Norwegian musician
In 1998 came the release in Norway of her first single "Unforgivable Sinner". It proved to be a huge hit as it reached number one and kept that position for 8 weeks. It was also the fastest selling single in Norwegian music history. Her second single "Sitting Down Here" also did very well in Norway and led into the release of her album "Playing My Game" on March 22 in Norway. In only 3 days the album sold 50,000 copies, quite an accomplishment in a country with a population of 4.4 million. (To put that in perspective for those in the US, that would mean that an artist would need to sell 3.4 million in the US in 3 days to match her numbers.)
Her debut single "Unforgiveable Sinner" appeared in the Norwegian movie Schpaaa , the song was also included on the soundtrack.
Lene Marlin wrote all the songs on "Playing My Game" alone.
The album "Playing My Game" has now sold over 1,000,000 copies.
Lene won four awards (Best Pop Solo Artist, Best Single ("Sitting Down Here"), Best Newcomer and the Artist Of The Year) at the Norwegian equivalent to the Grammy awards 1999 ("Spelleman"), as well as the MTV-Europe award for Best Nordic Act in Dublin on November 11, 1999.
During 1999 her album sales have soared. Her album continues to sell well in Europe, today album sales total around 1,500,000. This is a very promising sign for Lene Marlin, her management, and Virgin Records.
Sometime during the summer of 1997, NRK (the main Norwegian TV/Radio station) in Lenes hometown, Troms, received a tip about this talented young girl who wrote and played her own songs, writing them from her room at home. The TV station invited her in to record a song. Someone who worked for NRK heard her music and told Per-Erik Johansen at Virgin Records about Lene. Three weeks later a contract had been signed and Lenes life took an interesting turn.
Her single "Where Im Headed", from the French film Mauvaises frquentations topped the charts in France and Italy.
(May 2002) Currently in the studio writing and recording her follow-up album to her 1999 debut "Playing My Game".
