Nikke Ström

Before he became the bassist most associated with Nationalteatern, Nikke Ström was a philosophy student with a political streak. Born and raised in Karlskoga, where he played in several local bands, he began studying philosophy at Stockholm University in the early months of 1970. There he became politically active in the leftist movement against the Vietnam War, and he went on to chair the FNL group in his hometown of Karlskoga. In 1971 he moved to Gothenburg, where he played in a series of leftist progressive rock bands, including Nynningen.

In 1977 he took part in the Tent Project (Tältprojektet), a musical theatre performance on the history of the Swedish working class that toured the country that summer. The same year he joined Nationalteatern as a bass player in the group's rock orchestra. Ström died on 8 June 2026, at the age of 75, from complications following heart surgery, on his birthday.