Icona Pop ( ) are a Swedish

synth-pop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a music genre that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s b ...

duo that formed in 2009, with

electro house Electro house is a genre of electronic dance music and a subgenre of house music characterized by heavy bass and a tempo around 125–135 beats per minute. The term has been used to describe the music of many ''DJ Mag'' Top 100 DJs, including ...

and

indie pop Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with a DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and s ...

music influences. Its two members, Aino Jawo (born 7 July 1986) and Caroline Hjelt (born 8 November 1987), grew up in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

and created what the Swedish press has described as music which "you can both laugh and cry to at the same time". They signed to

TEN Music Group TEN Music Group is a Swedish independent record label headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden. The label was founded by Ola Håkansson in 2003. History The company was founded by Swedish singer, composer and producer, Ola Håkansson in 2003, in St ...

in 2009 and are currently also in a label deal with

Ultra Music Ultra Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, which is a subsidiary of Sony Music Group. Company history Established in 1995 in New York City by Patrick Moxey, a former executive of PolyGram and Virgin Record ...

. Their biggest hit to date has been " I Love It".

Career

Beginning

Caroline Hjelt (born 8 November 1987, of a Swedish mother and Sweden-Finnish father) and Aino Jawo (born 7 July 1986, of a Finnish mother and Gambian father) attended the same music school in Stockholm, but met by chance at a party in February 2009 and formed the duo. Four weeks later, they had written songs for their first performance. Two years later, the two described their music as "classical pop melodies with drums and

synth A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis a ...

s". The English-language press, including ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

'', ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' and ''

Pitchfork Media ''Pitchfork'' (formerly ''Pitchfork Media'') is an American online music magazine founded in 1996 by Ryan Schreiber in Minneapolis. It originally covered Alternative rock, alternative and independent music, and expanded to cover genres includin ...

'', have praised the duo. ''The Guardian'' described the debut single "Manners" as "effortlessly cool". The duo have worked in the studio with producers including Style of Eye, Patrik Berger (

Robyn Robin Miriam Carlsson (; born 12 June 1979), known professionally as Robyn (), is a Swedish singer, songwriter, record producer, and DJ. Her 1995 debut album ''Robyn Is Here'' produced two Billboard Hot 100, ''Billboard'' Hot 100 top 10 single ...

), Elof Loelv ( Niki & The Dove) and Starsmith. In fall 2012, they released an

extended play An extended play (EP) is a Sound recording and reproduction, musical recording that contains more tracks than a Single (music), single but fewer than an album. Contemporary EPs generally contain up to eight tracks and have a playing time of 1 ...

'' Iconic'' in the US and the album ''Icona Pop'' in Sweden. The duo have performed in the aforementioned countries as well as countries such as the UK, Germany, Italy, Canada and Hong Kong, and have also been interviewed by members of the Swedish and worldwide press.

2012–2013: Breakthrough with "I Love It" and ''This Is... Icona Pop''

In the summer of 2012, they took part in a number of festivals including electro music festival Summerburst in

Gothenburg Gothenburg ( ; ) is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, second-largest city in Sweden, after the capital Stockholm, and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by the Kattegat on the west coast of Sweden, it is the gub ...

and also appeared at the Stockholm Stadium, at the start of an international festival and broadcast via

Sveriges Television Sveriges Television AB ("Sweden's Television aktiebolag, Stock Company"), shortened to SVT (), is the Sweden, Swedish national public broadcasting, public television broadcaster, funded by a public service tax on personal income set by the Riksd ...

(SVT). "I Love It", a pre-release of their self-titled debut album '' Icona Pop'' charted on

Sverigetopplistan Sverigetopplistan (, lit. "the Sweden top list") is the Swedish national record chart, based on sales data from IFPI Sverige. It was formerly known as Topplistan (1975–1997) and Hitlistan (1998–2007) and has been known by its current name si ...

, the official Swedish singles chart. The song, which features vocals from British recording artist

Charli XCX Charlotte Emma Aitchison (born 2 August 1992), known professionally as Charli XCX, is a British singer and songwriter. She began posting songs on Myspace in 2008 before entering the London rave scene. Signing a recording contract with Asylum Re ...

