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, guitar, piano, keyboard |
| Years active | 1981–present |
| Associated acts | Europe, Glenn Hughes, Brazen Abbot, Clockwise, Last Autumn's Dream |
| Notable instruments | |
| Fender Precision Bass | |
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 has three sons, Daniel, Alex and Adrian.[1][2]
Discography
Europe
- Europe (1983)
- Wings of Tomorrow (1984)
- The Final Countdown (1986)
- Out of This World (1988)
- Prisoners in Paradise (1991)
- Start from the Dark (2004)
- Secret Society (2006)
- Last Look at Eden (2009)
- Bag of Bones (2012)
- War of Kings (2015)
Other artists
- Glenn Hughes - From Now On... (1994)
- Glenn Hughes - Burning Japan Live (1994)
- Thin Lizzy Tribute - The Lizzy Songs (1995)
- Johansson Brothers - Sonic Winter (1996)
- Brazen Abbot - Eye of the Storm (1996)
- Clockwise - Nostalgia (1996)
- Brazen Abbot - Bad Religion (1997)
- Clockwise - Naïve (1998)
- Southpaw - Southpaw (1998)
- Thore Skogman - Än Är Det Drag (1998)
- Nikolo Kotzev - Nikolo Kotzev's Nostradamus (2001)
- Brazen Abbot - Guilty as Sin (2003)
- Last Autumn's Dream - Last Autumn's Dream (2003)
- Jayce Landberg - Good Sleepless Night (2010)
References
- ↑ "// John Leven Biography". Europetheband.com. 1963-10-25. Retrieved 2011-07-16.
- ↑ John Levén's official Facebook page