Marie Eleonor Serneholt (born July 11 , 1983 ) was the oldest member of the Swedish pop band A*Teens . Marie was born in Stockholm, Sweden and was raised in an upper middle-class family.
A*Teens
In 1998, Serneholt signed a record deal with Stockholm Records (part of Universal Music ) along with her then band mates, Sara, Dhani and Amit. together they were the A*Teens . In 1999 they released their first single, a cover of the legendary band ABBA , "Mamma Mia" . The single topped the charts in Sweden for 8 consecutive weeks, and the success was similar around the world.
By 2000, the A*Teens' first album, "The ABBA Generation" had sold 4 million copies, and they became one of the most successful Swedish bands around the world.
After 6 years together and more than 9 million albums sold, the A*Teens went their ways after their "Greatest Hits" album and their final tour in Sweden.
2004 & 2005
With the A*Teens' going their separate ways, several rumors flew that Serneholt would be the first to pursue a solo career. These proved to be unfounded when fellow A*Teen Dhani Lennevald released his debut single in September 2004.
Serneholt wanted to live what she couldn't experience while she was in the band touring around the world, so she chose to live a normal life with her friends and family. While she was living her normal life, she was working as a model on several magazines and fashion shows, as well as a host of several shows in her native Sweden.
In 2005 she was picked as the face of the Maybelline cosmetics line in the Scandinavia . She also gave her voice for the Swedish versions of the movies "Robots" and "Herbie: Fully Loaded" . These endeavors allowed Marie to maintain a profile with the Swedish media while she wasn't doing music.
The First Album
In 2005, Serneholt was ready to make music again, so she called Jorgen Elofsson , the brain behind hits written for Britney Spears and Celine Dion . Elofsson was busy with other artists at the time, but Serneholt knew he was the right person to produce her album. Whe she tried Elofsson again later that year, he had just started collaborating with two relatively young and unknown producers, Richard Brandén and Pär Westerlund.
Elofsson felt that he wanted to work with a Swedish artist that wanted to reach out into the world, an artist he could really believe in and whose career he could be a part of from the start. He created the label Planet Six (a part of SonyBMG ) and Marie signed her first record deal as a solo artist.
At first Serneholt was unsure in which direction she wanted her music to go. Elofsson was relieved when Serneholt said that she wanted to make a pop album. They began work on the album during the year, with Elofsson listed as co-writer of every track on the album. Besides writing with his co-producers, he has also co-written with the legendary Nicky Chinn and Swedish colleague Andreas Carlsson, among others. Serneholt and Jörgen could work undisturbed and at their own pace, with no involvement of any record companies, media or outside opinions, seeing as they were working under his label.
Enjoying The Ride
On February 2006, Serneholt's first single saw the light, "That's The Way My Heart Goes" , was premiered on Swedish radio with decent reviews and good response from the public, the single debuted at #2 on the Swedish Charts and reached #1 on the Official Swedish Digital Downloads Chart . ensuring Gold Status on physical sales alone on May 19 , 2006 .
The album "Enjoy The Ride" was released on March 29 , 2006 debuting at #9 on her home country but falling on the charts quickly, while the single's success was growing around the world with releases throughout Europe along with the album and with plans to release it in South and North America in 2007 .
In May, 2006, Serneholt started in a promotional tour around Germany when she released her album in that country. She also embarked on a Radio Station's Concert Tour around Sweden and Finland .
In June, Serneholt released her second single, "I Need A House" , debuting at #2 on the Swedish Ditial Downloads Chart, but failing on the physical sales reaching a disappointing #40 in Sweden , the single was released in Europe on September 2006 .
Serneholt pubished on her official blog on September 22nd , that she had finished the video for " Oxygen " stating that it will be released in mid October and that it was going to be different from any other video she has done.
" Oxygen " is Marie Serneholt's third single off her debut album.