“I took inspiration from Iron Maiden’sRun To The Hills. And for the lyric, the story of the last days on Earth, I went back to David Bowie’sSpace Oddity”: A rock band’s global No.1 hit – before grunge turned their world upside down

Joey Tempest.

In 1986, Joey Tempest, the singer for Swedish rock band Europe, was riding the crest of a wave as his song, The Final Countdown, shot to No.1 in 25 countries. But just a few years later his band had split and a new rock hero, Kurt Cobain, had scrawled the taunting message: “Who the fuck is Joey Tempest?”

It was in 1979 that Tempest formed his first band, Force, with guitarist John Norum in their hometown of Upplands Väsby. The band was then renamed Europe in tribute to Deep Purple’s classic live album Made In Europe.