, was also featured in the 2012 video game '' Need for Speed: Most Wanted'', in a German television commercial for Coca-Cola Light in January 2013, the theme song to the MTV reality-television series ''

Snooki & JWoww ''Snooki & Jwoww'' is an American reality television series on MTV starring Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi and Jennifer " JWoww" Farley. It is the second of three spin-offs of ''Jersey Shore'', on which both Polizzi and Farley previously gained fame as ...

'', and in an episode of the HBO

comedy-drama Comedy drama (also known by the portmanteau dramedy) is a hybrid genre of works that combine elements of comedy and Drama (film and television), drama. In film, as well as scripted television series, serious dramatic subjects (such as death, il ...

television series '' Girls ''and the popular vampire-teen drama television series '' The Vampire Diaries''. The second single "Ready for the Weekend" was released on 11 September 2012. Both tracks appear on their second EP, released on 16 October 2012. "I Love It" was also used in the commercial for the Samsung Galaxy S4. Their EP ''Iconic EP'' peaked at No. 21 on the U.S.

iTunes iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...

dance chart. In 2013, they embarked on a tour of the United States with Passion Pit and

Matt & Kim Matt and Kim (sometimes stylized MATT and KIM) are an American Indie rock#Indie electronic, indie electronic duo from Brooklyn, New York City. The group formed in 2004 and consist of Matt Johnson (vocals/keyboards) and Kim Schifino (drums). The ...

. In January 2013, "I Love It" was featured in the third episode of the second season of '' Girls'', the comedy-drama series created by

Lena Dunham Lena Dunham (; born May 13, 1986) is an American writer, director, actress, and producer. She is the creator, writer, and star of the HBO television series '' Girls'' (2012–2017), for which she received several Emmy Award nominations and two G ...

. Two months later, the duo was named one of Fuse's 30 must-see artists at the

South by Southwest South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has conti ...

festival. The same month, "I Love It" was featured in the 16th episode of the fourth season, "Bring It On", of '' The Vampire Diaries''. On 26 March 2013, "I Love It" was performed on the week 2 results episode of ''

Dancing with the Stars ''Strictly Come Dancing (widely known as Dancing with the Stars)'' is an international television franchise based on the format of the British TV series '' Strictly Come Dancing,'' itself a successor to the show ''Come Dancing'' (1950–1998) ...

''. On 3 May 2013, the duo performed "I Love It" on the NBC

late-night talk show A late-night talk show is a genre of talk show, originating in the American Media, United States. It is generally structured around humorous monologues about the day's news, guest interviews, comedy sketches and music performances. It is charact ...

Late Night with Jimmy Fallon ''Late Night with Jimmy Fallon'' is an American television talk show broadcast by NBC. The show was the third installment of the '' Late Night'' franchise. Hosted by Jimmy Fallon,

'' and on ABC's ''

Good Morning America ''Good Morning America'', often abbreviated as ''GMA'', is an American breakfast television, morning television program that is broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends wit ...

'' morning news/entertainment show. Three days later, "I Love It" was featured in the Fox musical-comedy series, ''

Glee Glee may refer to: * Glee (music), a type of English choral music * ''Glee'' (TV series), an American musical comedy-drama TV series, and related media created by Ryan Murphy * ''Glee'' (Bran Van 3000 album) * ''Glee'' (Logan Lynn album) * Gle ...

''. The song was performed by the "New Directions" in Glee's 22nd and final episode of season four, " All or Nothing". It was also featured in a 2013

ShoeDazzle ShoeDazzle is a California-based online fashion subscription service that offers a monthly selection of shoes, handbags and jewelry curated to their members' fashion preferences. History The company was founded by Kim Kardashian, Brian Lee (entr ...

commercial. On 19 May 2013, the duo performed "I Love It" at the ''Billboard'' Music Awards, wearing custom lit outfits by designer

Geoffrey Mac Geoffrey Mac (born March 24, 1977) is an American fashion designer. Mac has appeared on reality television shows such as ''America's Next Top Model'' and '' Project Runway''. He is known for the use of latex in his designs. Life and career Mac a ...

. The song was featured in a commercial for the WNBA's forthcoming season that was aired during the 4th quarter of Game 7 of the

Heat In thermodynamics, heat is energy in transfer between a thermodynamic system and its surroundings by such mechanisms as thermal conduction, electromagnetic radiation, and friction, which are microscopic in nature, involving sub-atomic, ato ...

