Marion Raven

Marion Elise Ravn (artist name: Marion Raven) is a Norwegian singer and musician. She was born on May 25, 1984 in Lørenskog, a suburb outside Oslo, Norway. She was formerly part of the duo M2M, along with Marit Larsen. After M2M broke up in September of 2002, Marion was offered a million dollar recording contract with Atlantic Records. Raven's first solo album Here I Am was released in the spring of 2005. The album was released in Southeast Asia on June 8, 2005. A European and U.S. release followed in early 2006. Ravn is said to have written all of the albums tracks herself, except one. She also plays guitar and the piano. The first single will be "Break You", which will be released to radio in Japan on April 25, 2005, along with the video, and commercially May 23. The track "End of Me" will also be released in Southeast Asia. Marion shot the video for "Break You" and the title track, "Here I Am" on March 28, 2005. They were shot in Los Angeles by director Brett Simon. The solo effort displayed a more mature rock songbird that veered away from the bubblegum pop image cultivated by Atlantic Records for M2M. 'Here I Am' sees Marion collaborating with veteran producers Max Martin and Rami, Jimmy Harry, and collaborations with Nikki Sixx from Mötley Crüe for the song "Heads Will Roll" and rock band Everclear on the song "At The End of the Day". The album mostly chronicles Marion's heartbreak and finding her true identity in an ever changing pop landscape. The videos for End of Me and Break You are already getting massive rotation on MTV Asia and the songs are already top 10 on many radio charts in Asia and Norway. Throughout the months of April, May, and June of 2005, there were initially many confusions about the release date of her album in certain countries. A later than expected release date has been set for Mexico and Australia. Norway and Sweden released the album on August 10, 2005. The album has been received well in Asia, with Marion touring different clubs during June and July in the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan and other Asian countries. Atlantic Records has also expressed interest in releasing "Here I Am" in the US sometime in 2006. The album sold over 135,000 copies in Asia after only 3 months of release. In 2005, Marion recorded a track for the upcoming Hollywood film, Taking Charge. The song, 'October' will appear on the movie soundtrack later in the fall of 2005. In 2006, Marion dueted with Meat Loaf on his latest album "Bat Out Of Hell III: The Monster Is Loose" for the track It's All Coming Back To Me Now (which was a hit for Celine Dion in the mid-90s). The album was released October 31, 2006.