Army of Lovers

Championing a campy aesthetic with on-stage theatrics and bundles of dance-pop energy, Army of Lovers formed in Stockholm in 1987 and scored several Eurochart hits in the early '90s. The group's founding members – Alexander Bard, Jean-Pierre Barda, and Camilla Henemark (aka La Camilla – rose from the ashes of their previous group Barbie, with Alexander Bard steering Army of Lovers towards success with their debut 1990 album Disco Extravaganza, which spawned a top 10 European hit in "Ride the Bullet". They fared even better with their second LP, 1991's Massive Luxury Overdose, securing some of their most career-defining hits, including "Obsession" and "Crucified," which went to number one in 29 countries. Camilla Henmark left the band that year and was replaced by Dominika Peczynski, who stepped up for the group's third album The Gods of Earth and Heaven, which was released in 1993 and contained the controversial top 10 single "Israelism". Another full-length followed, Glory, Glamour and Gold, in 1994 before the group split up a few years later. They reunited momentarily in 2001 to mark the 10th anniversary of their breakthrough with the release of another best-of compilation, Le Grand Docu-Soap, which featured three covers, including "Let the Sunshine In" and "Hands Up". They reformed again in 2012 to enter Melodifestivalen 2013 with the song "Rockin' the Ride", in the hope of representing Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 in Malmö, although failed to get through. The band still perform live occasionally.