Jan Teigen

Jahn Teigen
Jahn Teigen in 2011
Background information
Birth name	Jan Teigen
Origin	Tønsberg, Norway
Genres	Pop, rock, comedy rock, progressive rock
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, bass, percussion
Years active	1973 -
Associated acts	Popol Vuh, Prima Vera, Anita Skorgan

Jahn Teigen (born 27 September 1949) is a Norwegian singer, musician and comedian. He represented Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest three times, in 1978,1982 and 1983, and became known throughout Europe as a result of his 1978 performance in the contest, which won "nul points" (a zero score) for Norway. His given name was Jan; he added the silent H later. Since October 2006, he has resided in Sweden.

Jahn Teigen was born in Tønsberg. He started his career in the late 1960s, when he released a few singles and one album with Enemies. However, his commercial break-through did not come until the early 1970s as the lead singer of the six member rock band Popol Vuh. They released three successful albums, the first self-titled in 1973. Their most popular album was released in 1976, called Stolen From Time, but this time under their new name Popol Ace, to avoid confusion with the German rock band with the same name that also was popular in the 1970s. Popol Vuh is actually a Maya Indian word in the Quiché language, meaning book of the community. Popol Vuh/Popol Ace was actually a refinement of the even older eight member group Arman Sumpe Dur Express. During 1971 and first half of 1972, Arman Sumpe D.E. was on an ever-lasting concert tour throughout Norway playing more than 140 concerts. Jahn performed at one of Europe's two largest music festivals, the Roskilde Festival, in 1972 he became one of the major attractions as part of Popol Vuh (credited as Arman Sumpe). He had previously performed in Roskilde at the Fjordvilla Club in 1968 with the band Red Squares.

Jahn Teigen was a member of the Norwegian humour trio Prima Vera, with Herodes Falsk [1] and Tom Mathisen, who released seven albums between 1977 and 1984. Most of their reportoire consists of popular hits with the most ridiculous lyrics. (This struck a chord with the Norwegian audience, since, at the time, to ensure airplay, English-language songs often were re-recorded with Norwegian lyrics.) Their breakthrough album, 1978s Brakara, went to number 1 in the charts and sold more than 100,000 copies, and includes Teigen's spirited mock-Russian rendition of Mil Etter Mil, Zagra Znja Zagra. This 30-second version is the only available recording of the original arrangement; whether in English or Norwegian, Jahn Teigen's serious recordings of the song feature more electric guitar. The serious version was also a huge hit, making Teigen one of the few performers ever to have success with both a serious version and a parody of the same song simultaneously. Prima Vera had a number of hits, including such classics as Så lykkelig i Sverige ('So happy in Sweden', a version of The Turtles' Happy Together), Det er Norge som er bra and De gærne har det godt.
Teigen decided to leave the band in 1984, which made the band break up and caused a hateful relationship between him and the other members for several years - they finally reconciled in 1999.