Erik Grönwall

Per Erik Magnus Grönwall (born 3 December 1987) is a Swedish hard rock and heavy metal singer. In 2009, he won the Swedish Idol reality television show, receiving several standing ovations from the jury for his performances over the course of the competition. His first single, "Higher", reached gold on digital downloads after only three days. His debut album Erik Grönwall was released just ten days after the finals and debuted at number one on the Swedish albums chart, eventually certified platinum. Both as a solo artist and band member, Grönwall has numerous top 40 hits.

In 2010, Grönwall joined rock band H.E.A.T as its lead singer. In 2018, he portrayed Simon Zealotes in the NBC live television concert production of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's Jesus Christ Superstar, for which he received a Grammy nomination in the Best Musical Theater Album category. He left H.E.A.T in 2020 after four albums with the band, and in 2022 joined Skid Row. Grönwall left Skid Row in March 2024 to prioritize his recovery from leukemia.

Career

Early life

Grönwall was born in Knivsta, a small town about 30 miles north of Stockholm. He started his musical career by playing the guitar in a local punk/rock band. During high school, his focus went from mostly playing the guitar to singing. He became the lead singer and rhythm guitarist of the metal band RAID from north-eastern Stockholm and played with them until summer 2008. His future as a singer took shape for the first time as he performed the leading role as Galileo Figaro in the Queen musical We Will Rock You, performing at a number of shows at Oscarsteatern in Stockholm. Aggressive, charismatic hard rock frontmen such as Paul Stanley (of Kiss) and Freddie Mercury (of Queen) influenced Grönwall.