John Norum

John Terry Norum (born 23 February 1964 in Vardø, Norway) is a Norwegian/Swedish[2] rock guitarist and one of the founders of the Swedish rock band Europe. As an infant, he moved with his parents to Upplands Väsby (a Stockholm's suburb) in Sweden, where he grew up and has spent most of his life. Concurrent to his role with Europe, he also maintains a career as a solo artist.

John Norum
Norum performing in 2009
Background information
Birth nameJohn Terry Norum
Born (1964-02-23) 23 February 1964
Vardø, Norway
GenresHeavy metal, hard rock, blues rock, glam metal[1]
Occupation(s)Musician, songwriter
InstrumentsGuitar, vocals
Years active1978–present
Associated actsEurope, Dokken
Websitewww.johnnorum.se

Career

During his career in music, Norum has played with Eddie Meduza & the Roaring Cadillacs, Dokken, Don Dokken's solo band, as well as collaborated with other well-known artists on his solo albums, including Glenn Hughes, Kelly Keeling, Peter Baltes, Simon Wright and Göran Edman. His influences include Gary Moore, Michael Schenker, Frank Marino and Ritchie Blackmore.[3][4]

In 1978 John Norum formed Force, which was Europe's first name, with vocalist Joey Tempest. Europe participated in and won the "Rock Sm", Swedish championship of rock, broadcast on television in 1982, with Norum being voted best guitarist and Joey best vocalist. The championship prize was the recording of a studio album by a small Swedish label.

The album 'Europe' was released in February 1983 and became a hit in the band's home country and in Japan. In February 1984 Wings of Tomorrow, the band's next album was released, and the band started to become very popular on the Swedish scene, touring throughout the country, and also gaining recognition in Japan.

The band signed to Epic Records in 1985 and recorded the album The Final Countdown at the end of the year. In May 1986, "The Final Countdown" was released, and quickly achieved success in several European countries, Japan, United States . A series of disagreements between Norum and the band's manager Thomas Erdtman began to occur even before the tour began, which led the guitarist to decide to leave the band in October 1986.

After having left Europe, Norum signed a solo contract for 3 studio albums with Europe's label. His solo debut,"Total Control", was released in October 1987 . Norum sang on almost all of the songs, while Goran Edman sang on the other three. The album was successful in Sweden, getting to #4 in the Swedish charts and gaining platinum status (the single "Let Me Love You" also went to #4 in the Swedish charts; the ballad "Back On The Streets" to #34 Billboard Us Rock). Norum won all the music awards of the year in the country in 1988. The band toured Sweden. Their last show took place at the Hammersmith Odeon in London, England in late 1988.

John Norum's talent, evident on albums with Europe and his first solo album, sparked the interest of vocalist Don Dokken of the American band Dokken , who split up in 1988. "Up From The Ashes" came out as Don Dokken's 1990 album, and they went on tour in 1991. In 1990 Norum released a mini E.P. live, recorded in 1988, "Live In Stockholm".

In 1992, the album "Face The Truth" was released. The album was a project with former Deep Purple Glenn Hughes, with Glenn singing practically all of the songs. Joey Tempest also guested on the album.

In 1995, the album "Another Destination" was released, being his last release for Epic Records. He toured behind the album in Sweden with new vocalist, Kelly Keeling. Keeling was also the album's vocalist. In December 1996, another album, "Worlds Away" released (with Keeling singing), through a new record company, Mascot Records. The following year, a show in Japan was recorded (with new singer, Leif Sundin), which was released as the "Face It Live" album. At the end of 1997 John Norum performed 15 shows with Dokken in the United States, replacing George Lynch who had once again left the band.

In 1999 Norum released his last solo album before his return to Europe, "Slipped Into Tomorrow", with him on vocals. He went on tour in Scandinavia, with Thin Lizzy guitar player Brian Robertson playing songs of that band.

