This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve th is article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be ch allenged and removed. (May 2014) Aqua Aqua tour 2009.jpg Aqua performing live in 2009. From left to right: Ren Dif, Lene Nystrm Rasted and Claus Norreen. Background information Also known as Joyspeed (19941996) Origin Copenhagen, Denmark Genres Eurodance, bubblegum dance, dance, Europop, electropop Years active 19952001 2007-present Labels Universal Music Denmark, MCA Associated acts Lazyboy Hej Matematik Website www.aquaofficial.com Members Lene Nystrm Ren Dif Sren Rasted Claus Norreen Aqua is a Danish-Norwegian pop group, best known for their 1997 breakthrough sin gle "Barbie Girl". The group formed in 1989 and achieved huge success across the globe in the late 1990s and early 2000s. The group released three albums: Aquar ium in 1997, Aquarius in 2000 and Megalomania in 2011. The group sold an estimat ed 33 million albums and singles, making them the most successful Danish band ev er.[1] In their prime, Aqua's singles managed to chart top ten in a number of countries where continental European pop acts would not normally succeed, including the U nited States, Canada, Australia, and Japan. The group managed to top the UK Sing les Chart with their first three singles. The group also caused controversy with the double entendres in their "Barbie Girl" single, with the Barbie doll makers Mattel filing a lawsuit against the group. The lawsuit was finally dismissed by a judge in 2002, who ruled "The parties are advised to chill."[1] The band's members are vocalists Lene Nystrm and Ren Dif, keyboardist Sren Rasted, and guitarist Claus Norreen. During their split, Nystrm, Dif and Rasted all achie ved solo chart success, and Norreen continued in the music industry remixing oth er artists' material. At a press event on October 26, 2007, the group announced a reunion tour, as wel l as the release of a compilation album featuring new material. Their third albu m, Megalomania, was released on October 3, 2011. Contents [hide] 1 Band history 1.1 Beginnings as Joyspeed (19881996) 1.2 Aquarium and international breakthrough (199699) 1.3 Aquarius, Mattel controversy, and sudden split (19992001) 1.4 Hiatus (200107) 1.5 Reunion, Greatest Hits and Megalomania (2007present) 2 Musical style and influence 3 Discography 4 References Band history[edit] Beginnings as Joyspeed (19881996)[edit] Question book-new.svg This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this s ection by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challe nged and removed. (May 2014) Aqua's history together dates back to 1988. They were originally called Joyspeed . Claus and Sren met in 1989, and throughout the early 1990s, they started writin g songs together. At that time, Ren was working in the Netherlands as a club DJ, and Sren and Claus were starting out as producers. Sren and Claus had won a contes t and were hired to produce a soundtrack. For some of the songs they hired Ren. T he three were brought in to make part of the soundtrack for a little-known film titled Frkke Frida og de frygtlse spioner. The recording of the soundtrack began i n 1993. After getting along well, the trio decided that they would work together again on a future project. A few months after the film was released, Ren spotted Lene Nystrm singing on the NorwayDenmark ferry, M/S Peter Wessel. He approached h er and hired her as the lead singer of Joyspeed, later renamed Aqua. The formati on of Joyspeed was on the basis that both Claus and Sren would do the production for the group, with Ren rapping and Lene performing the main vocals. A small Swed ish record label signed them in 1994, and their very first single "Itzy Bitzy Sp ider" was released in Sweden. The single failed to become popular and after one week at the lower end of the Swedish charts it disappeared completely. The four were disappointed and canceled their contract with the record label (although th e label wanted to keep the group on for further releases). Aquarium and international breakthrough (199699)[edit] Question book-new.svg This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this s ection by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challe nged and removed. (May 2014) With a new manager and no record deal, the group started over, and began to deve lop their famous bubblegum pop sound. The four began to produce and write melodi c, catchy European pop songs, attracting the attention of major label Universal Music Denmark. They renamed themselves Aqua, choosing the name seen on a poster for an aquarium in their dressing room, and eventually accepted Universal Music Denmark's offer of a recording contract in 1996. The group's first release under their new name was "Roses Are Red", a dance song with a distinct pop sound. It was released in Denmark in September 1996, and was expected to break into the Da nish top ten. The single far surpassed all expectations set by the label, though , and