THE JOYRIDE IS OVER FOR ROXETTE'S MARIE

The much-loved Swedish singer says her final farewell after a 17-year battle with cancer

-  KIM ABRAHAMS

SHE was one of the fiercest women in pop: a skinny, spiky-haired dynamo with a powerhouse voice and a magnetic presence that lit up the stage.

And it was with that same fierceness that Roxette’s Marie Fredriksson fought a 17-year battle against an illness that eventually claimed her life.

Even though brain cancer robbed her of her sight in one eye and left her so weak she’d have to sit down to sing, Marie (61) fought to the end with a courage that earned her the respect of millions.

The Swedish pop duo of Marie and Per Gessle (60) were much loved in South Africa and played in the country several times. They even performed their last concert in Cape Town in 2016 – Marie’s swansong to a nation that embraced their searing ballads and raunchy rock songs.

After news of her death broke, radio stations paid homage to her by playing Roxette’s timeless hits, including It Must Have Been Love, Joyride, Listen to Your Heart and Sleeping in My Car. And as fans around the world mourned her passing, one thing was certain: Marie will live on in her music.

Her health battle began in September 2002. Marie had returned from a jog with her husband, keyboardist Mikael Bolyos (now 62), and started feeling unwell. She suffered a seizure in her bathroom and knocked her head against the basin, cracking her skull in the process.

She was rushed to hospital with severe concussion and two days later an MRI scan revealed the devastating truth: she had a brain tumour.

She had a four-hour operation to remove the tumour, followed by months of gruelling chemotherapy and radiation, which saw her losing her trademark short blonde hair.

Marie didn’t mind. “I thought it was pretty neat, I looked pretty raw,” she said in a 2004 documentary. “And my hair will come back. I’ve always been short-haired so it was no big deal.”