Ace of Base’s Jonas Berggren doesn’t mind telling you that the band’s road to pop superstardom wasn’t exactly smooth. It’s been 25 years since The Sign (or Happy Nation, depending on where you lived) made them household names with that signature reggae-pop fusion. The funny part? Reggae wasn’t even the plan. “We shared rehearsal space with a reggae band and helped produce some of their tracks because we had the gear,” Jonas recalls. “One of those songs became ‘All That She Wants.’” So there you go—Swedish pop royalty birthed from borrowed beats and good timing.
Of course, success didn’t come without some weird baggage. The band’s discography reads like a trivia question: Happy Nation became The Sign in the U.S., and Flowers was retitled Cruel Summer stateside. Why? Because the label thought some titles were too… European. “One song, ‘Whistle Down the Wind,’ got nixed because Clive Davis thought it was bad English,” Jonas says, still sounding a little annoyed. “Two years later, Andrew Lloyd Webber did a whole musical called Whistle Down the Wind. Go figure.”
Despite racking up hits like they were going out of style, the pressure to sound American never really let up. The band couldn’t even agree on who should sing what, and record execs had their own opinions. Jonas felt it more than most: “I had heartburn for six years because of it,” he admits. “The label wanted Linn to sing, but she didn’t want to. They told me to just do the music and let the girls sing, but it didn’t sit right.”
And while you might think nostalgia would have the band talking reunion plans, it turns out that’s about as likely as Linn fronting a solo album. “People always ask where Linn is. She’s in Gothenburg. Has a family. Writes a song every two weeks or so,” Jonas laughs. “We’ve talked about doing something, maybe using samples of the old songs to build something new. But a full reunion? Not happening.”
Even Jonas can’t help but feel a little wistful about what could have been. Katy Perry and Lady Gaga have cited Ace of Base as an influence, but no one’s calling for collabs. “It’d be great to do a remix project,” he muses, “or hear some of those artists cover our stuff. But we’re not holding our breath.”
Ace of Base might be done as a band, but the songs are eternal. From The Sign to Cruel Summer, they keep popping up like surprise hits from the past—a little weird, a little out of place, but undeniably catchy. And hey, at least Jonas still has his sense of humor about it all.
Listen to the interview above and then check out the videos below.