stayed in the charts for over two months, eventually selling enough copies to be certified platinum. The success of the single was further proven when Aqu a received a nomination for "Best Danish Dance Act", although the group did not win. The instant success of "Roses Are Red" proved to Aqua that their new sound was p opular with the public, and as a result their follow-up single followed the same formula. Titled "My Oh My", the single again featured catchy lyrics paired with a soft, melodic beat. Upon its release in February 1997, "My Oh My" broke all D anish sales records by being certified gold within six days. The single went str aight to number one in Denmark, and made Aqua a household name in the country. T he first two singles proved to Universal Music Denmark that Aqua was a very mark etable group, and as a result the label looked to start marketing their music ac ross the continent. Aqua released their debut album Aquarium in Denmark on March 26, 1997. The album contained 11 tracks, including their first two singles and their then upcoming third single "Barbie Girl". Universal Music Group had by now begun to market the group in other countries, releasing "Roses Are Red" in Japa n in February 1997 and in various countries across Europe in late 1996. The sing le had proven popular everywhere it was sold, convincing Universal that the grou p should not just focus on the Danish market, but instead on the general Europea n market. Aqua released their third single "Barbie Girl" in May 1997. The song, at first g lance, appears to be about the popular children's doll Barbie. However, at secon d glance, the song contains several sexual overtones, such as "You can brush my hair, undress me everywhere", "You can touch, you can play", and "Kiss me here, touch me there, hanky-panky". This caused some controversy upon its release in D enmark, but despite the controversy and perhaps partly due to it, it still sold well and easily made number one in the charts. The song was so popular that it w as played regularly on radio stations which did not air dance music. Universal M usic decided to ignore complaints about the double meanings in "Barbie Girl", an d successfully released the single across the world in September 1997 and Octobe r 1997. The release was highly successful, making number one in the United Kingd om for four weeks, in Australia for three weeks, and even managing to make the t op ten of the Billboard Hot 100, something rarely achieved at the time by Europe an pop acts. The song and group became a household name overnight, but to most o f the world were instantly written off as a one-hit wonder. The double meanings in "Barbie Girl" caused the expected controversy, with many complaints aimed at Universal for releasing the track. Aqua released their album Aquarium across the world in the autumn of 1997. Altho ugh the album sold well, many still wrote the group off as a one-hit wonder. Des pite this, and much criticism from the media, Aqua had made their international breakthrough, and were now known across the world. Aqua's follow-up to "Barbie G irl" in Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom was "Doctor Jones", although an other single, "Lollipop (Candyman)", was released in the United States through M CA Records. "Doctor Jones" entered at number one in several countries, including the United Kingdom, where it stayed at the top spot for two weeks, and Australi a, where it spent seven weeks at #1. "Lollipop (Candyman)" did not fare as well in the USA, only peaking at #23 on the Billboard Hot 100; however, the song peak ed at #3 in Australia. In Japan both songs were released as a double A-side, and achieved reasonable success in the singles chart. "Doctor Jones" was followed up by "Turn Back Time", a song which proved to be ac cepted well by both Aqua fans and critics. The song, unlike all other previous r eleases, dropped the bubblegum pop sound in favour of a slow, mainstream rhythm. The song was featured on the soundtrack to the film Sliding Doors, and unlike m any other Aqua releases achieved a large amount of radio and video airplay. The song became their third single to make it to number one in the United Kingdom. A s of 2005, only a handful of other artists have managed to achieve that kind of initial success in the UK (acts that have included Westlife and the Spice Girls) . Elsewhere, the song also performed well, including reaching #10 in Australia, however it would not be a success in the US and thus marked the end of Aqua's in volvement Stateside. Aqua's second Danish single, "My Oh My", was resurrected in August 1998. The sin gle was also released in several other European countries where it had not been released initially. Following the release of "Good Morning Sunshine", which achi eved limited success, Aqua decided to concentrate on their second album, and on touring around Australia. This marked the end of a period Aqua's fans dubbed the "Aquarium age". The group also released a documentary on 1 