ROXETTE songwriter Per Gessle is bringing the music of his Swedish pop-rock duo back to the Hunter Valley in 2025.
The Joyride, It Must Have Been Love, The Look and Dressed For Success hit-makers will return to Bimbadgen on March 15 next year to play A Day On The Green with Jon Stevens and Boom Crash Opera.
The last time Roxette visited Australia and played Bimbadgen was in February 2015, a year before the duo retired from touring due to late frontwoman Marie Fredriksson's deteriorating health.
Fredriksson died in 2019 aged 61 after a long battle with a brain tumour.
On this upcoming Australian tour Gessle will be joined by Swedish vocalist Lena Philipsson, who is relatively unknown internationally, but is a famous singer and media personality in her home country.
"I've been thinking many years about what to do with the catalogue of Roxette songs," Gessle told the Newcastle Herald from Stockholm.
"I was making a Swedish album with lots of duets and on one song Lena was working with me and we just clicked. I started to think maybe she is the one.
"She's a great singer, a great performer and I've known her since the '80s."
During the late '80s and early '90s Gessle and Fredriksson became global pop stars through a series of hit albums including Look Sharp (1989), Joyride (1991), Tourism (1992) and Boom! Crash! Bang! (1994).
The singles The Look, It Must Have Been Love and Joyride all topped the Australian charts and Fredriksson's short platinum blonde hair become synonymous with early '90s fashion.
"You can't really replace Marie in all she is and what she gave Roxette and this is not about that," Gessle said.
"It's more about keeping the legacy of the songs alive."
Tickets are on sale for Roxette's Australian tour on May 10.
