NEWS

Roxette’s drummer Pelle Alsing has died, aged 60

Roxette drummer Pelle Alsing has died at the age of 60, it has been confirmed.

Guitarist and singer Per Gessle shared the news of Alsing’s death on the band’s official Twitter account earlier today (December 20).

“It is with sadness I inform u that our beloved Pelle Alsing has passed away,” Gessle wrote. “P was not only an amazing+inventive drummer helping us to create the Rox sound since Day 1, he was also the best friend u can imagine, a kind+generous man with the biggest heart beating for every1.”

He continued: “He was always the funniest to be around, the one with the biggest smile on his face, the one who supported you the most when you were in doubt. He will be truly missed so much more than words can say. All my love goes out to his wife, family and friends.”

 

Alsing played with Roxette from the 1980s into the 2010s, performing with them at concerts as well as in the studio on several albums.

Across his career, he also performed with the likes of Lisa Nilsson, Niklas Strömstedt and Ulf Lundell, as well as being a member of the band Ratata.

A cause of death has not been confirmed at the time of writing.

Alsing’s death comes a year after Roxette singer Marie Fredriksson died at the age of 61. She was confirmed to have died from complications linked to a brain tumour she had been diagnosed with in 2002.

Roxette formed in 1978 and continued performing and releasing music until 2019. They became the second most commercially successful Swedish band after Abba, scoring hits with the likes of ‘It Must Have Been Love’, ‘The Look’, and ‘Joyride’.