Artists: Rednex

rednex1.jpgMembers : Billy Ray, Bobby Sue, BB Stiff, Ken Tacky. Vocalists : Mary Joe (Annika Ljungberg), Scarlet, Whippy (Mia Löfgren) In 1994, Rednex exploded on the charts worldwide. Their debut single Cotton-Eye Joe was a European No.1 and went on to become one of the biggest dance-singles of the 90's, with platinum sales in UK and many other countries, and gold in USA. In Germany, they went multi-platinum and stayed for a record breaking 10 weeks at no.1 which was followed up by two other no.1 multi-platinum singles: Old Pop In An Oak and the ballad Wish You Were Here (also released in an amazing dance version by Urgent C ). The press revealed that the true singer wasn't Ken Tacky., it was a country singer called Göran Danielsson . Rednex is the brainchild of a creative collective that originated from Stockholm, Sweden. The concept can be compared to an open book where different authors write a chapter each, doing it whenever there are ideas and enthusiasm. A bunch of friends, musicians, producers, actors, video directors, art designers, stylists, animators, software programmers etc., decided to start a hobby project to let out ideas that could not be used in their various commercial professions.

These were controversial ideas with a dirty, non-esthetic, rough flavor, but with a general playful, partying and happy feeling. The amount of members in Rednex varies from day to day. The original squad that started the project is today living in various countries and several people have invited themselves into the project, creating what is today an international creative collective. In 1997 the record-company ZYX-Music released the single Riding Alone. No one knew why, because it wasn't even a new song and not even the group-members knew about it. 1999: The single The Way I Mate, which was very similar to the first hits, was not very successful. Rednex has always caused a lot of controversy with their different and fictitious image. They brought in a new singer named Whippy (Mia Löfgren) who replaced Mary Joe. Their male singer Ken Tacky left the group. In 2000 they made an amazing comeback with the single Spirit Of The Hawk, which went to no.1 in Germany and sold gold in less than 5 weeks, just like they did 6 years ago. It was used for the German version of the TV-game Fort Boyard. Then came Hold Me For A While, a ballad, and The Chase in 2001. 2001: Whippy left the project and was replaced by Scarlet. 2002: There were some changes among the Rednex team. BB Stiff, Bobby Sue and Billy Ray argued with the legal owner of the band name, so they left the band, and recreated a new formation called "The Original Members of Rednex". Rednex very first female singer Annika Ljungberg took part on the "Melodie Festival" to be chosen as "representative for Sweden" at Grand Prix d'Eurovision . The name of the song was Sail Away. Rednex released Cotton Eye Joe 2002, a remix of the hit that started it all... As well as a best of called Best Of The West which includes all their singles plus 5 unreleased songs.