Biography

Øystein Sunde is a highly regarded Norwegian singer/songwriter and guitarist with a humorous folk style who broke through to mainstream success in 1970 with the hit single "Jaktprat." He remained active throughout the remainder of the century and well beyond, releasing a long list of Top Ten albums, several of which were chart-toppers. Born on January 24, 1947, in Oslo, Norway, Sunde began playing a succession of musical instruments at a young age. He ultimately gravitated toward guitar during the 1960s and also took to songwriting as well. In 1967 he made his commercial recording debut as the guitarist of the band Hi-Five, which released a couple singles on CBS Records. A few years later Sunde made his solo album debut on CBS with 1001 Fnatt (1970), which spawned his break-out hit, "Jaktprat." Both the album and the single were Top Five hits on the Norwegian charts. The follow-up album, Det Året Det Var Så Bratt (1971), was also a major success, topping the charts. Sunde then switched labels from CBS to Philips, and while he remained active, releasing a new album practically every year for the remainder of the decade, and while his music remained humorous and folky, influenced by bluegrass in particular, his fortunes faded somewhat as he was unable to rival the blockbuster success of 1970-1971. During the '80s, however, he regained his mainstream popularity with a succession of Top Five hit albums: Barkebille Boogie (1981), I Husbukkens Tegn (1984), Overbuljongterningpakkemesterassistent (1986), and Kjekt Å Ha (1989), the latter of which was recorded in Nashville and earned him a couple Spellemannprisen (i.e., Norwegian Grammy) awards. In subsequent decades, Sunde continued to release albums sporadically, beginning with the retrospective compilation Øystein Sundes 40 Beste (1990), and they continued to prove highly popular, generally topping the charts or falling just short of number one. Du Må'kke Komme Her og Komme Her (1994), the follow-up effort to Kjekt Å Ha and Sunde's first album in five years, was especially successful, hitting number one and charting for over half a year. ~ Jason Birchmeier, Rovi