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 disbanded after her death in 2019. The duo achieved international success in the late 1980s and early 1990s with their albums Look Sharp! (1988) and Joyride (1991), and topped the charts in the US four times, most notably with "It Must Have Been Love" which was featured in the film Pretty Woman. Prior to the formation of Roxette, he had a successful career in his native Sweden as the frontman for Gyllene Tider. The band released three number-one albums during the early 1980s but disbanded shortly after their fourth album, The Heartland Café (1984).
In-between periods in Roxette and Gyllene Tider reunions, Gessle recorded numerous solo albums, both in Swedish and English. After Fredriksson's illness in 2002 he released Mazarin (2003). The album was a critical and commercial success for Gessle and started the beginning of a long-term collaboration with the backing vocalist Helena Josefsson. With Fredriksson's continued treatment and recuperation he made three more albums, Son of a Plumber (2005), En händig man (A handy man, 2007) and Party Crasher (2008). After Roxette's Neverending World Tour finished in 2015 he produced another set of solo efforts, En vacker natt (2017), En vacker dag (2017) and Small Town Talk (2018). In 2016 he started using the pseudonym Mono Mind, first releasing a few singles before delivering a full album, Mind Control, in 2019. Gessle was the main songwriter for both Roxette and Gyllene Tider.
Career
Per Gessle was a founding member of Gyllene Tider, in 1976. They quickly became a popular group in Sweden, but after their fourth album, The Heartland Café (1984), sold poorly compared to their previous albums, the group disbanded. Gessle wrote. "We decided to put Gyllene Tider to rest... until further notice." In 1982, Gessle released his first solo album, Per Gessle and after Gyllene Tider split-up his second album, Scener, quickly appeared in 1985.
Gessle and Marie Fredriksson had been friends for a few years before they came together as Roxette in 1986. After the success of their first hit "Neverending Love", which was written by Gessle, they quickly recorded Pearls of Passion using material which was originally intended for Per's third solo album. Roxette went on to achieve four U.S. #1's and two #2's, with their albums Look Sharp! and Joyride attaining platinum status in a number of countries. After Roxette's early nineties success, Per released a demo compilation album in 1992, På väg, 1982–86. After the release of Crash! Boom! Bang! and subsequent world tour, Roxette took a break.
In 1996, after a reunion and subsequent tour of Gyllene Tider, Gessle recorded his first English solo album, using Brainpool and Gyllene Tider as backing musicians. Christoffer Lundquist from Brainpool would also come to collaborate with Gessle on later releases. The World According to Gessle, released in 1997, produced three singles, "Do You Wanna Be My Baby?", "Kix" and "I Want You to Know". The videos to all three songs were directed by Jonas Åkerlund. The album was re-released in 2008, with extra bonus material and demos. In 1997 Hjärtats trakt – en samling was released as a best-of album.
After Roxette released Have a Nice Day (1999) and Room Service (2001) to moderate success, Fredriksson collapsed and was diagnosed with a brain tumor in 2002. While Fredriksson received treatment for her illness, Gessle continued with his solo work. The subsequent album Mazarin (2003), was a critical and commercial success in Sweden and started the beginning of a long-term collaboration with the backing vocalist Helena Josefsson. Lundquist, now Gessle's producer was looking for a female singer and picked Josefsson. She first came to the attention of Lundquist after she and her band Sandy Mouche wanted to record at Lundquist's Aerosol Grey Machine (AGM) studio. "I remember driving a car between Lund and Lomma when Christoffer called and wondered if I was interested in starting singing with Per who wanted a girl for his solo projects.", recalled Josefsson. Mazarin topped the charts in June that year, going five times platinum in 2004. The lead single from the album "Här kommer alla känslorna (på en och samma gång)" ("Here comes all the emotions (at the same time)"), is Gessle's most successful song in his home country, spending two months at No. 1 and was certified platinum.