Often regarded as the quintessential Swedish dansband, Vikingarna formed in 1958 and rapidly became one of the best-selling artists in Scandinavia. Born from the ashes of skiffle band Ji-Coo and the Vikings, the group went through several lineup changes before their big breakthrough in 1974 with “Du gav bara löften,” their first Number 1 hit. That same year, their album Kramgoa Låtar 1 went gold in Sweden and obtained silver certification in Norway. In 1977, vocalist Stefan Borsch decided to quit the band and was replaced by Christer Sjögren, who would front the band during the next few decades. In the following years, Vikingarna continued to record albums at a prolific rate, releasing one a year between 1979 and 1992. After a three-year hiatus in which all band members focused on their solo projects, Vikingarna returned in 1995 with Kramgoa Låtar 1995, achieving platinum certification in both Sweden and Norway only two weeks after its release. However, tragedy ensued as drummer Anders Erixon died suddenly in 1997 at the age of 53, right before the band released the album Kramgoa Låtar 1997. The band soldiered on and the early aughts found them crossing over into the German-speaking market with the single “Tanz mit mir/Vikinger” (2001), which enjoyed great popularity in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. Following guitarist Lasse Westmann’s death in 2004, the band played its final show in their hometown of Arvika on July 3, 2004, with a record-breaking attendance of 7,000 people. Subsequently, Vikingarna reunited for a one-time performance on the Swedish TV show Tack för dansen in 2016 and reformed as Nya Vikingarna with Kenneth Wahlberg as lead singer.
