Aspen Lind

Espen Lind (born May 13, 1971 in Oslo ) is a Norwegian singer , songwriter and producer .

Life

Lind was born the son of a violinist in Oslo. His mother introduced him to music from an early age. At the age of seven he received piano lessons. At 16, Lind worked in a recording studio in Oslo and was given the opportunity to record his own songs at an early age. He taught himself to play the guitar and drums and at 17 attended a music college to study composition and arrangement. Lind went to Los Angeles in 1994 in hopes of a record deal. As this venture proved unsuccessful, Lind recorded a single in 1995, which he sent to Doug Morris , the (then) chairman of the board of the Universal Music record company . He was signed immediately after an interview.

Career

Espen Lind during a concert

Espen Lind released his first solo album Mmm ... Prepare To Be Swayed in 1995 on the record label MCA Norway under the stage name Sway . It was only released in Norway and sold 5000 times there, but got good reviews. Lind was praised for his songwriting qualities as well as for the fact that he played every instrument himself during the recording. Lind became known outside of Norway in 1997 with his song When Susannah Cries . In the video he was seen together with the Baywatch actress Angelica Bridges . The song was taken from his second album Red , which he released once under his pseudonym and once again as Espen Lind. The song was a top 5 hit in various European and Latin American countries, including Norway, where the song stayed at number 1 for six weeks. It was also the most played song on Norwegian radio in 1997. Red sold more than 100,000 copies in Norway alone, and over 600,000 copies worldwide. Lind was awarded three Spellemann prizes (the Norwegian Grammy) a. a. awarded in the category Artist of the Year .

In 2000, Lind released his third album This Is Pop Music and the singles Black Sunday and Life Is Good that were extracted from it . The album also featured a duet Where The Lost Ones Go with the Norwegian singer Sissel Kyrkjebø . The album was awarded gold in Norway, but was viewed overall as a disappointment to its predecessors. After a four-year hiatus, during which he wrote for other artists, Lind released a new single Unloved in December 2004 , with which he again had a number 1 hit in Norway, and a short time later his fourth album April .

In 2006 he released an album with the young Norwegian artists Kurt Nilsen , Askil Holm and Alejandro Fuentes called Hallelujah Live , which has only been released in Norway so far. Parallel to this live album there was a live DVD with the same title. Number 1 on the Norwegian hit list was also safe for them with the single Hallelujah .

In May 2008 his new single Scared of Heights was released , which again reached number 1 in the charts in Norway. His fifth solo album Army of One , which was released shortly afterwards , also reached the top of the Norwegian album charts.

Writer and producer

Espen Lind is also very successful as a songwriter and producer. One of the most famous pieces is Irreplaceable by Beyoncé , on which he was co-author. The single was at the top of the US charts for 10 weeks. Together with his partner Amund Bjørklund, he also wrote and produced songs for Jessica Simpson , Elliott Yamin and Take-That singer Mark Owen, as well as for several Norwegian artists. In 2012 another great success came for him as a music author: the song Drive By by Train . Also in 2012 Morten Harket covered the song Scared of Heights from Lind's album Army of One and landed at number 1 on the Norwegian singles charts.

Discography

Albums

Studio albums

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)				Remarks
year	title	DE	AT	CH	NO	Remarks
1997	Red	DE10 (19 weeks) DE	AT25 (9 weeks) AT	CH15 (14 weeks) CH	NO3 (30 weeks) NO	First published: 1997
2000	This is pop music	-	-	-	NO3 (9 weeks) NO	First published: 2000
2005	April	-	-	-	NO3 (9 weeks) NO	First published: March 1, 2005
2008	Army of One	-	-	-	NO1 (15 weeks) NO	First published: June 23, 2008
2019	Til all tider Ingebjørg Bratland & Espen Lind	-	-	-	NO39 (1 week) NO	First published: February 22, 2019

Live albums

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)				Remarks
year	title	DE	AT	CH	NO	Remarks
2006	Hallelujah - Live	-	-	-	NO1 (37 weeks) NO	with Kurt Nilsen , Askil Holm & Alejandro Fuentes First published: June 12, 2006
2009	Hallelujah - Live (Volume 2)	-	-	-	NO1 × 2 Double platinum (15 weeks)NO	with Kurt Nilsen , Askil Holm & Alejandro Fuentes First publication: 2009

Singles

Chart placements

year	Title album	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)				Remarks
year	Title album	DE	AT	CH	NO	Remarks
1995	Yum Yum Gimme Some	-	-	-	NO17 (4 weeks) NO	First published as Sway : 1995
1997	When Susannah Cries Red	DE9 (20 weeks) DE	AT10 (13 weeks) AT	CH5 (19 weeks) CH	NO1 (20 weeks) NO	First published: 1997
1998	Lucky for You Red	DE82 (9 weeks) DE	-	-	-	First published: 1997
2000	Black Sunday This Is Pop Music	-	-	-	NO4 (6 weeks) NO	First published: 2000
2002	Life Is Good This Is Pop Music	DE99 (1 week) DE	-	-	-	First published: 2000
2005	Unloved April	-	-	-	NO1 (13 weeks) NO	First published: 2004
2006	Hallelujah Hallelujah - Live	-	-	-	NO1 (37 weeks) NO	with Kurt Nilsen , Askil Holm & Alejandro Fuentes First publication: 2006
2006	Boys of Summer Hallelujah - Live	-	-	-	NO12 (6 weeks) NO	with Kurt Nilsen , Askil Holm & Alejandro Fuentes First publication: 2006
2008	Scared of Heights Army of One	-	-	-	NO1 (21 weeks) NO	First published: 2008
2009	With or Without You Hallelujah - Live (Volume 2)	-	-	-	NO1 (5 weeks) NO	with Kurt Nilsen , Askil Holm & Alejandro Fuentes First publication: 2009

More singles

1997: Baby You're So Cool
1998: It's a Damn Shame About You
2001: Where the Lost Ones Go (with Sissel Kyrkjebø )
2005: Look like Her
2005: Million Miles Away
2008: Sweet Love

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b ^c Chart sources: DE AT CH NO
↑ Awards for music sales: IFPI Norske platebransje. IFPI Norway , archived from the original on November 5, 2012 ; Retrieved March 2, 2017 (Norwegian).

Web links

personal data
SURNAME	Lind, aspens
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Norwegian singer, songwriter and producer
DATE OF BIRTH	May 13, 1971
PLACE OF BIRTH	Oslo

[charts-1] Chart sources: DE AT CH NO

[ausz-2] Awards for music sales: IFPI Norske platebransje. IFPI Norway , archived from the original on November 5, 2012 ; Retrieved March 2, 2017 (Norwegian).