Meja Anna Pernilla Kullersten (formerly Beckman; born Anna Pernilla Torndahl, 12 February 1969) is a Swedish composer, artist and singer. Among her best known songs are "

Happy Happiness is a complex and multifaceted emotion that encompasses a range of positive feelings, from contentment to intense joy. It is often associated with positive life experiences, such as achieving goals, spending time with loved ones, ...

" (with Legacy of Sound), "

Private Emotion "Private Emotion" is a song recorded by American band The Hooters for their fifth studio album, ''Out of Body (The Hooters album), Out of Body'' (1993). The song was written by Eric Bazilian and Rob Hyman, while the production was handled by Bazi ...

", a duet with

Ricky Martin Enrique Martin Morales (born December 24, 1971), known professionally as Ricky Martin, is a Puerto Rican singer, songwriter and actor. He is known for his musical versatility, with his Ricky Martin albums discography, discography incorporati ...

from his multi-Platinum album ''

'' (1999), and " All 'Bout the Money", which was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1998.

Biography

Meja was born Anna Pernilla Torndahl in Nynäshamn, Stockholm County. She had her stage debut at "Ystads City theatre" at the age of 7. She was brought up in a musical family, her grandfather, Per Lundkvist, was a composer of both classical and contemporary music and her mother, a recording artist as a child before choosing a path as a painter. In 1986, at the age of 16, she moved to

Mallorca Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest of the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain, and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, seventh largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. The capital of the island, Palma, Majorca, Palma, i ...

, Spain, to study. She was introduced to American jazz trumpet player/singer Stephen Frankevich and started to take vocal lessons with singer Deborah Carter. Meja went to Stockholm in 1990. She sang in different bands there before getting out on tour as a backup singer for the Swedish group Rob n Raz DLC in 1991. In 1992 Meja moved to Los Angeles to continue her studies at the Musicians Institute in Hollywood. She graduated from the vocal program in late 1992 then returned to Sweden.

Legacy of Sound (1993–1995)

In 1993, Meja worked with the dance project Legacy of Sound. She co-wrote with

Anders Bagge Sven Anders Bagge (; born 16 January 1968) is a Swedish composer, lyricist, musician and record producer. Bagge is one half of the songwriter-producer duo Bagge & Peer, together with Peer Åström. He is also known for his frequent appearances ...

the first single, "

", from the album ''Holy Groove''. The song reached the Top 10 on the ''Billboard'' Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart, and it peaked at number 68 on the Top 100 during a 12-week stay on the chart.
/ref> "Happy" was released in over 20 countries. Meja recorded one more album with Legacy of Sound in 1994, ''Tour de Force''.

Solo artist

Meja teamed in 1995 with Swedish manager Lasse Karlsson, manager of

Ace of Base Ace of Base is a Swedish pop group formed in 1987, originally consisting of siblings Jonas, Linn, and Jenny Berggren, with Ulf Ekberg. They achieved worldwide success following the release of their debut album, '' Happy Nation'', in 1992. L ...

, and writer/producer Douglas Carr to provide the vocals for the demo The Juvenile titled The Goldeneye. The first solo album ''Meja'', was released in 1996, with songs co-written by

Billy Steinberg William Endfield Steinberg (born February 26, 1950) is an American songwriter. He achieved his greatest success in the 1980s with songwriting partner Tom Kelly (musician), Tom Kelly; together they wrote or co-wrote the No. 1 hits "Like a Virgin ...

. In 1997 Meja had her first concert tour in Japan: The Flower Girl Jam Tour. Meja released the album ''Seven Sisters'' in 1998. Later that year Columbia (Sony) launched the album in the U.S with the single "How Crazy Are You?" That song would later be notable for its use as the theme song for ''

Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball is a 2003 beach volleyball video game developed by Team Ninja and published by Tecmo for the Xbox. It is a spin-off of the ''Dead or Alive'' series which otherwise consisted of fighting games. It also marked the first game in the series to have ...

''.

''Realitales'' (2000)

Meja went to Miami in 1999 to record "Private Emotion", a duet with

for his debut album ''

''. After shooting a video for the song, Meja stayed in Los Angeles to work on her next album ''Realitales'' (2000) with Steinberg. She also co-wrote two tracks for the album in London with

Stephen Lipson Stephen J. Lipson is an English record producer, audio engineer, guitarist and songwriter. As a record producer, he has worked with many artists including Annie Lennox, Propaganda, Act, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Simple Minds, Will Young, Geri ...

. The artwork for this album was shot by Swedish director

Jonas Åkerlund Hans Uno Jonas Åkerlund (; born 10 November 1965) is a Swedish filmmaker and musician who is best known for his work in music videos. Åkerlund was a member of the Swedish black metal band Bathory. He has directed well-known videos for artists ...

''Mellow'' (2004)

In 2003 Meja started to work with her former Sony Music boss, Richard Ogden. The album ''Mellow'' was released in 2004, with songs in Portuguese ("

Água de Beber "Água de Beber" ("Water to Drink") is a bossa nova jazz standard composed by Antônio Carlos Jobim and originally recorded in the key of A minor, with lyrics written by Vinícius de Moraes. The English lyrics were written by Norman Gimbel ...