At the turn of the millennium, John Norum participated in Europe's inaugural concert for Swedish TV, playing with the band again after 14 years of absence. He again joined the band that same year, this time at the Hard Rock Cafe in Stockholm, to play Rock The Night.

In 2001 Norum joined Dokken as an official member. They toured the United States in 2001 and in 2002 released the "Long Way Home" album. During the Europe tour, not satisfied with Don Dokken temperament, he decided to leave the band. In 2003 Europe announced its official return, with Norum officially returning to the band, having not been a member for 17 years. He refused an offer by UFO before rejoining Europe (Norum had already rejected an offer from UFO in 1996, plus Michael Schenker who had left, upon learning of the offer made to Norum, returned to the band).

Since 2004, Europe has released 6 further studio albums, while Norum released a further sixth and seventh solo album, "Optimus" in 2005, and "Play Yard Blues" in 2010, singing on both albums. A new solo album was slated to be released in 2019, more focused musically on Europe's bluesy style of rock, but so far hasn't been given a release date.

Personal life

Norum started and developed his musical career in Sweden, but has also lived in the United States for a few years, where he met and married Michelle Meldrum in 1995, founder and lead guitarist of the all-female hard rock band Phantom Blue and the Swedish metal band Meldrum.[5] The couple had one son, Jake Thomas, born on 22 September 2004. On 21 May 2008, Michelle died from a cystic growth in her brain.[5] Another son, Jim Henry, was born on 16 April 2012, to him and his Swedish fiancée Camilla Wåhlander. The couple also had a daughter, Celine Margareta, born on 28 July 2014.[5][6]

Norum is the older brother of singer Tone Norum.[5] and his stepfather is Thomas Witt,[7] a former record producer, Columbia executive and drummer for Eddie Meduza[8][9]

Equipment
Norum performing with Europe in Festivalna hall, Sofia 2011.

His guitar goes through the Wah into the chorus pedal, from where the separate outputs connect to the two amp heads, with the delay connected in the effects loop of the JCM 800 only.[10]

Discography
Main article: John Norum discography

Filmography

Bibliography
  • Tegnér A., Johansson, M. Europe - den stora rockdrömmen, Wiken, 1987, ISBN 91-7024-408-1
  • John Norum. En biografi ver en Svensk gitarrhjalte, Sony Music Ent. Sweden, 1992. Contained into the Swedish special edition of "Face the Truth" album.
  • Bevilacqua F., John Norum's biography, 2010, last update December 2012
  • Bevilacqua F., John Norum's discography, 2012, last update April 2012
  • Stern M., Europe Biography, Agosto 2006
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gollark: "Ruin"?!
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gollark: Not quite the same.

References
  1. "Allmusic". Allmusic. Retrieved 24 June 2008.
  2. "JOHN NORUM OFFICIAL WEBSITE". johnnorum.se. johnnorum.se. Retrieved April 22, 2018.
  3. "Europe's John Norum: my top 6 tips for guitarists". MusicRadar. October 24, 2017. Retrieved October 10, 2018.
  4. "EUROPE - "Originality is important" - "Walk the Earth" Interview with JOHN NORUM - GuitarMania". GuitarMania. January 6, 2018. Retrieved October 10, 2018.
  5. Bevilacqua, Francesca. "Biography". johnnorum.se. Retrieved December 30, 2012.
  6. Nilsson, Christoffer (2014-07-30). "Dubbel bebislycka för Europe" [Double baby happiness for Europe]. aftonbladet.se. Retrieved 2016-08-17.
  7. "John Norum official BIOGRAPHY". Retrieved 2016-08-17.
  8. "John NORUM's DISCOGRAPHY: his works with Eddie MEDUZA & The ROARING CADILLACS". www.norumaniacs.com. Retrieved 2016-08-17.
  9. Wibacke - Berger, Mia (2014-03-04). "Witt lever för sin musik i Sundbyberg". Magasin Sundbyberg. Archived from the original on 2014-03-04.
  10. "John Norum GEAR". Retrieved 2016-08-17.
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