalists, Clara Hagman and Julia Williamson. That iteration of the band continued to tour and record, although their outing didn’t reach the UK. Instead, Jenny Berggren joined the likes of All Saints, Atomic Kitten and East 17 on an arena jaunt in the country last year; as for the current lineup, it appears that both new singers have since been ditched, leaving the group’s future uncertain; whether keyboardist and de facto frontman Ulf Ekberg will replace them again remains to be seen.