“People think it’s a power ballad, but it isn’t. The production is sparse. It doesn’t need power chords or big orchestrations: all the power is in Marie’s voice”: Roxette’s It Must Have Been Love isn’t what you thought it was, says the man who wrote it

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM - OCTOBER 19: Marie Fredriksson and Per Gessle of Roxette perform on stage on the 'Join The Joyride' tour at Wembley Arena on October 19th, 1991 in London, England. (Photo by Pete Still/Redferns).

For 35 years, we’ve been labouring under the misapprehension that Roxette’s It Must Have Been Love is the archetypal power ballad, says the man who wrote it.

Discussing the making of the song with The Guardian, Per Gessle - one half of Roxette alongside the late Marie Fredriksson - says: “People think it’s a power ballad, but it isn’t. The production is sparse. It doesn’t need power chords or big orchestrations: all the power is in Marie’s voice.”