"Neverending Love" is a song by Swedish

pop music Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom.S. Frith, W. Straw, and J. Street, eds, ''iarchive:cambridgecompani00frit, The Cambridge Companion to Pop ...

duo

Roxette Roxette is a Swedish pop rock duo originally consisting of Marie Fredriksson and Per Gessle, both of whom were already established musicians in Sweden prior to the band's formation. Fredriksson had released a number of successful solo albums, ...

, released on 8 July 1986 by

EMI EMI Group Limited (formerly EMI Group plc until 2007; originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At t ...

as their debut

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

. The track was originally written in Swedish by

Per Gessle Per Håkan Gessle (; born 12 January 1959) is a Swedish singer, songwriter and guitarist. He is best known as the male half and primary songwriter of the pop rock duo Roxette, which he formed with Marie Fredriksson in 1986 and which was disbande ...

, as "Svarta glas" ("Black Glass"), for recording artist

Pernilla Wahlgren Pernilla Nina Elisabet Wahlgren (; born 24 December 1967) is a Swedish singer and actress. She has sung in Melodifestivalen several times; her 1985 entry titled "Piccadilly Circus (song), Piccadilly Circus" became popular and successful. She has ...

, who turned it down. However, she offered the song to her brother

Niclas Wahlgren Niclas may refer to: Given name *Niclas Alexandersson (born 1971), retired Swedish football midfielder * Niclas Andersén (born 1988), Swedish ice hockey player *Niclas Bendixen, Danish actor, dancer and choreographer * Niclas Edman (born 1991), ...

, who recorded his own version. The release of his single was cancelled at the request of EMI, when Gessle recorded an English version of the song with

Marie Fredriksson Gun-Marie Fredriksson (; 30 May 1958 – 9 December 2019) was a Swedish singer, songwriter, pianist, and lead vocalist of pop-rock duo Roxette, which she formed in 1986 with Per Gessle. The duo achieved international success in the late 1980s an ...

. The single was originally intended to only be released outside of Sweden, as EMI believed it would interfere with Fredriksson's burgeoning solo career. The label eventually changed their minds, and the single went on to peak at number three on the

Swedish Singles Chart 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 s ...

. The song was later included on the duo's debut album, ''

Pearls of Passion ''Pearls of Passion'' is the debut studio album by Swedish pop duo Roxette, originally released on cassette and vinyl on 31 October 1986 in Scandinavia and Canada. The album was remastered and released on CD on 31 October 1997, with several prev ...

'' (1986). Two music videos were created for the song. The first was shot in

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

in 1986 and features a red-haired Fredriksson. The second was directed by Rikard Petrelius and was shot one year later in Sweden.

Formats and track listings

All lyrics by

; all music by Gessle except "Voices", by

and Per Andersson. * 7" single (Germany / Italy / Sweden 1362277) # "Neverending Love" – 3:29 # "Neverending Love" (Love Mix) – 3:59 * French 7" / Swedish 12" single (France 1362567 · Sweden 1362486) # "Neverending Love" – 3:29 # "Voices" – 4:05 * German 12" single (136237) # "Neverending Love" (12" Mix) – 5:14 # "Neverending Love" (7" Mix) – 3:18 # "Voices" – 4:05 * French 12" single (1362576) # "Neverending Love" (Love Mix) – 3:59 # "Neverending Love" – 3:29 # "Neverending Love" (Extended Club Mix) – 4:31

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of '' The Rox Box/Roxette 86–06''. * Recorded at EMI Studios 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 ...

, Sweden in March and April 1986. Musicians *

–

lead Lead () is a chemical element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol Pb (from Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a Heavy metal (elements), heavy metal that is density, denser than most common materials. Lead is Mohs scale, soft and Ductility, malleabl ...

and

background vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are u ...

– lead and background vocals * Björn Boström –

engineering Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...

* Tommy Cassemar –

bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...

Clarence Öfwerman Clarence Öfwerman (born 22 November 1957) is a Swedish record producer and musician, best known as the longtime producer of Roxette, having been with the band from their debut album, ''Pearls of Passion'', in 1986, through to 2016's '' Good Ka ...

– keyboards and

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stat ...

* Mats "MP" Persson –

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external electric Guitar amplifier, sound amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar. It uses one or more pickup (music technology), pickups ...

* Alar Suurna – mixing * Tim Werner –

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

Charts and sales

References

{{authority control 1986 debut singles 1986 songs EMI Records singles Songs written by Per Gessle Song recordings produced by Clarence Öfwerman Roxette songs English-language Swedish songs