Before becoming the artist Joey Tempest, Joakim Larsson learned how to play the piano and the guitar. He played football, ice hockey and competed in go-cart racing; he once came in fourth place in the Junior Cart Race, a Swedish championship. Like many of the other Europe members, he grew up in Stockholm suburb Upplands Väsby. His biggest idols were Thin Lizzy and Led Zeppelin.[citation needed] During his teens, he played in a number of bands such as Jet, Blazer, Made in Hong Kong and Roxanne. At that time he alternated between playing rhythm guitar and bass, in addition to lead vocals.\n', '

In 1979, Tempest formed the band Force with guitarist John Norum, bass guitarist Peter Olsson and drummer Tony Reno. Force immediately began building a reputation and a fanbase in the suburbs of Stockholm. In 1982, they changed their name to Europe and won the music competition Rock-SM. The first prize was a record deal with Hot Records. Europe released five albums between 1983 and 1991, with Joey Tempest as the lead singer, frontman, and songwriter.\n', '

During the years with Europe, Tempest wrote numerous international big hits. "The Final Countdown" was the biggest; it topped the sales chart in 26 countries, sold 15 million copies, was played at the closing ceremony of the 1987 EuroBasket and\n', '1988 Summer Olympics, became the musical theme of the millennium celebrations and a ringtone in hundreds of thousands of mobile phones all over the world.[citation needed] After Countdown, Europe released two more albums, Out of this World (1988), and Prisoners in Paradise (1991), before their final concert in March 1992. Europe ended their final tour in Portsmouth and did not perform together again until New Year\'s Eve 1999 to 2000.\n', '

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