The romance with Carola: “Special time”
Published 2024-05-09 14.32
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They came, were seen and conquered, from almost nowhere.
SVT shows the documentary “Herreys – guldbröderna”, about Per, Richard and Louis Herrey who in 1984 won both the Melodifestivalen and the Eurovision Song Contest with “Diggi-loo diggi-ley”.
– It’s a bit of mixed feelings. Unbelievable that 40 years have passed. But it’s nice that SVT wants to bring out nostalgic memories, says Richard Herrey, 59.
To day have Per, Richard and Louis Herrey became 65, 59 and 57 years old.
I speak on the phone with Richard, who now mostly lives in Jukkasjärvi. He talks about what the brothers are doing these days:
– My wife is CEO of the ice hotel. So we live there. I commute to Kiruna 1.5 miles where I am CEO of the new cultural center.
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full screen Richard Herrey and Marie Herrey Photo: Karin Törnblom/TT / TT Nyhetsbyrån
– Per was a valued lawyer at the Swedish Musicians’ Association for a long time. Now he is Gothenburg Opera’s lawyer and handles their contracts. Louis trained as a teacher. Now he is responsible for education within the Mormon Church. Both Per and Louis are active in the church.
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full screen Herreys in Eurovision. Photo: Aftonbladet / 5600
Mormons
The brothers’ faith was an unexpected novelty when they had their breakthrough. The then Mello king Bert Karlsson had advised which of his artists he believed in before the competition in 1984 and perhaps I was the very first journalist to visit them in Los Angeles some six months before.
– Unfortunately, we don’t have any coffee or tea to offer, we don’t drink it because we are Mormons, their nice mother greeted me and the photographer.
Faith, however, put no obstacles in the way of the artist’s dreams and Richard had already had a small supporting role in the TV series “Fame”.
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full screen “Herreys – the gold brothers” about Per, Richard and Louis Herrey. Photo: Esc/TT
“We didn’t get rich”
The entire success story is depicted in a close-up way in the SVT documentary.
– I have seen an almost finished version of the film, I think there is a nice tone in it, says Richard.
– Almost every day someone wants to say “Diggi-loo diggi-ley”. In a way, it’s strange to be constantly reminded of something that happened so long ago. At the same time, we feel gratitude for everything that happened. We didn’t get rich, we may not have had the best advisors, but we got rich with experiences.
Although today they have other jobs, they are now releasing new music, will perform in the Eurovision Village in Malmö in connection with the Eurovision Song Contest and in the fall there will be a big anniversary concert at the Gothenburg Opera.
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full screen Brothers Louis, Richard and Per Herrey in Herreys during “Allsång på Skansen” 2012. Photo: Christine Olsson/ TT
The romance with Carola
A somewhat unexpected feature of the TV documentary is that Carola Häggkvist tells how incredibly in love she was with Richard Herrey at the time. And that they apparently had a brief romance.
Although Richard is very tight-lipped about it in the film and even when I ask him about it.
– We were young and it was a special time. I don’t want to comment on it more than that, he says.
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full screen Per, Richard and Louis Herrey together with Carola Häggkvist in 1984. Photo: Björn Elgstrand
Were bullied: “Sweet and salty”
Although most of the uproar surrounding them 40 years ago was positive, all three in the film express themselves quite negatively about the media coverage. How they almost got bullied. Nicknamed “the dancing deodorants”.
– It was probably a mixed compote of sweet and salty, if I may quote Lasse Berghagen. In retrospect, one might think that the negative reviews were a bit harsh considering how young we were. But as a whole, we are grateful for all the attention we received.
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full screen Richard Herrey at the Almedal Week in Visby 2022. Photo: Marko Saavala/Tt / TT NyhetsbyrånFAKTA
This is Richard Herrey
Name: Richard Herrey. Age: 59. Family: Wife Marie, two adult daughters, two grandchildren. Bor: Neck and Jukkasjärvi. Current: Is in the documentary “Herreys – guldbröderna”, which is broadcast on SVT. Right now I’m watching… “I mostly watch sports. English football when Swedish players like Alexander Isak are involved. The big Champions League matches. And Indycar now that several Swedes are involved and driving”.
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