40 years since Neverending Love: Roxette celebrates four decades of her story

A song that almost didn't come out

By the time Per Gessle and Marie Fredriksson sat down in the studio, the song had already had a rather adventurous journey. Per originally wrote it in Swedish, under the title "Svarta glas" ("Black Glass"), and offered it to singer Pernilla Wahlgren. But she refused. The song then traveled further – to her brother Niclas Wahlgren, who even recorded his own version. However, its release was stopped at the last minute by EMI, because Per decided to record the English version together with Maria Fredriksson. And the rest is, as they say, history.

The single "Neverending Love" saw the light of day on July 8, 1986 (at first only in Sweden) and climbed to number 3 on the domestic charts. A few months later, it became part of their debut album Pearls of Passion – and Roxette were on a journey that no one knew at the time would take them.

The song even earned two official video clips – the first was recorded by Lars Lööv in Luxembourg in 1986 with the distinctive red-haired Maria Fredriksson, the second a year later directed by Rikard Petrelius in Sweden.

The celebration of the fortieth anniversary does not end

For this year's round anniversary, Roxette (or rather their background and loyal fan community) have prepared several reminders. Exactly on the day of the 40th anniversary, July 8, 2026, a newly remastered version of the original clip for "Neverending Love" was released on YouTube. The day after, Roxette played its only Swedish concert in 2026 – a symbolic end to the celebrations right where it all began.

Animated clip from fans, for fans

And thirdly, all good things – a brand new, animated fan video was created for the anniversary, which dressed the song in a completely different, modern coat. It was created by Thomas Lawrie-Clark (with thanks to Thomas Evensson), published under the name Jimmy Fun. The video was created as part of a wider celebration initiative ROX40, which maps and commemorates key moments from the band's forty-year history throughout the year.

Check it out for yourself:

And that the authors took care! Dozens of comments are teeming under the video, in which fans from all over the world enthusiastically list all the hidden "easter eggs" – period hairstyles and outfits, a recording studio, a faithfully rendered old Per's VW Golf GTI, or the humorously named shops on the main street, whose signs wink at the names of Roxette songs. Several people also mention a scene where Per and Marie have milk, toast and honey for breakfast – a direct allusion to the lyrics of the song – and a few comments from which a fan describes how he was in a position to get a bus crossing the bridge in the sunset.The sun gave me goosebumps, because this scene had been etched in his memory since the mid-nineties. There are also allusions to the legendary concert at Borgholm Castle, with which Roxette once ended the Look Sharp! tour.

There is also emotion – many fans remember Maria Fredriksson in the comments and thank them for how much joy Roxette's music has brought them over the years, with greetings from literally all over the world.

It's a nice reminder that 40 years later, Roxette is still connecting people across generations and borders – and that this "undying love" really knows no end.