JOEY TEMPEST
Joey Tempest was born in Stockholm, Sweden, August 19, 1963. Tempest is a vocalist and main songwriter of the band Europe and has penned such hits as “The Final Countdown,” “Rock the Night,” and “Superstitious”. Learning to play piano and guitar at the age of eight after hearing David Bowie and Elton John on the radio he went on to admire bands like Thin Lizzy and Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple. During his teens, he played in a number of local bands outside Stockholm such as Made in Hong Kong and Roxanne and Blazer. At that time, he alternated between playing rhythm guitar and bass, in addition to lead vocals.
In 1979 he formed the band Force, together with guitarist John Norum, drummer Tony Reno and bassist Peter Olsson. Three years later, Force changed its name to Europe and won the national talent contest Rock-SM. The reward was a record contract with Hot Records. Tempest played the keyboards on the first two albums before the band decided to recruit keyboardist Mic Michaeli in April 1984 together with new drummer Ian Haugland. A couple of years earlier, Tempest had borrowed a keyboard from Michaeli and used it to compose the main keyboard riff of the song “The Final Countdown.” After a jam session in 1985, Michaeli and Tempest co-wrote the ballad “Carrie.” Later that year, Tempest wrote the soundtrack for the Swedish film “On the Loose,” as well as the song “Give A Helping Hand” for the benefit project Swedish Metal Aid. The song was produced by future bandmate Kee Marcello. In 1986 Tempest wrote and produced the album One of a Kind for Tone Norum, John Norum’s younger sister. Tempest also collaborated with John Norum on the single “We Will Be Strong” from Norum’s album Face the Truth in 1992. After Europe went on hiatus in 1992, Tempest released three solo albums. The first album, A Place to Call Home featured a guest appearance from John Norum on the song “Right to Respect.” The second album Azalea Place recorded on the outskirts of Nashville. Several songs on the third album, “Joey Tempest,” were co-written by Mic Michaeli. 2004 saw the comeback and release of Europe’s Start from the Dark, featuring the band’s classic Final Countdown line-up with John Norum on guitar. The follow-up, Secret Society, was released in 2006, and Last Look at Eden in 2009. By 2017 Tempest and Europe have released a further three albums – Bag Of Bones in 2012, War Of Kings in 2015 and their latest album Walk The Earth, recorded at legendary Abbey Road Studios In 2017.
2023 will see the official Europe Documentary and a 40th anniversary tour together with new music.
Tempest, since many years resides in London, UK with his wife Lisa and their two sons.