-Pacers Eastern Conference Championship game on 3 June 2013. It was also featured in a commercial during the Spurs-Heat basketball game on 9 June 2013. On 4 June 2013, the duo released their single " Girlfriend". Icona Pop revealed in an interview that they recorded their international album with all new songs. They said that "the new album isn't just going to be sixteen tracks like 'I Love It'" and that they are trying new genres and sounds. In July 2013, they received two Teen Choice awards for Choice Music Breakout Group and Choice Single: Group. On 28 July 2013, " All Night" was released as the official third single from the album. It gained moderate success on European charts. On 4 August 2013, the duo visited

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, where they performed at the Osheaga Festival. They also appeared on ''

The Ellen DeGeneres Show ''The Ellen DeGeneres Show'' is an American first-run syndicated talk show that was hosted by Ellen DeGeneres. The show ran for nineteen seasons from September 8, 2003, to May 26, 2022, in which it broadcast 3,339 episodes. It was produced by ...

'' in December of that year.

2014–present

On 23 June 2014, the duo released a new single called " Get Lost" which gained less international attention. In the same period, the duo also performed as the opening act for

Katy Perry Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson (born October 25, 1984), known professionally as Katy Perry, is an American singer, songwriter, and television personality. She is one of the List of best-selling music artists, best-selling music artists in hist ...

and

Miley Cyrus Miley Ray Cyrus ( , born Destiny Hope Cyrus, November 23, 1992) is an American singer, songwriter, actress and director. Regarded as a contemporary pop icon, Cyrus has been recognized for her evolving artistry and image reinventions. She is ...

tours. They also collaborated with Tiesto for the song " Let's Go" and with Cobra Starship for the single "Never Been in Love" which became a successful hit in Italy. On 26 May 2015, the duo released the single "

Emergency An emergency is an urgent, unexpected, and usually dangerous situation that poses an immediate risk to health, life, property, or environment and requires immediate action. Most emergencies require urgent intervention to prevent a worsening ...

", a collaboration with Erik Hassle. The song peaked a few weeks later on the Billboard Dance Chart, making their second single to top that chart after ''All Night''. The song was also featured in the video game ''

FIFA 16 ''FIFA 16'' is a football simulation video game developed by EA Canada and published by Electronic Arts under the EA Sports label. It was released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Android and iOS. The g ...

''. In July, the EP ''Emergency'' was released. It includes the critically acclaimed ''First Time'' and the smash-hit ''Clap Snap''. The duo was announced as an opening act for the North American leg of

One Direction One Direction, often shortened to 1D, were an English-Irish pop boy band formed in London in 2010. The group consisted of Niall Horan, Zayn Malik (until his departure in 2015), Liam Payne, Harry Styles, and Louis Tomlinson. The group sold o ...

's "On the Road Again" tour in 2015. Also in 2015, their song "We Got The World" was featured in the movie '' Pitch Perfect 2''. On 23 February 2016, Icona Pop performed a new single, " Someone Who Can Dance" at the Grammis in Stockholm. On 20 October 2016, the duo released their single " Brightside". On 16 June 2017, Icona Pop released a new single " GIRLS GIRLS", co-written by Tove Lo. In October 2017, they released a song with Australian duo Peking Duk called " Let You Down". In late December 2017, the duo released an EP called "Så mycket bättre 2017 – Tolkningarna" including 7 covered songs. In early March 2018, the duo collaborated with Avon on a music video called "All My Girls". In late April 2018, the duo was featured on a song called "Faded Away" by Sweater Beats. In late May 2018, Icona Pop said on their social media that they were currently working on their third studio album. In June 2019 the duo performed at St. Louis Pridefest. Icona Pop released a song with R3hab called "This Is How We Party" on 8 February 2019. On 26 July 2019, the duo returned with the first single from their upcoming third studio album – "Next Mistake". The Swedish duo have signed to

as of 2019.

