Aqua disbands: “It’s time to say goodbye”

“For us, this is the right time to say goodbye”: is a passage from the post shared by Aqua on their social channels for announce the dissolution. The Danish band, known worldwide for hits of the late nineties such as “Barbie girl”, “My Oh My” and “Doctor Jones”, has thus decided to put an “end” to its thirty-year career.

The message, published in Danish and Italian, reads:

After many incredible years, we have decided to close Aqua’s chapter as a live band.

Aqua have been a huge part of our lives, and together, we’ve had the chance to experience so much more than we ever dared to dream.

We have traveled the world countless times, met so many wonderful people, sang along with millions of you, and shared memories that we will carry with us forever.

When you’re together for so long, you also learn to understand when it’s time to protect what you’ve created together.

For us, this feels like the right time to say goodbye, while the memories are still strong and the love of music, our history and each other remains intact.

From the bottom of our hearts: Thank you to everyone who has been part of this journey over the last 30 years.

Thank you for the love, energy, support and all the moments we shared together.

From here on out, only love and gratitude.

The group, since 2016 composed of the trio formed by Lene Nystrøm, René Dif and Søren Rasted after Claus Norreen left, it was one of the absolute symbols of europop and eurodance between the end of the nineties and the early 2000s. Aqua, born in Denmark but with only Nystrøm of Norwegian origin, had begun their journey already in 1989 under the name of Joyspeedreleasing the single “Itsy Bitsy Spider,” before reinventing themselves a few years later with the name that would make them famous throughout the world. The turning point came in 1997 thanks to “Barbie Girl”, a global hit included in the debut album “Aquarium“, which transformed the group into an international phenomenon capable of dominating music charts and television. From then on, Aqua enjoyed enormous success with their second album “Aquarius” and a long series of singles that became iconic, from “Doctor Jones” to “My Oh My”, passing through “Lollipop (Candyman)”, “Cartoon Heroes” and “Around the World”. After a few years living at the center of international pop culture, the group disbanded in 2001leaving room for the solo paths of the various members. However, the reunion arrived in 2007followed two years later by the collection “Greatest Hits”, which also included previously unreleased material. In 2011 Aqua returned to the scene again with the single “How RU Doin?” and with “Megalomania”, third studio album released eleven years after the previous one.

After a few years of more sporadic activity, Aqua returned live permanently in 2016 with a series of concerts in Denmark within the “Vi Elsker 90’erne” festival, dedicated to the pop culture of the decade that had consecrated them. Shortly afterwards, however, Claus Norreen announced his exit from the group to dedicate himself to new musical projects, still defining Aqua as “his family”. From that moment on, the lineup remained the same as Lene, René and Søren. In the following years the group continued to perform on tours and festivals linked to the Nineties revival, returning to intercept a new wave of popularity. Until last September, Aqua remained busy with a long series of concerts around the world, riding the enthusiasm and nostalgia for the 90s, especially from 2021 onwards, bringing the band back to the center of the international live circuit. In this period the group is also passed through Italy several timesperforming on several occasions between 2022 and 2023 in front of a transversal audience, made up of both historical fans and a new generation that grew up with the rediscovery of the pop imagery of the end of the millennium.