It was 1997. Princess Diana died in a car accident. The American Mars rover reached its goal and landed on a planet the path to which was long and difficult. And the group "Aqua", consisting of Danes and Norwegians, released the single Barbie girl. This disc was the biggest success in the career of the musical collective.
The group owes much of its popularity to the artistry and original vocal manner of the soloist Lena Nyustrem. The song fell to seventh place in the Billboard magazine charts. Today, Aqua remains the most successful Danish music group of all time.
Biography
Lena Gravford Nyustrem was born on October 2, 1973 in the Norwegian city of Tensberg. This village is the center of the area called Westfold. It is located in northern Norway, 102 kilometers from Oslo. This city is called by many historians the oldest in the country. It was founded by the Vikings in the 9th century AD.
The girl’s father took care that the child spent as much time as possible outdoors. At his insistence, Lena was involved in many sports.
As often happens, as a teenager, Nustrem became interested in music and began to practice vocals. Later I tried myself in the modeling business. But also the girl had to work as a waitress.
The first steps in show business
In 1990, Lena Nyustrem was invited to Norwegian television. She was invited to become the host of the show "Casino". In this program, she worked for three years.
When the television show "Casino" ceased to exist, the heroine of this article remembered her old dream - to become a vocalist. She got a job singing in the restaurant of one of the large motor ships cruising the Mediterranean Sea. There she met the Danes Rene Dif, who later invited the girl to participate in his group called Aqua.
Fateful meeting
Rene Dif, the future colleague of Lena Nyustrem in the group, in childhood did not differ in exemplary behavior. He also did not like studying at school, and he was expelled several times for poor progress. Having left the walls of the hated institution, he changed several jobs before being on the same boat as the person being studied.
"Aqua"
In addition to Lena Nyustrem (photos of the singer are presented in the article) and Difa, the group included two more members: Seren Rasted and Klaus Norrin. Interestingly, before joining the singer, the team has existed for several years. It was formed in 1989. A team of three guys even managed to win a music contest for a Danish children's film called Brave Frida and Fearless Spies.
The popularity of this picture did not spread beyond the country where it was shot. Nevertheless, the band members gained valuable experience in writing musical compositions and became professionals in their field.
Another interesting fact from the biography of Lena Nyustrem is the history of the name of the collective, participation in which made her famous throughout the world. The original team was named Joyspeed. When the heroine of this article joined the guys, it was decided to change it to a more concise and bright - "Aqua".
The members of the group themselves say that they came to this idea after seeing this word written on the aquarium.
Style
Remembering his childhood, which happened in the seventies of the twentieth century, Lena Nyustrem and other participants of Aqua spoke with enthusiasm about music for teenagers that existed then. The bubblegum pop genre, focused mainly on youth audiences, was quite popular at that time. Usually such music was rhythmic. Songs were created at an accelerated pace, and their production was "put on the conveyor."
But sometimes such a purely commercial approach gave excellent results. Among the most popular bubblegum performers are the following groups: 1910 Fruit Gum Company, The Lemon Pipers, The Ohio Express and The Archies. The second round of popularity of this style came at the end of the seventies, when it was mixed with the disco that appeared then. But by the beginning of the next decade, music for teenagers was almost disappearing from the shelves of record stores.
The revival of the genre
Members of the Danish-Norwegian team remembered the undeservedly forgotten style. In their work, he acquired a new, fresh sound, mixed with the new-fangled Eurodens.
Barbie Song
The main focus of the group was on the release of singles, since this is the format that is best perceived by children and adolescents. The team was very successful in this. “Aqua” was included in the Guinness Book of Records as the only collective whose first three songs were in the first places of the hit parade.
An unexpected incident happened with the debut single Barbie girl. The creator of the famous toy did not like the text of the song performed by Lena Nyustrem. He sued the authors of the work. However, experts considered the lyrics to be ironic, containing an element of parody. And since freedom of speech is a universally recognized value in Europe and America and is protected by law, the creator of Barbie was denied the claim.
In addition to singles, the group released two albums. In 2001, she broke up.
Solo album
In 2003, Lena Nyustrem released her only solo disc to date. The songs presented on it are designed in the styles of Eurodens and disco.
Reunion
In the fall of 2007, the team members decided to revive the group. In the summer of next year, they toured with great success in Denmark. A few months later, the single Back to the 80th was recorded. This was followed by a new, third in a row, Megalomania album.
Personal life
Lena Nyustrem and Seren Rasted (one of the participants in Aqua) got married in 2001. Two children were born in this marriage. But in 2017, the couple divorced.
Fans of the Aqua group hope that the drama in the personal lives of the participants will not affect the work of the team. However, the photo of Lena Nyustrem now (above) proves that she is beautiful, fresh, full of strength and will certainly please us with her creative successes.