Discography

* '' Icona Pop'' (2012) * '' This Is... Icona Pop'' (2013) * '' Club Romantech'' (2023)

Filmography

Film

Television

Tours

;As supporting act * Marina and the Diamonds' The Lonely Hearts Club Tour (North America, 2013) *

' Bangerz Tour (North America and Europe, 2014) *

's Prismatic World Tour (United Kingdom, 2014) *

's On the Road Again Tour (North America, 2015)

Awards

*Rober Awards Music Poll , - , 2012 , Themselves , Guilty Pleasure , * Rockbjörnen , - , 2018 , Themselves , Årets livegrupp , *P3 Guld , - , rowspan=2, 2014 , '' This Is... Icona Pop'' , Årets grupp , , - , Themselves , Guldmicken (årets liveartist) , *Sweden GAFFA Awards , - , 2018 , Themselves , Årets Grupp , * Gaygalan Awards , - , 2014 , Themselves , Årets Artist , *Scandipop Awards , - , rowspan=2, 2014 , '' This Is... Icona Pop'' , Best Group Album , , - , rowspan=3, Themselves , rowspan=3, Best Group , , - , 2017 , , - , 2018 , *

Teen Choice Awards The Teen Choice Awards were an annual awards show that aired on the Fox television network between 1999 and 2019. The awards, based on a popularity vote that could be overridden by the producerswho reserved the right to choose the winnerscovered ...

Billboard Music Awards The ''Billboard'' Music Awards are honors given out annually by '' Billboard'', a publication covering the music business and a music popularity chart. The ''Billboard'' Music Awards show has been held annually since 1990, with the exception of ...

MTV Europe Music Awards The MTV Europe Music Awards (originally named MTV European Music Awards, commonly abbreviated as MTV EMA) are awards presented by Paramount International Networks to honour artists and music in pop culture. It was originally conceived as an al ...

* Hungarian Music Awards {, class="wikitable" , - ! Year !! Nominated work !! Award !! Result , - , 2014 , '' This Is... Icona Pop'' , Modern Pop/Rock Album of the Year , *

iHeartRadio Music Awards The iHeartRadio Music Awards is a music awards show that celebrates music heard throughout the year across List of radio stations owned by iHeartMedia, iHeartMedia radio stations nationwide and on iHeartRadio, iHeartMedia's digital music platf ...

{, class="wikitable" , - ! Year !! Nominated work !! Award !! Result !! Ref. , - , rowspan=2, 2014 , , " I Love It" (with

) , , Best Lyrics , , , , rowspan=2, , - , Icona Pop , , Best New Artist , , * SESAC Pop Awards {, class="wikitable" , - ! Year !! Nominated work !! Award !! Result , - , rowspan="2" , 2014 , , rowspan="2" , " I Love It" (with

) , , Songwriter of the Year , , , - , Song of the Year , , * Grammis Award {, class="wikitable" , - ! Year !! Nominated work !! Award !! Result !! Ref. , - , rowspan="3" , 2013 , , " I Love It" , , Song of the Year , , , , rowspan="3" , , - , Icona Pop , , Newcomer of the Year , , , - , Icona Pop , , Electronic/Dance of the Year , , , - , rowspan="2" , 2014 , , rowspan="2" , Icona Pop , , Artist of the Year , , , , rowspan="2" , , - , Electronic/Dance of the Year , , , - , 2016 , "

" , Song of the Year , , , - , 2018 , Icona Pop , Electronic/Dance of the Year , , , *

APRA Awards (Australia) The APRA Music Awards in Australia celebrate excellence in contemporary music, honoring songwriters and publishers who have achieved artistic excellence and outstanding success in their fields. Several award ceremonies are run in Australia b ...

{, class="wikitable" , - ! Year !! Nominated work !! Award !! Result !! Ref. , - , APRA Music Awards of 2019 , " Let You Down" by Peking Duk and Icona Pop , Dance of the Year , , , *Other awards {, class="wikitable" , - ! Award !! Nominated work !! Category !! Result !! Ref. , - , Gaffa , , Icona Pop , , Swedish Breakthrough of the Year , , , , , - , P3 Gold , , I Love It , , Song of the Year , , , , , - , Elle Gala , , Icona Pop , , Best Dressed Duo , , , ,

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Icona Pop 2009 establishments in Sweden Swedish all-female bands Atlantic Records artists Electro house musicians Electronic dance music duos Electropop groups English-language musical groups from Sweden Female musical duos Feminist musicians Musical groups established in 2009 Musical groups from Stockholm Pop music duos Swedish dance music groups Swedish expatriates in the United States Swedish musical duos Swedish synth-pop groups Swedish feminists Swedish girl groups Swedish women in electronic music 21st-century Swedish women singers Swedish electronic dance music DJs Women DJs Ultra Records artists All-female pop bands All-female electronic bands