Published in the Hamilton Spectator on March 14, 1995
BY NICK KREWEN
Of all the things she's had to sacrifice in the wake of personal stardom, there's one simple pleasure ACE OF BASE brunette beauty JENNY BERGGREN misses the most.
"Sunbathing topless," she laughs, her eyes shooting upward in slight embarrassment as she starts to relax in the office of her Toronto record company.
It's no surprise that Jenny and her equally eye-catching blonde sister MALIN are tabloid targets for poking paparazzi, in light of both their Swedish lineage and the success of Ace Of Base's debut album The Sign, which has sold in excess of 20 million copies around the world, over one million of those bought in Canada.
What's more taxing is having to adjust to their newfound fame. Refreshingly candid about their lives, Jenny says she, her 25-year-old sibling Malin, brother JONAS, 28, and family friend ULF "BUDDHA" EKBERG, 25, have some reservations about pop stardom.
"I have to be a bossy person when I do this job, which is hard because I'm not a bossy person," complains Berggren, 23, in Toronto with her bandmates to accept a Diamond Award for The Sign and double platinum for the band's newest album, The Bridge.
"It's something that I have to do that I dislike. Usually I want to have people's opinions, and then I do it. But here, you have no time for opinions, because fast decisions are always made. Sometimes you make mistakes, because you don't have time to get the full background on things."
Adding to the distaste was a frightening incident in April 1994, when Jenny was awakened in her parents' Gotheburg home with a knife to her throat by a fan.
"I was so shocked and in such a traumatic state, the only thing I could really take in was what mattered to me in the long run: my family, my belief in God, and my friends," she reveals.
"I could have been killed that night. She woke me up with a knife to my throat, and she bruised me, and she didn't want to let go."
Eventually disarmed by Berggren's mother, who was stabbed in both hands, the woman was subdued and turned over to the authorities. However, a lasting consequence has been the hiring of bodyguards who accompany Ace Of Base members around the clock. The event also served as inspiration for a song on The Bridge called "Ravine", originally written by Jenny in denial of her ordeal.
"Two weeks afterwards, I started to write," recalls Berggren. "The song says, `Have you heard about the man who was ripped out by his roots.' I didn't think I was talking about me until I actually went through that lyric with one of my friends. He said, `Look, why do you sing about him? It's about you.' And I was so shocked."
To cope, the former bank teller and croupier embraced her Christianity, and now spends five weeks a year as a guidance counselor in Swedish youth camp. She says the assault, as well as the whirlwind nature of Ace Of Base's success, have kept her grounded.
"I do think it's very important to sit down and be yourself," says Berggren. "Because you lose track. When you're about 13-20, you grow up. From age 20 -25, your soul grows up. It's been a tough time of being a pop star, and being Jenny. Now I know how to deal with it."
It isn't all doom and gloom. Aside from endless ABBA comparisons, Jenny admits that pop stardom has helped bring her out of her shell.
"I was really scared to talk to people," she says. "If I was going to meet people in a huge crowd, I got so frightened. Now I'm used to it. Now when I talk, because I'm a pop star, suddenly people listen."
She and her sister also overcame chauvinism within the Ace Of Base ranks, battling for and winning a more equitable agreement from brother Jonas -- also known as "JOKER" -- and Ekberg.
"When we said something, it was an opinion," fumes Jenny. "Whenever the guys said anything, it was law. Now we have a better agreement."
And of course, there's the intangible satisfaction of knowing millions of fans groove on your band's melodic reggae-scented euphoric ditties.
"It's very rewarding," she agrees.
Although The Bridge is off to a good start with hits "Beautiful Life" and "Edge Of Heaven," the 200,000 copies it's sold so far in Canada is off the pace of 1993's The Sign.
Does that mean a tour is being planned for additional exposure?
"We haven't got that far," says Jenny, whose band has yet to debut as a concert act in Canada.
"We played a tour in 1993, Europe mostly, and learned a lot. However, we'll be getting together in April to decide whether we'll go out on the road, or go back into the studio to make another album."
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DISCOGRAPHY
1993 -- The Sign -- Arista
1994 -- The Bridge
1997 -- Cruel Summer
#1 HITS
1994 -- "The Sign" (6 weeks)
THANKS: Margaret Spence Krewen, Wade Hemsworth, Glen Nott
©1994, 1999 Nick Krewen, Octopus Media Ink.