December 1998 contai ning several live performances of songs from the Aquarium album and interviews w ith the members. Aquarius, Mattel controversy, and sudden split (19992001)[edit] Aqua were relatively quiet during 1999, deciding to concentrate on recording Aqu arius. According to promotional interviews with the group, over 30 songs were re corded for the album, although eventually only twelve made it onto the final ver sion. The group released their second album Aquarius in February 2000. The album instantly proved popular with their fan base, despite some changes to their sou nd. Aquarius contained several different musical styles. Tracks such as "Cartoon Heroes" and "Bumble Bees" preserved the pop sound of their debut album. "Cartoo n Heroes" was released as the first single, and sold well across Europe and Aust ralia, reaching #1 in Demark, #7 in the United Kingdom, and #16 in Australia. Th e song is often best remembered for its music video. Aqua released their follow- up single "Around the World" in June 2000, although it was not successful as "Ca rtoon Heroes", peaking at #26 in the UK and #35 in Australia. Despite this, it r eached the top spot in Demark. Although not expected at the time, "Around the Wo rld" would be Aqua's final UK single release. Aqua released "Bumble Bees" as a single in Scandinavia, mainland Europe and Aust ralia, achieving reasonable success. "We Belong to the Sea" followed as a fourth single in even fewer nations, failing to chart in most. At one stage, "Freaky F riday" was planned as a potential follow-up single for release in early 2001, bu t it was cancelled. Aqua then decided that they would concentrate on starting wo rk on their third album, as opposed to releasing further singles from Aquarius. Aqua spent the first few months of 2001 touring around the world, and working on material for their third album. The group also performed at the Eurovision Song Contest 2001, collaborating with the Safri Duo and providing the music during t he voting stages of the competition. This performance also caused controversy, a s a number of offensive phrases and gestures were added during the performance o f "Barbie Girl" (which was involved in a major lawsuit). During a couple of low- key events in Denmark the group performed live versions of songs intended for in clusion on the third album, including "Couch Potato" and "Shakin' Stevens (Is a Superstar)", the latter a tribute to the 1980s performer Shakin' Stevens. The so ngs were said to have incorporated a rock sound into their music. On December 2000, Mattel filed a lawsuit against the group's record label (Matte l, Inc. v. MCA Records, 296 F.3d 894 (9th Cir. 2002)), claiming that "Barbie Gir l" had damaged the reputation of the Barbie brand. Judge Alex Kozinski writing f or the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upheld the district court finding the use of Mattel's trademark in "Barbie Girl" fell within the non commercial use exemption to the Federal Trademark Dilution Act. Judge Kozinski c oncluded his opinion by writing, "The parties are advised to chill."[2] By the summer of 2001, however, problems between the members of Aqua were becomi ng apparent. Ren had, when the group first started releasing material under the A qua name, been dating Lene. Lene had by now begun dating Sren, however, and repor ts of a rift between the three had been reported in the Danish press. Other repo rts had included that Ren was annoyed at his having a lesser role on the Aquarius album, and that the group was beginning to experience other creative difference s. Lene had also had some health problems, having collapsed on stage during thei r 2001 tour from exhaustion due to the group's busy schedule. The group's split proved to be quite a major event across Europe, and many media sources speculate d as to why the four had decided to call it a day. Ren, in an interview after the ir split, had denied any rift between the members of the group, and stated that the four had split on good terms. The four had allegedly agreed to split when ha ving dinner together, deciding that it was the "best thing to do". Regardless, m any fans of the group still believe a rift between the band members was at least a partial cause for the breakup, especially given the past sexual relations bet ween Lene and Sren, even when she was still with Ren. Ren did not find out until Le ne gave an interview in the 2004 Top 100 Best Broken Up Bands Ever. She exclaime d that she felt very bad about it; Ren said he could never forgive her. Hiatus (200107)[edit] A greatest hits album, Cartoon Heroes: The Best of Aqua, was released on 22 May 2002 in Japan and in the US in 2006. It included most of their singles except fo r "Didn't I", "Good Morning Sunshine", and "We Belong to the Sea". It also inclu ded several non-singles such as "Back from Mars", "Happy Boys and Girls", "Hallo ween", "Calling You", and "An Apple a Day", as well as a Hampenberg remix of the ir hit single "Cartoon Heroes" and music videos for "Cartoon Heroes" and "Around the World". After the group's split, all four members of Aqua continued within the music ind ustry. In February 2007, Ren announced plans to resume work on his very new solo album, which was released in 2007.