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Lene Marlin
Lene Marlin (last name Pedersen) was born on August 17th 1980 in Tromsø, a
city in the far north of Norway, inside the Arctic Polar Circle. Her
passion
for music was born together with her, in fact her parents say that when she
was 2 she cried because she had to leave a guitar in a music shop. When she
was 15, Lene had a really big Christmas gift: the guitar (a Takamine, model
EF-2SBL) that she started to play. At the same time, in her room, during
the
long and dark Scandinavian winters, she started to write her songs, that
she
used to sing to her brother Rune (5 years older than Lene) and to friends,
she also recorded her songs on a tape recorder. Lene's friends noticed
her talent and gave her a surprise in summer 1997, when they got in touch
with a NRK journalist (NRK is the main radio/tv station in Norway). Lene
had
the opportunity to record two songs as a demo in the NRK Tromsø radio
station; it was just a game for her, she didn't expect the success at all!
Luckily, Lene came back home with the journalist who discovered her and he
said that he had a friend in Virgin and could make him listen to the tape
she had
just recorded. Everything went well, and they asked to Lene to do a full
demo. Lene did it very well, singing 15 songs (written by herself) in two
and half hours. Virgin bosses were pleased with her performance, so Lene's
contract was ready; Lene's big passion became a job: her dream, to have
a recording contract was fulfilled.
At 18 Lene started to record her
songs at Virgin studios in Oslo, and at the same time she finished High
School in Tromsø. She had a really tiring life, and every day she had to
take a plane
from Tromsø to Oslo, as well as having to study like a normal girl to get
her
school leaving certificate, that she eventually got with the mark 5 out of
6. She managed
to balance school and job engagements, and she was awarded of the
Karolineprisen, and that's just the first award of her life!
 The Unforgivable Sinner single was released in Norway in 1998, and had
massive
success, staying at number 1 in the charts for 8 weeks, and becoming the
biggest selling single ever in Norway. Sitting Down Here was next and had
similar
results. The release of the album Playing My Game exceeded all records and
sold
50.000 copies in the first 3 days, which was a massive amount, considering
that the
Norwegian population is only about 4 million people. Sales were very very
good,
so Virgin decided to try and compete in the European market.
Lene gained many awards in her home country, and her cd was released in
Japan and Europe, having big success mainly in Italy, where the album
stayed in the charts for 1 whole year.
In 2000 her success continued in England, with Sitting Down Here; in Italy
she performed at the popular Sanremo festival, then she went away from the
spotlight, taking some time off to rest. Lene has a 5 album contract with
Virgin.
Lene's comeback on the limelight happened in July 2003, with the song "You Weren't There". The single broke the charts in September the same year, the day Lene was in Milan to present her new album "Another Day" to the fans who gathered in the Feltrinelli store. "Another Day" is also the name of the second single, which was released in February 2004, and in June 2004 the third single "Sorry" is out in stores, only in Italy.
Lene is rather different from the other stars of international music. She
doesn't like to show herself, she is shy during interviews, and she is
amazed by the interest that people have in her. She's a simple girl,
doesn't have "diva" manners and that's one of the reasons why people like
her. She is really fond of her family and friends, who are really
important for Lene; she likes to have fun with them and have parties. After Stian Barsnes Simonsen, popular actor from TV serial "Hotel Cæsar", Lene has been engaged for a shorter period with Andreas Benneche, a young student, though she always tries to keep her private life as reserved as possible. The meaning of Lene's lyrics
hasn't
been revealed by Lene, in fact she says that no one, not even her closest
friends, know about these; the inspiration comes from her own experiences,
friends, or something that happens in the world. More passions of Lene:
Playstation (Tekken 3 and Driver are her favourite games!), McDonalds,
pizza.
Sport: when she was younger, Lene played many sports, particularly Tai Kwan
Do ("I'm little and have to defend myself!"), football, volleyball and
table tennis. Favourite movie: Face Off. She likes to listen to music, like
Alanis Morrisette, Radiohead, Verve, U2... her favourite song from her
debut
album is Playing My Game (but she won't say why!). Clothes: she
doesn't wear bright colours, "because I'm shy and just wanna hide". Lene
bought a new house in Oslo, in one of the wealthy districts in the city,
but when she can, she visits her relatives and friends in Tromsø.
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First name:
Lene Marlin
Last name:
Pedersen
Born:
17/08/80
City:
Tromsø
Country:
Norway
Height:
160cm
Hair:
blond
Eyes:
green
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