They served as the early 1990s’ theme music.
With hits like “The Sign,” “All That She Wants,” and “Don’t Turn Around,” the Swedish pop duo Ace of Base swept the globe.
However, the group—which included siblings Jenny Berggren, Linn Berggren, Jonas Berggren, and boyhood buddy Ulf Ekberg—almost vanished from the public eye as fast as they gained notoriety.
Since the May 1996 World Music Awards, they have not shared a stage.
However, two band members are now speaking out in Ace of Base: All The She Wants, a brand-new three-part documentary series that debuted on Viaplay this week.
“I wanted to tell the struggles, but I also wanted to tell how to get whole again,” Jenny said in an exclusive interview with NBC News NOW’s Top Story.
According to Ekberg, “it’s a story that we actually made it really against all odds.” when no one had faith in us.
Jenny claimed that Ace of Base was never about fame, even though the album received three Grammy nominations in 1995 and peaked at number one on the Billboard Top 40 chart three times.
“My brother, sister, and I are just regular people,” she remarked. We didn’t aim for stardom. That money was not our goal.
She gave the following explanation for their split: Wearing a crown the size of a castle might eventually be quite taxing on the neck.
According to Ekberg, Ace of Base’s true narrative has never actually been revealed, he told NBC News. A true documentary about us, our history, and its highs and lows has never been produced.
Directed by Jens von Reis, the documentary series includes never-before-seen home video footage from Ace of Base’s pre-famous days to the subsequent turmoil that broke out when they became international celebrities.
According to Ekberg, I did have about 200 hours of film footage from the early 1990s to the present day, but I never watched it. However, after observing all 200 hours, [Reis] declared, “We have a gold mine here.”
Longtime fans and even younger viewers who might not be familiar with the band will be surprised by the documentary series, according to Jenny. “We had a message that there was so much darkness in the world, people were depressed, and we just knew that people wanted to have fun,” she stated, despite being a pop group.
Music executive Clive Davis, who was instrumental in the band’s breakthrough in America, is one of the series’ main interview subjects.
I firmly believe that we would never have been number one in the United States if it weren’t for [Clive]. Ekberg stated that he meant a great deal to us.
Jonas Berggren makes a quick appearance at the end of the series, despite not being interviewed for it. Nevertheless, Lin is the only one that doesn’t show up. For over twenty years, she has purposefully avoided the spotlight.
She is still alive. Jenny remarked of her sister, “She’s living her life.” “I want to be out of the eye,” she adds. I want to get away from the stress.
Even though the group hasn’t performed live in decades, they have achieved popularity on streaming services, as evidenced by the fact that Spotify has over 11 million monthly listeners.
Does any of that, however, imply that a reunion is ever possible?
We are engaged in different activities. Each person is following their own path. Everyone is over 50, and as I say, I have everything ready when they come to my door, said Jenny, who has a thriving solo music career that includes the publication of a new tune this week called Lion’s Den.
Ekberg expressed hope that this documentary series could make the impossible happen and expressed a desire for a reunion.
For the past ten years, I’ve been pushing for a reunion,” he remarked. However, it must also be successful, and we must be able to give the supporters an outstanding performance of which we can be proud.
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