[citation needed] The first single, "Way to Go " was uploaded to his MySpace page.[3] Lene released her first (and only) album Play with Me in mid-2003. The album's first single, "It's Your Duty", showed a c lear change in her musical direction, dropping the bubblegum pop vocal in favour of a rock and R&B influenced sound. The single performed well, making #3 in the Danish charts, and #9 in Norway, but the album performed disappointingly, only making #74 in her native Norway. Although further singles like "Pretty Young Thi ng" and "Here We Go" were released from the album, none made much of an impact. Lene has not indicated any intention to release a second album in the near futur e, but did perform on a Danish charity single to benefit victims of the 2004 Ind ian Ocean tsunami that primaily hit Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, and Thailand. Sren continued producing material for other artists up until 2004, before startin g the project Lazyboy. The project's first album Lazyboy TV was released in late 2004 to good reviews, and the first single "Underwear Goes Inside the Pants" ma de the top five of the Australian charts, also achieving airplay across Europe, Canada and the United States. In 2007, he started the musical duo, Hej Matematik with his nephew, Nicolaj Rasted, Claus has been the quietest of the four member s. He has also remained in the industry, remixing material for other artists und er the pseudonym, Danny Red. In 2004, Aqua: The Hits VCD Karaoke was released in India and Thailand. In 2005, a Danish director got the band together for a docu mentary film called Turn Back Time (named after the song of the same name). Film ed in a summer residence, the band stayed together inside for twelve hours, talk ing about subjects randomly picked by a computer, including Lene and Sren's marri age and Ren's book. In between the band talking about the subject, there were cli ps of music videos and live performances. Reunion, Greatest Hits and Megalomania (2007present)[edit] On 26 October 2007, Aqua reunited and promised a 25-concert tour that was to hav e commenced in the summer of 2008. Offers were received by the record company fr om locations in Denmark, Canada, United States & U.K. Aqua finally performed 8 c oncerts around Denmark as part of the "Grn koncert" festival. They released their second greatest hits album on 15 June 2009, which includes 16 old remastered tr acks and three new songs: "My Mamma Said", "Live Fast, Die Young", and their fir st single in eight years, "Back to the 80s", which was released in Denmark on 25 May 2009.[4] "Back to the 80s" debuted at number one in Denmark where it stayed for six weeks, becoming the band's fifth number-one single. It has since been c ertified platinum by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry ( IFPI) for sales of 30,000 copies in Denmark. Aqua has also toured Scandinavia be tween May and August 2009 and performed at several gigs in Germany, United Kingd om and France. The greatest hits album was released in North America and many Eu ropean countries on 22 September 2009 and in the UK on 29 September 2009. Aqua commenced the recording of Megalomania at the beginning of 2010,[5] schedul ed for a release in the spring of 2011.[6] Aqua released the album's lead single , "How R U Doin?" on 14 March 2011, after a preview of the song was posted onto the band's official Facebook page on 10 March 2011. Co-written by Thomas Troelse n, the song peaked at number four in Denmark, becoming the band's tenth top-ten single. It has since been certified gold by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry for sales of 15,000 copies in Denmark.[7] Aqua were origin ally set to release their third studio album on July 14, 2011, however the relea se was pushed back to September 5, 2011 with the record label citing bad timing. [8] The album, titled Megalomania, was then further rescheduled to be released o n October 3, 2011.[9] On 7 September 2011 Aqua released a preview of their new s ingle, "Playmate to Jesus", on their official Facebook page, which was released on 12 September 2011. On 8 September 2011 it was announced that "Like a Robot" w ould also be released as a single on September 12, and would battle against "Pla ymate to Jesus" in the charts. After the moderate chart success of Megalomania i n Denmark, an expanded version of the band featuring all four original members ( Lene Nystrm Rasted, Ren Dif, Sren Rasted, Claus Norreen), plus new additions Niels Lykke Munksgaard Rasmussen (guitar) Frederik Thaae (bass) and Morten Hellborn (d rums), toured Australia in March 2012. They initially announced six concerts but quickly added three additional shows to Melbourne, Sydney and Perth (Fremantle) due to popular demand. Aqua appeared on Sunrise, an Australian morning TV show on the Seven Network. They performed a slower tempo acoustic version of "Barbie Girl" and it was revealed that Lene had pneumonia, but the concerts would procee d as the group pride themselves on never having cancelled a show. They then appe ared on the Seven Network's The Morning Show, performing "Doctor Jones". Musical style and influence[edit] Question book-new.svg This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this s ection by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challe nged and removed. (May 2014) Their influences include ABBA, Ace of Base, and C+C Music Factory.