Kim Mellius Flyvholm Larsen (23 October 1945 – 30 September 2018) was a Danish singer, songwriter, author, and guitarist. He began his musical career in 1968 after a brief period as an elementary school teacher and became known from 1969 as a member of the rock group Gasolin. During his time with Gasolin (which lasted until 1978), Larsen also released solo albums and records with his leisure band, which went by several names. After the disbandment of Gasolin, Larsen continued as a solo artist and band leader.

Career

Kim Larsen was born in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

. Inspired by

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

and

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock-n-roll, and rock 'n' roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from African ...

, he began as a songwriter and

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselve ...

. In 1969 he met and , and the three founded Gasolin' which, later joined by drummer , became one of the most successful Danish rock bands. The band dissolved in the late 1970s. In 1979, Larsen participated in the Danish stage of the Eurovision Song Contest with the song "Ud i det blå" (lit.: Out into the blue). He came third out of 17 participants. The song was included on this album '' 231045-0637''. Around 1980, Larsen moved to New York. He released two albums but was not successful in breaking through in America and returned to Denmark after a few years. Kim Larsen released a number of solo albums in the 1980s, topping the charts in 1983 with the album ''Midt om natten'' (en: ''In the Middle of the Night''). The album more or less became a soundtrack for the movie by the same name based upon it. In 1983, Larsen founded the band Kim Larsen & Bellami and released four albums until 1992, when after a couple of different line-ups, the band broke up. He then released another solo album, ''Hvem kan sige nej til en engel'' (Who Can Say No to an Angel). In the mid-1990s he founded the band Kim Larsen & Kjukken which was based in Odense. He wrote a tribute song about MS Jutlandia's contributions as a hospital ship of Danish Red Cross during the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

. The song titled "''Jutlandia''" became a large hit in Denmark in 1986. By the end of 2017, Larsen was diagnosed with prostate cancer. This would end up impacting his tour with Kim Larsen & Kjukken who were scheduled for concerts throughout January, February and March 2018. In
Facebook post
published to the band's official profile page, Larsen apologised for the inconvenience and explained that he intended to be back playing by the start of the summer. Larsen died of prostate cancer at his home in

Odense Odense ( , , ) is the third largest city in Denmark (after Copenhagen and Aarhus) and the largest city on the island of Funen. As of 1 January 2025, the city proper had a population of 185,480 while Odense Municipality had a population of 210, ...

on 30 September 2018. A week after his death a large memorial concert was held in

with around 35,000 people attending, and major Danish musicians such as Magtens Korridorer, Love Shop, The Minds of 99, and Tim Christensen performing cover versions of Larsen's songs.

Protest singer

Larsen frequently voiced his opposition to established society and instead advocated the right to be different from the mainstream. The album and movie '' Midt om natten'' revolves around this subject – in fact you can compare the movie action to the real Danish BZ movement BZ, Sorte Hest and also Freetown Christiania, located in

. The same opposition is also shown by the album 231045-0637 – the title is Kim Larsen's

personal identification number A personal identification number (PIN; sometimes RAS syndrome, redundantly a PIN code or PIN number) is a numeric (sometimes alpha-numeric) passcode used in the process of authenticating a user accessing a system. The PIN has been the key to faci ...

which is strictly personal. Larsen was against the big database of every citizen, implied by this title. Kim Larsen was a heavy smoker, and he was critical of Danish anti-smoking laws. In August 2008, he paid for an advertising campaign which showed the text "Tillykke med rygeforbudet – Gesundheit macht frei !!!". The first sentence means "Congratulations on the smoking ban" in Danish, and the second sentence means "health makes (you) free" in German, a reference to the

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

phrase Arbeit macht frei. Claiming that smoking bans are made not to protect smokers, but non-smokers, Kim Larsen made a connection between smoking bans and

Nazism Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During Hitler's rise to power, it was fre ...

. The biography ''Mine unge år – Kim Larsen'' (lit.: My young years – Kim Larsen) by writer & journalist Jens Andersen together with Kim Larsen, was incomplete before his death and the book was finished without Kim Larsen.

Bands

Gasolin' (1969–1978)

* Kim Larsen – Vocals and rhythm guitar * – Solo guitar * – Bass * Bjørn Uglebjerg (1969–1971) and Søren Berlev (1971–1978) – Drums * Klaus Agerschou (live concerts) – Keyboards

Kim Larsen & Jungledreams (1980–1983)

* Kim Larsen – Guitar and vocals * Rick Blakemore – Guitar * Joe Delia – Keyboards * Abe Speller – Drums * Dennis Espantman – Bass

Kim Larsen & Bellami (1983–1992)

1983–1984: * Kim Larsen – Guitar and vocals * Henning Pold – Bass * Phil Barrett – Keyboards and guitar * Soren Wolff – Guitar * Jan Lysdahl – Drums 1986–1992: * Kim Larsen – Guitar and vocals * Henning Pold – Bass * Hans Fagt and Jan Lysdahl – Drums * Mikkel Håkonsson and Peter Ingemann – Keyboards * Thomas Grue and Per Rasmussen – Guitars

