Michael Saxell (born 1 October 1956) is a singer-songwriter, composer, lyricist, multi-instrumentalist and producer. He was born in

Helsingborg Helsingborg (, , , ) is a city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edit ...

, Sweden but has spent many years on the Canadian west coast. He composed music for the

Colin Nutley Colin James Nutley (born 28 February 1944) is an English director successful in the Swedish film industry. Career Nutley went to Portsmouth Art College and began his career in British television as a graphic designer. He then turned to drama ...

movie '' Änglagård – andra sommaren'' and for the soundtrack of ''Blådårar''.

Career

Saxell co-wrote the Swedish No. 1 hit song

If I Were Sorry "If I Were Sorry" is a song by Swedish singer Frans Jeppsson Wall. The song was released in Sweden as a digital download on 28 February 2016, and was written by Frans along with Fredrik Andersson, Michael Saxell and Oscar Fogelström. It took pa ...

, the Swedish Song of the Year Grammy Winner 2017 and winner of

Melodifestivalen 2016 Melodifestivalen 2016 was the 56th edition of the Swedish music competition Melodifestivalen, which selected Sweden's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2016. The competition was organised by Sveriges Television (SVT) and took place over the s ...

In March 2021 it had received more than 94 million Spotify plays and is certified 7 x platinum status in Sweden, 2 x platinum in Poland, gold status in Germany and Austria. The song placed fifth in the Eurovision Song Contest finals in 2016. He is co-writer of the Swedish No. 1 hit song Johnny G (The Guidetti Song), performed by artist Badpojken, aka the artists' collective Michael Saxell, Fredrik Andersson and Ingvar Irhagen. The song was released mid July 2015 and achieved Swedish quadruple-platinum status within 12 months of its release and has, as of March 2021, reached over 45 million plays on Spotify. Vocalist on "Johnny G" is Frida Green. Michael Saxell is co-writer with Craig Jacks on "Back Of A Map Of The Moon", which is included on Terry Jacks Greatest Hits release 2015 "...starfish on the beach – The Terry Jacks Collection". Saxell grew up in the southern Swedish town of

Malmö Malmö (, ; da, Malmø ) is the largest city in the Swedish county (län) of Scania (Skåne). It is the third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the sixth-largest city in the Nordic region, with a municipal popula ...

and currently resides on Österlen in

Scania Scania, also known by its native name of Skåne (, ), is the southernmost of the historical provinces (''landskap'') of Sweden. Located in the south tip of the geographical region of Götaland, the province is roughly conterminous with Skå ...

. He has written words and music to Scanian classics

Om himlen och Österlen "Om himlen och Österlen" (Swedish for: ''About Heaven and Österlen'') is a popular song composed by Scanian Swedish singer-songwriter Michael Saxell from Ystad in 1991. The lyrics are largely autobiographical; the story of a man who moved to Nor ...

and När en flicka talar skånska. More than 300 of his songs are recorded by other artists. Michael Saxell has earned 24 gold, 11 platinum and 8 multi platinum Scandinavian records. Michael Saxell received the prestigious SKAP (Swedish Composers of Popular Music) Stipendium award, honoring the memory of the

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

songwriter and composer

Evert Taube Axel Evert Taube (; 12 March 1890 – 31 January 1976) was a Swedish author, artist, composer and singer. He is widely regarded as one of Sweden's most respected musicians and the foremost troubadour of the Swedish ballad tradition in the 20th c ...

at an awards ceremony conducted at The

Nordic Museum The Nordic Museum ( sv, Nordiska museet) is a museum located on Djurgården, an island in central Stockholm, Sweden, dedicated to the cultural history and ethnography of Sweden from the early modern period (in Swedish history, it is said t ...

in Stockholm in May 2010. Saxell performed on a tour of

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and t ...

in May 2005 along with 2011

Nobel Prize in Literature ) , image = Nobel Prize.png , caption = , awarded_for = Outstanding contributions in literature , presenter = Swedish Academy , holder = Annie Ernaux (2022) , location = Stockholm, Sweden , year = 1901 ...

winner

Tomas Tranströmer Tomas Gösta Tranströmer (; 15 April 1931 – 26 March 2015) was a Swedish poet, psychologist and translator. His poems captured the long Swedish winters, the rhythm of the seasons and the palpable, atmospheric beauty of nature. Tranströmer's ...

, Jacques Werup, Eva Runefelt and others. Michael Saxell is featured as lead singer and co-writer of two songs with

Keith Reid Keith Stuart Brian Reid (born 19 October 1946Allmusic.com biography by Jason Ankeny/ref>) is a lyricist and songwriter who wrote the lyrics of every song released by Procol Harum that was not previously recorded by someone else, with the excep ...

on the 2008 international release of the

Procol Harum Procol Harum () were an English rock band formed in Southend-on-Sea, Essex in 1967. Their best-known recording is the 1967 hit single "A Whiter Shade of Pale", one of the few singles to have sold over 10 million copies. Although noted for t ...

lyricist's album ''The Keith Reid Project – The Common Thread'' along with

John Waite John Charles Waite (born 4 July 1952) is an English musician. As a solo artist, he has released ten studio albums and is best known for the 1984 hit single "Missing You", which reached No. 1 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and the top ten on t ...

, Chris Thompson,

Southside Johnny John Lyon (born December 4, 1948), better known by his stage name Southside Johnny, is an American singer-songwriter who usually fronts his band Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes. Southside Johnny has long been considered the Grandfather o ...

