Bo Martin Erik Erikson, better known by his stage name E-Type, is a Swedish eurodance musician. His professional name is based on the Jaguar E-Type sports car.
Biography
Early years
Erikson was born in Uppsala. His father is Bo G. Erikson, known for the science TV-show Vetenskapens Värld. His mother's name was Elisabeth and he has one sibling, a sister Erika. His mother died in 1987 from cancer. In his teens, E-Type and his family moved to Bromma, a borough in the western part of Stockholm, and he is currently living in the heart of Stockholm. He started his musical career in the 1980s as a drummer in the speed metal bandsManinnya Blade and Hexenhaus. In 1991 he met up with Stakka Bo with two singles as a result of the partnership: "We Got the Atmosphere" in 1991 and "Numania 1" in 1992. This earned E-Type a job as a VJ on ZTV. His first solo single, "I'm Falling" was released in mid-1993 but did poorly commercially.
Success
E-Type's breakthrough came in 1994 with the collaboration with the producers from Cheiron on his debut album Made in Sweden. A single from this album, "Set the World on Fire", reached gold status in Sweden, #1 on the Swedish dance chart, #2 on the Swedish sale chart, and #4 in Israel. Eventually four other singles were released from the album: the ballad "Do You Always ?", "This Is the Way" and "Russian Lullaby". "This Is the Way" reached #15 on the Billboard Club Chart in the United States and #6 on the UK Club Chart. Most of the tracks feature the female vocalist Nana Hedin, who is featured on nearly all of E-Type's albums. The album itself was released on 31 October 1994 and reached #2 on the album-chart. Over 100,000 copies were sold in Sweden and the album was listed for 26 weeks. During 1996, E-Type and the producer-team spent their time working on a second album The Explorer, which was released in Sweden on 23 October. The album sold more than 20,000 copies. His third album, Last Man Standing, was released on 27 November 1998 and went to #1 in Finland and Sweden, going double platinum and platinum respectively. The album remains E-Type's best-selling album with sales of 3 million copies worldwide and includes hit singles like "Angels Crying", "Here I Go Again" and "Princess of Egypt". E-Type recorded the official song, "Campione 2000" for the 2000 European football championship. "Campione 2000" is played every time the English football teamBolton Wanderers take to the field. In 2001, he released his new single "Life" on 12 November. The forthcoming album release, entitled Euro IV Ever, was postponed until the end of 2001 and finally released on 21 November. An album release party was held on 25 November. Max Martin, Rami and E-Type produced the album Loud Pipes Save Lives in 2004, and released it on 25 March. It's so far the last E-Type album to feature Nana Hedin on vocals. At the beginning of April, "Paradise" reached #11 in Finland and entered the Finnish Dance chart at position #28. On 14 May 2007 E-Type released a new single called "True Believer". There was also a new album in 2007, Eurotopia, released on 31 October. The album mainly features E-Type's new female vocalist, Sanne Karlsson. In the spring of 2008, E-Type appeared in Melodifestivalen 2008 and performed the song "Line of Fire" together with the rock band The Poodles. They advanced to a second chance heat, which was held in Kiruna on 8 March when they lost to Sibel. The UK record label All Around the World released "True Believer" to the UK market in late 2008, and in mid-2009, "Rain" from Loud Pipes Save Lives was unexpectedly released as a single and music video. In August 2009, a promo single and a new music video for "Life" was released, with newly shot scenes of Nana Hedin intermixed with the original 2001 video. E-Type released the single "Back 2 Life" in January 2011. "Back 2 Life" was written by E-Type & Johan "Shellback" Schuster and Savan Kotecha who wrote the lyrics. The producers are Max Martin & Shellback, Serban Ghenea who mixed the track. For gym-goers, E-Type's music has become synonymous with Les Mills International's group fitness class BodyPump. The structure, lyrical content and soaring crescendos suit well the "back track" of the class. E-Type tracks used in this context include "Africa", "Set the World on Fire", "Eurofighter", "True Believer" and "The Tide".
Vocalists
The music of E-Type follows the typical Eurodance formula of synthesizer music built up to a dance floor crescendo, accompanied by his own vocals, and a chorus sung by Nana Hedin. Hedin provided vocals for more than half of all E-Type's songs. She made her last appearance on record with E-Type on his 2004 album Loud Pipes Save Lives. In 2009 she was told by doctors that she has cancer in her tongue and she is therefore currently not performing. E-Type's 2007 album, Eurotopia, featured his new vocalist, Sanne Karlsson. Much of E-Type's success in the 1990s was built on dancer Dilnarin "Dee" Demirbag, who lip-synched to Hedin's vocals in several of E-Type's music videos such as "This is the Way", "Calling Your Name", "Angels Crying", "Here I Go Again" and "Life", and appearances on TV shows and concerts. "Dee" left the band in 2001 to pursue a solo career. However, she got back together with E-Type in December 2006 for a concert in Russia, and is still touring with the band occasionally. She also appeared in the 2007 music video for "True Believer".
Awards
E-Type participated in the Swedish Dance Music Awards in March 1995. He won three awards: Best Song, Best Artist and Newcomer. In 1999, E-Type was nominated for a Swedish Grammy in the category 'Modern Dance', along with Dr. Bombay, Richi M and Black Moses.
