Editing Roxette (section)

=== 1991–1992: ''Joyride'' ===
As 1990 wound down, Roxette completed their tour and returned to Sweden to record their follow-up to ''Look Sharp!'' The 15-track collection titled ''[[Joyride (Roxette album)|Joyride]]'', which was released in March 1991, became a critical and commercial success. It topped the charts in a number of countries and became Roxette's best selling album. Their record company EMI invested almost 2 million dollars on promotion for the album,<ref name="Roxettestory-p2" /> which stayed at No.&nbsp;1 in Germany for 13 weeks, while staying on the [[Billboard 200|US album chart]] for over a year.<ref>{{cite magazine |url={{BillboardURLbyName|artist=roxette|chart=all}} |title=American chart positions |magazine=Billboard |access-date=9 October 2009}}</ref> J.D. Considine of ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' magazine reviewed ''Joyride'': "By emphasizing its sense of personality, Roxette delivers more than just well-constructed hooks; this music has heart, something that makes even the catchiest melody more appealing."<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/album/166160/review/5941707/joyride |first=J.D. |last=Considine |title=Rolling Stone's review of ''Joyride'' |date=27 June 1991 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090421115135/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/roxette/albums/album/166160/review/5941707/joyride |archive-date=21 April 2009 |url-status=dead |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]}}</ref> The album's success brought the duo two Rockbjörnen awards for Best Swedish Album and Best Swedish Group, the second time they had achieved that feat.<ref name="rockbjornen" />

The single "[[Joyride (Roxette song)|Joyride]]" became Roxette's first No.&nbsp;1 in their home country.<ref name="Swedishcharts" /> It also topped the charts in more than 25 countries around the world, including Germany, Australia and the US; it was their fourth and last No.&nbsp;1 in the US.<ref name="RoxBillboard" /><ref name="Auscharts" /><ref name="Gercharts" /> The single also charted well in the UK, and achieved success in Canada, which resulted in the song being nominated in 1992 for a [[Juno Award]] in the category, Best Selling Single by a Foreign Artist.<ref name="juno92">{{cite web|url=http://junoawards.ca/awards/artist-summary/?artist_name=Roxette&submit=Search|title=Juno Awards archive|publisher=[[Juno Award]]|access-date=12 January 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150501125439/http://junoawards.ca/awards/artist-summary/?artist_name=Roxette&submit=Search|archive-date=1 May 2015}}</ref> Its follow-up, "[[Fading Like a Flower (Every Time You Leave)]]", a power ballad similar to "Listen to Your Heart", with Fredriksson on lead, spent a week at No.&nbsp;2 in the US in July and achieved success in other big markets as well.<ref name="OCC" /><ref name="RoxBillboard" /><ref name="Auscharts" /><ref name="Gercharts" />

<!--{{quotebox|align=right|width=28%|"Roxette seems to have learned staging through careful mimicry of MTV. On a set painted in [[Piet Mondrian]] primary colors, Miss Fredriksson struts, leans on the other band members, makes symmetrical arm motions, pouts and straps on a guitar to take a few chords; she took off her leather jacket and later her long sleeves, like a G-rated stripper."<br />—Jon Pareles (''[[The New York Times]]'') reviewing Roxette's New York debut concert at the [[Beacon Theatre (New York City)|Beacon Theater]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CE7DA133EF934A35750C0A964958260&scp=8&sq=roxette&st=nyt|title=Review/Pop; Just Can't Go On Without Her Man (Sob)|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|author=Jon Pareles| date=1992-03-07|access-date=2010-11-29}}</ref>}}-->
Roxette then embarked on an ambitious worldwide tour.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://roxette20.eu/~rx/tgraphy/rxt91.php |title=Join The Joyride! World Tour 1991/92 |publisher=roxette20.eu |access-date=7 May 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090411130025/http://roxette20.eu/~rx/tgraphy/rxt91.php |archive-date=11 April 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://roxette20.eu/~rx/tgraphy/rxt92.php |title=The Summer Joyride '92! European Tour |publisher=roxette20.eu |access-date=7 May 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080612214545/http://roxette20.eu/~rx/tgraphy/rxt92.php |archive-date=12 June 2008}}</ref> The Join the Joyride! World Tour 1991/92 tour eventually reached more than 1.5 million fans in 107 concerts around the world,<ref name="tourismintro">{{Cite AV media notes |last=Gessle |first=Per |title=Tourism |date=July 1992 |url=http://www.pergessle.net/pearls/roxette/btour.html |last2=Fredriksson |first2=Marie |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110608081759/http://www.pergessle.net/pearls/roxette/btour.html |chapter=Album notes |others=Roxette |publisher=EMI |access-date=2024-06-16 |archive-date=8 June 2011 |url-status=usurped |type=booklet}}</ref> including a few dates in the US. On reviewing their [[Universal Amphitheater]] performance, Dennis Hunt of the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' said, "Fredriksson is squandering her talents in pop's low-rent district. She's clearly superior to Roxette's uncomplicated, hook-crammed material..."<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-03-23-ca-3122-story.html |title=Roxette Shows Added Dimension at Universal |first=Dennis |last=Hunt |date=23 March 1992 |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |access-date=23 December 2011}}</ref>