, Steve Booker,

Terry Reid Terrance James Reid (born 13 November 1949) is an English rock vocalist and guitarist. He has performed with high-profile musicians, as a supporting act, session musician, and sideman. Biography Reid was born in Paxton Park Maternity Home, L ...

Chaz Jankel Charles Jeremy "Chaz" Jankel (born 16 April 1952) is an English musician. In a music career spanning more than 40 years, he came to prominence in the late 1970s as the guitarist and keyboardist of the rock band Ian Dury and the Blockheads. With ...

and Bernie Shanahan. Saxell composed the Lithuanian Grammy winning song of the year "Yra kaip yra" for the artist Mia in 2007 along with co-writers Christian Svensson and Sandra diAmante. The song was also the most played pop song on Lithuanian pop radio in 2007. He is co-writer with

Randy Bachman Randolph Charles Bachman (; born September 27, 1943) is a Canadian guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He was a founding member of the bands The Guess Who and Bachman–Turner Overdrive. Bachman recorded as a solo artist and was part of a n ...

on the song Repo Man on

Bachman & Turner Bachman & Turner was a musical project formed by Randy Bachman and Fred Turner, which followed the dissolution of Bachman–Turner Overdrive. Band history The collaboration started out as a Randy Bachman solo project, but Bachman decided to try t ...

, formerly of

Bachman–Turner Overdrive Bachman–Turner Overdrive, often abbreviated BTO, were a Canadian rock band from Winnipeg, Manitoba, founded by Randy Bachman, Robbie Bachman and Fred Turner in 1973. Their 1970s catalogue included five top-40 albums and six US top-40 singl ...

, September 2010 worldwide album release. Saxell produced and wrote songs for Swedish singer

Lill Lindfors Maj Lillemor "Lill" Lindfors (born 12 May 1940) is a Swedish singer who has performed in Scandinavia since the 1960s. Career She was born in Helsinki, Finland, and made her debut as a revue actress in Uddevalla in 1960. The following year she ...

' 2005 EMI album release "Här är den sköna sommar", which peaked at number 12 on the Swedish Best Selling album charts. Michael Saxell was warm-up act for British guitar legend

Jeff Beck Geoffrey Arnold Beck (born 24 June 1944) is an English rock music, rock guitarist. He rose to prominence with the Yardbirds and after fronted the Jeff Beck Group and Beck, Bogert & Appice. In 1975, he switched to a mainly instrumental style, ...

on his 1980 Canada tour. Saxell's co-writing partners include

Eric Bazilian Eric M. Bazilian (born July 21, 1953) is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, arranger and producer. Bazilian is a founding member of the rock band The Hooters. He wrote "One of Us", a song first recorded by Joan Osborne in 1 ...

, Douglas Carr,

Randy Goodrum Charles Randolph Goodrum (born July 7, 1947) is an American songwriter, pianist, and producer. Goodrum has written number one songs in each of the four decades since his first number one hit, 1978's " You Needed Me". Goodrum's songs have appear ...

, Maurizio Fabrizio, Tim Krekel,

Dickey Lee Royden Dickey Lipscomb (born September 21, 1936), known professionally as Dickey Lee (sometimes misspelled Dickie or Dicky), is an American pop/country singer and songwriter, best known for the 1960s teenage tragedy songs " Patches" and "Laurie ...

, Agi Lindroth,

Christoffer Lundquist Carl Christoffer Lundquist (born 1970) is a Swedish musician and producer. He was once in the band Brainpool, where he started as a bass player and backing vocalist, but moved to play both the bass and the guitar. Brainpool won a Swedish Gram ...

Peter McCann Peter James McCann (March 6, 1948 – January 26, 2023) was an American songwriter, musician, lecturer, and songwriters' activist. He was known for writing successful pop-rock and country songs, including his 1977 solo hit " Do You Wanna Make Lov ...

, Cris Moore, Craig Northey,

Steve Porcaro Steven Maxwell Porcaro (born September 2, 1957) is an American keyboardist, songwriter, and film composer, known as one of the founding members of the rock band Toto and the last surviving Porcaro brother (after the deaths of Jeff in 1992 and ...

Mikael Rickfors Mikael Rickfors (born 4 December 1948) is a Swedish singer and songwriter. From 1968, he was the lead singer and bass guitarist in Swedish band Bamboo. The band released two singles before breaking up in 1970. Rickfors later performed with the ...

, Christian Svensson, Jacques Werup, and many others.

Discography (as performing artist)

*Saxell Jalle Bandet, Egna Händer 2013 *Christmas – the living room recordings(w Jennifer Saxell), Egna Händer 2009 * Alltid en vals(w Jalle Lorensson), Egna Händer 2008 *The Common Thread"(The

Project), Rockville Music 2008 * ''Om himlen och Österlen'', Egna Händer, 2006 * ''Wonky Windmill'', Rootsy/Cobblestone Music, 2005 * ''Red and Blue'', Wide Road Music/EMI, 1986 * ''It's Good To Be Alive'', Mercury/PolyGram, 1981

Discography (as producer)

*Här Är Den Sköna Sommar,

, EMI, 2006 *Sken, Jacques Werup, Gazell Records, 2005 *Gör Mig Lite Levande, Lill Lindfors & Jacques Werup, Gazell Records 2004 * Karin Glenmark, Pool Sounds/Carlton Music, 1996 *Lost It All, Adversity, Manic Ears, 1988

References

External links

Official website

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saxell, Michael Swedish composers Swedish male composers Swedish songwriters Swedish male singers 1956 births People from Helsingborg Canadian people of Swedish descent Living people