1s such as “The Look,” and takes a smoother approach rooted in slick ’80s Top 40 songs, which favored shiny synths and echoing drums. But “It Must Have Been Love” was also an outlier for the band: The song tones down Gessle’s scorching electric guitars, which were prominent on previous No. The popularity of power ballads goes a long way towards explaining Roxette’s period of dominance in the late ’80s and early ’90s, of course. 10 with a bullet, while that week’s power picks for sales (Aerosmith’s country-rock sprawl “What It Takes”) and airplay (Heart’s roaring epic “All I Wanna Do Is Make Love to You”) skewed maximalist. Not to be outdone, “Forever” by KISS - the band’s last top 40 hit to date - was No. 9 and would top the Hot 100 a few weeks later. 1 with the sinewy “Black Velvet,” while Sinead O’Connor’s stunning “Nothing Compares 2 U” had reached No. A deep dive into the Hot 100 the week that “It Must Have Been Love” debuted revealed how thoroughly power ballads reigned supreme on the pop charts in 1990. 67.īut in addition to chart momentum, Roxette had two other big advantages on their side with “It Must Have Been Love”: timing and trends. 36) the week of April 7, 1990, when “It Must Have Been Love” debuted on the Hot 100 at No. 1 only by Janet Jackson’s “Escapade.” In fact, “Dangerous” was still in the top 40 (at No. 2 just a few months earlier, in March 1990 - prevented from hitting No. popularity at the time thanks to the long-tail success of 1988’s Look Sharp! In 1989, Roxette had two chart-topping hits culled from the album (“The Look” and “Listen to Your Heart”), while “Dangerous” had peaked at No. (The song had a two-week run.) Still, the success was no surprise, as the duo were at the height of their U.S. 1 on June 16, 1990, in its eleventh week on the Hot 100, and ended up as the only Roxette chart-topper to spend more than one week at the peak. And after the bridge, Fredriksson belts out these same lyrics in a bolder tone and a higher range-her voice spiking with grief and catharsis as she exclaims, “It was all that I wanted/Now I’m living without.” Accordingly, these underlying harmony voices also grow louder, contributing their observations (“It’s over now,” “It must have been love”) as if they were an inner monologue. But starting with the second chorus, the song’s intricate arrangements come into play, as additional countermelodies add depth to her singing. Fredriksson sounds melancholy again in the first chorus, as she sings these lines alone. 10) at 61, then elevates these sentiments with a transcendent vocal performance that strikes the perfect balance of melodrama and restraint.Īt the beginning of the song, she and Gessle sing the core repeating lyrics (“It must have been love, but it’s over now”) together, using low, resigned voices.
Vocalist Marie Fredriksson, who died Tuesday (Dec. Written by guitarist Per Gessle, who penned music and lyrics for Roxette’s biggest hits, “It Must Have Been Love” pairs evocative imagery (“But in and outside, I turn to water/ Like a teardrop in your palm”) with straightforward observations (“It must have been good/ But I lost it somehow”). Despite this common premise, however, the song achieves greatness by confronting its emotional pain with grace and bravery. 1: “The Look” (1989) | “Listen to Your Heart” (1989) | “Joyride” (1991)Īs the title implies, “It Must Have Been Love” is about coming to terms with a relationship ending. 1 comes from the triple-Platinum-certified soundtrack to the Julia Roberts film Pretty Woman, is heard in a pivotal emotional moment near the end of the movie.įorever No.
That’s no accident: The Swedish pop band’s melancholy third Hot 100 No.
Here, we honor the late Marie Fredriksson of Roxette by diving into the third of the Swedish duo’s four Hot 100 toppers, the soaring soundtrack single “It Must Have Been Love.”Īlthough released in spring 1990, Roxette‘s “It Must Have Been Love” is a heart-cracking power ballad that’s a throwback to the over-the-top movie soundtrack songs most popular in the 1980s - tunes like Berlin’s Top Gun smash “Take My Breath Away,” or “Almost Paradise,” the romantic Mike Reno and Ann Wilson duet from Footloose. 1 single - by taking an extended look back at the chart-topping songs that made them part of this exclusive club.
1 is a Billboard series that pays special tribute to the recently deceased artists who achieved the highest honor our charts have to offer - a Billboard Hot 100 No.