Kim Larsen

Few Danish musicians have shaped their country's rock history as firmly as Kim Larsen. Born in Copenhagen and drawn to The Beatles and rock and roll, he started out as a songwriter and guitarist, and in 1969 he co-founded Gasolin' with Franz Beckerlee and Wili Jønsson. Drummer Søren Berlev completed the line-up in time, and the group grew into one of Denmark's most successful rock acts, while his solo work kept a sharper, more defiant edge.

In 1979 he entered the Danish Eurovision final with 'Ud i det blå', placing third of 17 entries. A spell in New York produced two albums but no American breakthrough, and he was back in Denmark within a few years. The 1983 solo album Midt om natten topped the charts and served as the soundtrack to a film of the same name. He later led Kim Larsen & Kjukken from Odense, and his tribute 'Jutlandia', about a Red Cross hospital ship in the Korean War, became a large hit in 1986. Diagnosed with prostate cancer in late 2017, he died at his Odense home on 30 September 2018, and a memorial concert in Copenhagen a week later drew some 35,000 people.