{{quote box
| align = right
| width = 28%|"I believed this ("Spending My Time") was going to be our biggest hit ever, which might have happened if not our American record company had fired a lot of...ah, never mind."<ref name="albumnotes" />
----
"When [[Charles Koppelman]] took over the American [record] company in 1992 more than hundred people got replaced. Those folks who got sacked were the same people who made Roxette happen in 89-90-91."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/emi-sets-us-release-new-176163 |title=EMI Sets U.S. Release for New Roxette Album |first=Charlie |last=Amter |work=[[The Hollywood Reporter]] |date=2011-07-04 |access-date=2012-01-26}}</ref>
| author = Gessle, on the downturn of Roxette in the US
}}

The end of 1991 saw the merger of [[SBK Records|SBK]], [[Chrysalis Records|Chrysalis]] and EMI record companies, to form EMI Records Group North America.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-12-29-ca-1736-story.html |title=Winners and Losers, Hits and Errors |first=Patrick |last=Goldstein |date=29 December 1992 |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |access-date=26 January 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/11/21/business/business-people-emi-music-publishing-fills-chairman-s-post.html|title=EMI Music Publishing Fills Chairman's Post |first=Geraldine |last=Fabrikant |date=21 November 1991 |newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=26 January 2012}}</ref> The resulting merger saw many personnel changes that resulted in a downturn in publicity for Roxette. Though ''Joyride'' was certified platinum<ref name="RIAA" /> and made impressive worldwide sales, the subsequent singles from the album—the ballad "[[Spending My Time]]" and "[[Church of Your Heart]]"—failed to reach the heights of previous singles in the US charts.

In late 1991, the band was honoured with its own postage stamp in Sweden, along with [[Lena Philipsson]] and [[Jerry Williams (singer)|Jerry Williams]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1992/02/28/theyve-got-the-look-the-licks/026bca54-1661-4129-8533-b39c341c5a69/ |title=They've got the Look, the Licks |author=Brown, Joe |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=28 February 1992 |access-date=15 August 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://wormholeriders.org/cc/?p=7081 |title=Roxette NYC 2012: When Opportunity Nox, You Rox On... |publisher=Wormhole Riders |date=20 September 2012 |access-date=15 August 2017}}</ref>

Music tastes in the U.S. were changing, with the emergence of new genres such as [[new jack swing]], [[grunge]], harder-core [[Rapping|rap]] and [[Hip hop music|hip-hop]]. As William Ruhlmann of [[AllMusic]] later wrote, "Americans probably lost interest [in Roxette] at about the time that [[Nirvana (band)|Nirvana]] came roaring in from the Northwest."<ref>{{cite web |url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=roxette-ballad-hits-r617829/review |pure_url=yes}} |title=Allmusic's review of ''The Ballad Hits'' |first=William |last=Ruhlmann |publisher=AllMusic|access-date=29 November 2010}}</ref> In a 2009 interview with [[BBC News]], Gessle highlighted the popularity of Nirvana and grunge music as a contributor to Roxette's downturn in success.<ref name="bbctalkingshop" /> Although Roxette's commercial momentum in America was slowing down dramatically, elsewhere, singles from the ''Joyride'' album continued to become hits when "Spending My Time" and "[[The Big L.]]" charted in many countries.<ref name="OCC" /><ref name="Auscharts" /><ref name="Gercharts" />