", "

Dindi "Dindi" () is a song composed by Antônio Carlos Jobim, with lyrics by Aloysio de Oliveira. It is a world-famous bossa nova and jazz standard song. Jobim wrote this piece especially for the Brazilian singer Sylvia Telles. "Dindi" is a reference t ...

") and Spanish. She covered a

Caetano Veloso Caetano Emanuel Viana Teles Veloso (; born 7 August 1942) is a Brazilian composer, singer, guitarist, writer, and political activist. Veloso first became known for his participation in the Brazilian musical movement Tropicália, which encompas ...

song " O Leãozinho" that she named "Little Lion." The album was produced by

Hamish Stuart James Hamish Stuart (born 8 October 1949) is a Scottish guitarist, bassist, singer, composer and record producer. He was an original member of the Average White Band. Biography Born in Glasgow, Scotland, Stuart attended Queens Park School ...

. One song, "Simple Days-Walking the Distance", was used in the Japanese film ''Lakeside Murder Case''.

''NU Essential'' (2005)

Sony Music Japan released Meja's album ''NU Essential'' in 2005.

''Urban Gypsy'' (2009)

In 2006 Meja went back to Los Angeles to collaborate again with Steinberg on a new album, also working with writers

Jeff Barry Jeff Barry (born Joel Adelberg; April 3, 1938) is an American pop music songwriter, singer, and record producer. Among the most successful songs that he has co-written in his career are " Tell Laura I Love Her" (written with Ben Raleigh and a ...

Billy Gibbons William Frederick Gibbons (born December 16, 1949) is an American rock musician, best known as the guitarist, primary vocalist, and only constant member of ZZ Top. He began his career in Moving Sidewalks, who recorded '' Flash'' (1969) and op ...

, Jed Leiber and Boz Boorer. The first single "At the Rainbow's End" was released in June 2009, the second single "Regrets (I Have None)" in August, and the album ''Urban Gypsy'' was released on her own label Seven Sisters Network in October on a license deal with Sony Music. A remix of

Mando Diao Mando Diao is an alternative rock band from Borlänge, Sweden. The band got their breakthrough with the release of the album '' Hurricane Bar''. Their main fan base is in Sweden, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Japan. Band members are Björn ...

's "Dance with Somebody" was released early 2010.

''AniMeja'' (2010)

As a tribute to the Japanese

Studio Ghibli is a Japanese animation studio based in Koganei, Tokyo."Studio Ghibli Collection - Madman Entertainment". ''Studio Ghibli Collection - Madman Entertainment''. Retrieved 2020-12-14. It has a strong presence in the animation industry and has exp ...

, Meja released an album on which she covered soundtrack songs from Japanese films.

''Stroboscope Sky'' (2015)

The first release from the album ''Stroboscope Sky'' was the single "Blame it on the Shadows" (2013) produced by Ebbot Lundberg. Meja teamed with producer Nicolas Gunthardt and together with his sister Alessandra they wrote "Yellow Ribbon" which served as the theme song for the album. "Yellow Ribbon" was released as a single in collaboration with

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...

/Free the Angola 3 to help raise awareness of the case of Albert Woodfox. A remix EP was released with remixes by

Deep Forest Deep Forest is a French music project that originally began as a duo consisting of Michel Sanchez (musician), Michel Sanchez and Éric Mouquet. They compose a style of world music, sometimes called ethnic electronica, mixing ethnic with electro ...

Dj Swami Diamond Duggal also known as DJ Swami is a British-Indian music producer, composer, musician and AI consultant. He has produced for a number of notable artists, including Shania Twain, Pras Michel, Apache Indian, Maxi Priest, Stereo Nation, Zo ...

Gota Yashiki , born 26 February 1962, is a Japanese musician. He performs an independent acid jazz artist and drum/bass player, and was a member of English band Simply Red. Biography Born in Kyoto, Japan, on 26 February 1962, where at a young age he le ...

, DF Tram, NORD and more.

Discography

Albums

Studio albums

Compilation and live albums

* ''Live in Japan-The Flower Girl Jam'' (1997) * ''My Best'' (2002) (Certifications # JPN:Gold) * ''The Nu Essential'' (2005) * ''Original Album Collection'' (2010) * ''Kozmic Surfer: Flower Girl 25th Anniversary'' (2019) * ''Kozmic Surfer: Live in Japan (Acoustic)'' (2020)

Singles

As featured artist

Awards

* Grammy Nomination, Category Best Modern Dance ''Legacy of Sound'', 1994 * The North Wave Award, newcomer of the year, 1996, Japan * Pop album of the year, ''Meja'' Japan 1996 * Grammy Nomination, Category Song of the Year "All 'Bout the Money" 1998 * Grammy Nomination Category Female Pop/Rock Artist 1998 * Artist of the year, Japan 1999 * 14th Japan Gold Disc Awards, 1999, Pop Album of the year, "Seven Sisters" * World Music Awards 1999 Best Selling Female Scandinavian Artist, Monte Carlo, Monaco * The Swedish Society of Popular Music Composers Prize Award (SKAP) 2001

References

External links

*
Profile
mejaart.com. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
The Non-Violence Project Foundation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kullersten, Meja 1969 births Living people Swedish pop singers English-language singers from Sweden Swedish dance musicians Swedish women pop singers Musicians Institute alumni People from Nynäshamn Municipality