Members of the Danish pop band Aqua: Claus Norreen, Lene Nystrom, Rene Dif and Soren Rasted. Photo / Getty Images
Members of the Danish pop band Aqua: Claus Norreen, Lene Nystrom, Rene Dif and Soren Rasted. Photo / Getty Images
It’s been more than 25 years since Danish pop group Aqua scored a worldwide smash with their breakthrough single Barbie Girl.
But as these photos show, the pop stars – still going strong as an active group – have barely aged a day.
Lead singer Lene Nystrom turns 50 laterthis year, while fellow vocalist Rene Dif (voice of the addictive “Come on Barbie let’s go party” catch cry) is 55 and keyboardist Søren Rasted is 53.
The fourth member of Aqua, 52-year-old Claus Norreen, left the group in 2016 to pursue other opportunities.
The Europop act burst onto the international scene in 1997 with the massive hit Barbie Girl, which reached number 1 in more than 10 countries and quickly became one of the most recognisable songs of the 90s.
What Lene Nystrøm looks like now: Lene Nystrøm of Aqua performs during So POP at Spark Arena. Photo / Getty Images
A string of further hits followed – Doctor Jones, Turn Back Time and Lollipop (Candyman) – while the band’s debut album Aquarium sold more than 14 million copies worldwide.
But by the time they returned with a follow-up in 2000, Aqua’sfortunes had faded: Aquarius sold a comparatively small four million copies, birthing only one successful single, Cartoon Heroes.
From there, Nystrom embarked on a solo career – and her bandmate Soren launched a new group, Lazyboy, which scored an Australian hit in 2005 with the spoken-word single Underwear Goes Inside the Pants.
Aqua then reunited in 2009, releasing a third album, Megalomania, two years later.
Their latest release – a cover of the Gloria Gayner disco classic I Am What I Am – came out in 2021.
And the band’s behind the scenes relationships are just as fascinating as their career highs and lows: Nystrom was originally in a three-year relationship with bandmate Rene Dif when she originally joined the group in 1994.
Lene Nystrom and Rene Dif from Aqua at the Melbourne Aquarium. Photo / Getty Images
They broke up at the height of the band’s success – and then in 2001, Nystrom married her other bandmate, Soren Sasted.
They had two children together before divorcing in 2017, meaning the current, three-piece Aqua is made up of Nystrom, her ex-husband, and her ex-boyfriend.