[citation need ed] The style of eurodance was dance music with a female singer and a male rappe r. Aqua followed a more traditional verse-chorus structure. Usually, the verse w ould consist of Lene starting and finishing, while Ren would sing in the middle. Aqua are best known for the dance tracks such as "Barbie Girl", "Doctor Jones", "Lollipop (Candyman)" and "My Oh My", although they also made slower tracks such as "Turn Back Time", "Good Morning Sunshine" and "We Belong to the Sea". These tracks do not belong to the general bubblegum pop genre. There are also differen ces between the first album Aquarium and the second album Aquarius; Aquarium had many similar tracks whereas Aquarius experimented with acoustic instruments and genres like country and Latin music. At the end of the 1990s, interest in Eurod ance music waned. Aqua's second album, Aquarius, which was released in 2000, suf fered middling chart success as a result. Their 2011 single "How R U Doin?" has electropop and dance-pop qualities. Aqua, along with the Vengaboys, have caused a '90s pop scene revival in Australi a which has since seen these bands and many others from that decade announce suc cessful tours. Discography[edit] Main article: Aqua discography Aquarium (1997) Aquarius (2000) Megalomania (2011) References[edit] Jump up ^ CNN January 7, 2003 - "Supreme Court rejects ugly fight over Barbie do ll http://www.cnn.com/2003/LAW/01/27/scotus.barbie.song/" Jump up ^ Mattel, Inc. v. MCA Records, Inc., 296 F.3d 894, (9th Cir., 2002) Jump up ^ MySpace.com - rene dif - Pop / Rock - www.myspace.com/difpop Jump up ^ "New Aqua Greatest Hits on the way". Aquarama.tk. 21 March 2009. Retri eved 12 October 2009. Jump up ^ "Aqua indspiller nyt album". GAFFA. 29 August 2009. Retrieved 12 Octob er 2009. Jump up ^ "Aqua's third album is scheduled for Spring 2011". Aquarama. 15 Novemb er 2010. Retrieved 16 November 2010. Jump up ^ "Certificeringer | ifpi.dk" (in Danish). International Federation of t he Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 15 July 2011. Jump up ^ Treo, Thomas (6 June 2011). "Ekstra Bladet - Aqua udskyder album" (in Danish). Ekstra Bladet. Retrieved 11 July 2011. Jump up ^ "Releaseplan" (in Danish). Universal Music. Archived from the original on 19 July 2011. Retrieved 20 August 2011. Wikimedia Commons has media related to Aqua. Aqua: The Official Book by Jacqui Swift The Aqua Diary, a 1998 VHS release Ren Dif's official website The Official Single/Album Charts of the UK, US, Japan, Australia, Denmark and va rious other countries Lazy-B's official website BBC article on the Aqua-Mattel lawsuit [hide] v t e Aqua Lene Nystrm Ren Dif Sren Rasted Claus Norreen Studio albums Aquarium Aquarius Megalomania Compilation albums Cartoon Heroes: The Best of Aqua Greatest Hits Remix albums Bubble Mix (The Ultimate Aquarium Remixes Album) Remix Super Best Singles "Itzy Bitsy Spider" "Roses Are Red" "My Oh My" "Barbie Girl" "Doctor Jones" "Lol lipop (Candyman)" "Turn Back Time" "Good Morning Sunshine" "Cartoon Heroes" "Aro und the World" "Bumble Bees" "We Belong to the Sea" "Back to the 80s" "My Mamma Said" "How R U Doin?" "Playmate to Jesus" "Like a Robot" DVDs/VHS Around the World The Aqua Diary Aqua: The Videos Aqua: The Video Collection Aqua : The Hits VCD Karaoke Related articles Discography Mattel v. MCA Records Michael Brinkenstjrna Eurovision Song Contest 2 001 Frkke Frida og de frygtlse spioner Lazyboy Hej Matematik Categories: Aqua (band)Musical groups established in 1989Musical groups disestab lished in 2001Musical groups reestablished in 2007Danish house music groupsDanis h Eurodance groupsMusical quartetsDanish pop music groupsMCA Records artistsWorl d Music Awards winnersEuropop groupsNorwegian Eurodance groups Navigation menu Create accountLog inArticleTalkReadEditView history Main page Contents Featured content Current events Random article Donate to Wikipedia Wikimedia Shop Interaction Help About Wikipedia Community portal Recent changes Contact page Tools What links here Related changes Upload file Special pages Permanent link Page information Data item Cite this page Print/export Create a book Download as PDF Printable version Languages ??????? ????????? Cetina Dansk Deutsch Eesti Espaol ????? Franais Galego ??? Bahasa Indonesia Italiano ????? ????? ??????? 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