Erik Grönwall

Erik Grönwall
Picture taken during H.E.A.T show 2014
Background information
Birth name	Per Erik Magnus Grönwall
Also known as	Erkka G
Born	(1987-12-03) 3 December 1987 (age 29) Knivsta, Sweden
Origin	, Sweden
Genres	Pop rock (2009–2010) Hard rock, Arena rock, Metal (2010–present)
Occupation(s)	Singer
Instruments	Vocals, Guitar
Years active	2009–present
Labels	Sony Music Sweden
Website	Official website

Per Erik Magnus Grönwall (born 3 December 1987) is a Swedish hard rock/heavy metal singer and songwriter. In December 2009, he won the Swedish Idol television competition. During several of the shows he received standing ovations from the jury for his performances. His first single, "Higher", sold gold on digital downloads after only three days. His first album, self-titled "Erik Grönwall", was released just ten days after the finals and debuted at number one on the Swedish charts Sverigetopplistan and was certified platinum. Today he is the lead singer of the successful rock band H.E.A.T. Altogether as a solo artist and band member, he has numerous top 40 hits.

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

Erik first auditioned for Swedish Idol in 2007, but he did not reach the final auditions at that time. In 2009, he came back, and made quite an impression on the jury who reacted with a mix of crying and laughing after his audition singing Skid Row's "18 and Life". Erik performed several rock songs during the show; Kiss – “Shout It Out Loud”, Iron Maiden – “Run To The Hills” and Queen – “The Show Must Go On”.