Born in Kristiansand on 19 April 1955; Rolf Lovland is a Norwegian composer and keyboard player. He studied at the music conservatory in Kristiansand from 1975 to 1978 and musicology at the University of Oslo from 1979 to 1982. In 1985 he won the Eurovision Song Contest with “La det swinge”, sung by Bobbysocks; with Fionnuala Sherry, whom he had met in Dublin, he formed the group Secret Garden and won a second time in 1995 with “Nocturne”. Secret Garden found success in the American New Age charts with albums such as “White Stones”, “Dawn of a New Century” and “Once in a Red Moon”. On the gala recording Doc Heilein and Friends Gala 2021 – Joyful (2022) Matthias Heilein sings “You Raise Me Up”, for which he wrote the music, with lyrics by Brendan Graham; Secret Garden’s recording topped the Norwegian charts in 2002, and the song became internationally known through Josh Groban and Westlife.
Rolf Lovland
Composer
