Jan Lars Persson (born 3 October 1947), known by his stage name Janne Lucas, is a Swedish singer, songwriter and musician. He is best known as the lead vocalist and primary lyricist of

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop! (British group), a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Album ...

band Lucas.

Early life

Janne Lucas was born Jan Persson 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 ...

, Sweden, on 3 October 1947. As a child, he spent time in

Frillesås Frillesås is a urban areas of Sweden, locality situated in Kungsbacka Municipality, Halland County, Sweden, with 2,044 inhabitants in 2010. Frillesås BK is a bandy club. The locality has a population of approximately 3,000 residents. It is loca ...

, where his grandparents lived.

Career

1965–1969: Lucas

At the age of 18, Persson formed a pop group, Lucas. The group's name came from one of Persson's friends who thought that if you could call a pop group something as

Tages Tages was claimed as a founding prophet of Etruscan mythology, Etruscan religion who is known from reports by Latin authors of the late Roman Republic and Roman Empire. He revealed a cosmic view of divinity and correct methods of ascertaining ...

, Lucas would work as a name too. The group was characterized by his skilful piano playing and singing. The group's breakthrough came two years later, in 1967, when they won

Sveriges Radio Sveriges Radio Aktiebolag, AB (; "Sweden's Radio") is Sweden's national publicly funded radio programming, radio broadcaster. Sveriges Radio is a public limited company, owned by an independent foundation, previously funded through a television ...

's Pop Band Competition, and charted on ''

Tio i Topp ''Tio i Topp'' ( English: ''Ten at the Top'') was a Swedish record chart and radio program broadcast by Sveriges Radio P3 between the years of 1961 and 1974. It was launched to combat pirate radio charts and was the first official Swedish record c ...

'' with the song "Antisocial Season". The band had its first success with a cover version of

The Moody Blues The Moody Blues were an English rock band formed in Birmingham in May 1964. The band initially consisted of Graeme Edge (drums), Denny Laine (guitar/vocals), Mike Pinder (keyboards/vocals), Ray Thomas (multi-instrumentalist/vocals) and Clint W ...

' song "

Go Now "Go Now" is a song composed by Larry Banks and Milton Bennett and first recorded by Bessie Banks, released as a single in January 1964. The best-known version was recorded by the Moody Blues and released the same year. Bessie Banks version ...

", originally recorded by Bessie Banks in 1964. Lucas' single was one of the most popular songs in Sweden in 1968. The song peaked at No. 2 on ''Tio i Topp'' where it stayed for 8 weeks. Later in 1967, the Swedish newspaper '' Bildjournalen'' released its own vinyl record, on which Lucas was featured with their song "Touring". The band made several successful tours in

Scandinavia Scandinavia is a subregion#Europe, subregion of northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It can sometimes also ...

throughout their career, playing as an opening act for

The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

Helsingborg Helsingborg (, , ), is a Urban areas in Sweden, city and the seat of Helsingborg Municipality, Scania County, Scania (Skåne), Sweden. It is the second-largest city in Scania (after Malmö) and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, ninth ...

and for

Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential guitarists of all time. Inducted ...

Liseberg Liseberg is an amusement park located in Gothenburg, Sweden, that opened in 1923. It is the second most visited theme park in Scandinavia, with around three million visitors annually. Among the noteworthy attractions is the wooden roller coaste ...

. As

bands became less popular in the late 1960s, Lucas disbanded in 1969.

1969–present: Solo career

As Lucas disbanded in 1969, Persson pursued a solo career. Persson played the piano on

Pugh Rogefeldt Anders Sture Torbjörn "Pugh" Rogefeldt (, ; 2 March 1947 – 1 May 2023) was a Swedish singer, musician, guitarist and songwriter. Musical career Rogefeldt made his breakthrough in the late 1960s with albums such as ''Ja, dä ä dä'' and '' ...

's 1973 album ''Pugh on the Rocks''. In the early 1970s, Persson moved to

Las Palmas Las Palmas (, ; ), officially Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, is a Spanish city and capital of Gran Canaria, in the Canary Islands, in the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital city of the Canary Islands (jointly with Santa Cruz de Tenerife) and the m ...

where he played the piano in the house band of a whiskey club. The Swedish music manager

Stig Anderson Stig Erik Leopold "Stikkan" Anderson (25 January 1931 – 12 September 1997) was a Swedish music manager, lyricist and music publisher. He was the co-founder of Polar Music and is best known for managing the Swedish pop band ABBA. Early l ...

contacted Persson, who wanted him to go on a summer tour together with

Ted Gärdestad Ted Arnbjörn Gärdestad (; 18 February 195622 June 1997) was a Swedish singer, songwriter, musician and actor known internationally as Ted. Gärdestad began his acting career in 1966 and began playing music in 1971, signing with Polar Music. Ass ...

and Lena Andersson. Persson accepted and returned to Sweden. Janne Lucas participated at Melodifestivalen 1980 with the song " Växeln hallå", coming in second. The upcoming year he participated with the song "

Rocky Mountain The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of Western Canada, to New Mexico in ...

", ending up third. For many years, Janne Lucas also acted as pianist for ''Vi i femman''. Janne also accompanied the vocal group Noviserna for a while, where Anna-Lisa Cederquist participated. In a Bildjournalen issue was a commercial record with, among others, the band Lucas and the song ''One Night Stand''. On 6 November 2009, he participated at Doobidoo in SVT, playing "Växeln hallå" on the piano. He is also the choral director for the Onsala and Mölnlycke Gospel Choir.

Discography

Solo * ''Grand Piano'' (1973) * ''Ad Lib'' (1977) * ''Born to Rock'' (1978) * ''Solfeggietto'' (1978) * ''Rocky Mountain'' (1981) * ''Boeves psalm'' (1982) * ''Jag vill, jag törs, jag kan (1984) * ''White Christmas'' (1988) Lucas * ''Lucas'' (1969)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Persson, Janne Lucas 1947 births Living people 20th-century Swedish classical composers 20th-century Swedish singers 21st-century Swedish classical composers 21st-century Swedish singer-songwriters Swedish male pianists Swedish male singers Swedish male singer-songwriters Swedish multi-instrumentalists Swedish pop pianists Swedish pop rock singers Swedish pop singers Swedish rock keyboardists Swedish rock pianists Swedish rock singers Musicians from Gothenburg Singers from Gothenburg