Kim Larsen & Bell*Star (1993–1995)

* Kim Larsen – Guitar and vocals * Hans Fagt – Drums * Henning Pold – Bass * Mikkel Håkonsson – Keyboards

Kim Larsen & Kjukken (1995–2018)

* Kim Larsen – Guitar and vocals * Bo Gryholt – Bass (1995–2002) and Jesper Haugaard – Bass (2002–2018) * Karsten Skovgaard – Guitar * Jesper Rosenqvist – Drums (1994–2014) and Jens Langhorn (2015–2018) * Jørn Jeppesen – Guitar (2015–2018)

Discography

Solo albums

Studio * 1973: '' Værsgo'' ( (as in serving something)) * 1977: ' (en: Kim Larsen and the Yankee boys) * 1979: '' 231045-0637'' (Kim Larsen's

) * 1981: ' * 1983: '' Midt om natten'' (en: In the middle of the night) * 1994: ' (en: Who can say no to an angel?) * 2010: '' Mine damer og herrer'' (en: Ladies and gentlemen) * 2019: '' Sange fra første sal'' EP's * 1982: ''5 Eiffel'' Compilations * 1975: ''Skru Op'' * 1977: ''Boller Op, Boller Ned'' * 1979: ''Hittegods'' * 1983: ''Gorilla Mix'' * 1983: ''Larsens Bedste'' * 1984: ''Årets Koncent'' * 2015: ''Kim i 70'erne'' (with Gasolin') Live * 1985: '' Kim i Cirkus'' (Live) (en: Kim at the Circus) * 2007: ' (Live)

With Gasolin'

Studio * 1971: '' Gasolin''' * 1972: '' Gasolin' 2'' * 1973: '' Gasolin' 3'' * 1974: '' Stakkels Jim'' (en: Poor Jim) * 1975: '' Gas 5'' * 1976: '' Efter endnu en dag'' (en: After Another Day) * 1977: '' Gør det noget'' (en: Does it matter?) * 1978: '' Killin' Time'' Compilations * 1980: ''Super Mix 1'' * 1981: ''A Box Full of Gas'' * 1984: ''Det Bedste Fra Mig Og Mine Venner'' (Kim Larsen with Gasolin') * 1991: ''Rabalderstræde Forever'' * 1993: ''Derudaf Forever'' * 1997: ''A Foreign Affair vol.1'' * 1999: ''Gasolin' Forever'' * 2000: ''The Early Years'' * 2002: ''A Foreign Affair vol.2'' * 2003: ''The Black Box'' * 2009: ''Masser af succes'' * 2015: ''Kim I 70'erne'' Live * 1976: ''Live sådan'' (Live) * 1978: ''Gøglernes aften'' (Live)

With Starfuckers

Live * 1978: ' (en: Beware of imitations)

With Kim Larsen & Jungledreams

Studio * 1982: '

With Kim Larsen & Bellami

Studio * 1986: ' (en: Disguised as an adult) * 1988: ' * 1989: ' * 1992: '

With Kim Larsen & Kjukken

Studio * 1996: ' * 1998: ' (en: Air below the wings) * 2001: ' * 2001: ' (en: Forgotten songs) * 2003: ' * 2004: ' (en: Forgotten songs – Christmas and New Year) * 2006: ' (en: Old Tomcat) * 2008: ' (en: Forgotten songs for children) * 2012: ' (en: Happy world) * 2017: (en: East of Westway) Live * 2002: ' (en: It was a Thursday evening) * 2007: ' (en: A small bag of noise)

Charting albums

(All peak positions in Danish Albums Chart) * 2001: ''Weekend Music'' (reached No. 3) * 2001: ''Sange fra glemmebogen'' (reached No. 1) * 2006: ''Gammel hankat'' (reached No. 1) * 2008: ''Glemmebogen for børn'' (reached No. 1) * 2010: ''Mine damer og herrer'' (reached No. 1) * 2012: ''5 Eiffel'' (reached No. 21) * 2015: ''Guld & grønne skove'' (reached No. 12) * 2015: ''Forklædt som voksen'' (reached No. 14) As Kim Larsen & Kjukken * 2002: ''Det var en torsdag aften'' (reached No. 2) * 2003: ''7-9-13'' (reached No. 1) * 2004: ''Glemmebogen Jul & Nytår'' (reached No. 1) * 2007: ''En lille pose støj'' (reached No. 1) (Live) As Kim Larsen & Bellami * 2015: ''Kielgasten'' (reached No. 22) With Gasolin' * 2015: ''Kim I 70'erne'' (reached No. 8)

References

External links

Kim Larsen's website

Kim Larsen's record company

YT: Tekamaki Sidewalk Stereo Machine
{{DEFAULTSORT:Larsen, Kim 1945 births 2018 deaths Danish male singers Danish rock singers Musicians from Copenhagen