Lene Marlin

Biography

Lene Marlin Pedersen was born on August 17, 1980, in Norway. Her interest in music first became apparent when she threw a tantrum in a music store after she was forced to relinquish a guitar. She would have to wait thirteen years before owning one herself.

Lene Marlin took to the instrument in an instant and began to compose her own songs, recording them at home for further refinement. In 1997, Marlin was invited by a local radio station to record a song at a real studio. The rest reads like a fairy tale as a scout at Virgin Records discovered the modest demo after it changed hands several times. Three weeks later the teenager was offered a record deal and her life has not been the same since.

unforgivably unforgettable

Lene released her first single, "Unforgivable Sinner" in Norway, in 1998. It soon became the fastest selling single in the history of the country, as it held the number one position for eight weeks. The next single, "Sitting Down Here" was a smash as well. The buildup towards the release of her album was unprecedented in Norwegian music.

When Playing My Game became available in record stores, it sold an astonishing 50,000 units in three days. In a nation with 4.4 million citizens, the latter is an impressive statistic.

fame's the name of this game

Lene Marlin achieved even more success in 1999, when her album was released across Europe and Japan. By year-end, she had sold 1.5 million albums. Lene swept every major award at the Norwegian version of the Grammy Awards that year and was granted a Best Nordic Act honor at the MTV Europe Awards in Dublin.

Ultimately, Virgin Music decided not to release Playing My Game in the United States, despite the current popularity of young female singer-songwriters. With another album due out sometime in 2002, it is just a matter of time before Lene Marlin breaks through and conquers a more global market.