Aqua

Aqua is a Danish dance-pop group, best known for their 1997 breakthrough single "Barbie Girl". The group formed in 1989 and achieved huge success across the globe in the late 1990s and early 2000s. The group managed to top the UK Singles Chart with their first three singles. The group released two albums: Aquarium in 1997 and Aquarius in 2000, before splitting up in July 2001. The group sold an estimated 33 million albums and singles, making them the most successful Danish band ever.

In their prime, Aqua's singles managed to chart top ten in a number of countries where European pop acts would not normally succeed, including the United States, Australia, and Japan. The group also caused controversy with the double entendres in their "Barbie Girl" single, with the Barbie doll makers Mattel filing a lawsuit against the group. The lawsuit was finally dismissed in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in 2002; the opinion, written by Judge Alex Kozinski, ruled "The parties are advised to chill".

The band's members are vocalists Lene Nystrøm and Rene Dif, guitarist Søren Rasted, and keyboardist Claus Norreen. During their split, Nystrøm, Dif and Rasted have all achieved solo chart success, and Norreen has continued in the music industry remixing other artists' material.

At a press event on Friday, October 26, 2007, the group announced a reunion tour, as well as the release of a compilation album featuring new material. In December 2008, it was announced Aqua would have three concerts in 2009.

And in 2011 they recorded their new album Megalomania with a change in sound and in attitude.


 * Big Damn Heroes: Rene as Dr. Jones in "Dr. Jones", the robot C.A.N.D.Y. in "Lollipop (Candyman)" video.
 * Cluster F-Bomb: Quite a few tracks from Megalomania.
 * Damsel in Distress: Lene in the "My oh My" video (before going Badass Damsel on her captors). In "Doctor Jones", she ends up in a cannibal's pot and in "Lollipop (Candyman)" she is captured by aliens; in the latter two, she shares her distress with her male companions.
 * Drives Like Crazy: "How R U Doin" video. Okay, they are miniature cars, but toppling mini electrical poles and back-flipping midair is still pretty crazy.
 * George Lucas Throwback: "Back To The 80's" is a George Lucas Throwback to the music and music videos of The Eighties.
 * Gratuitous Japanese: The opening of "Barbie Girl" video. They have never used this trope since.
 * Hotter and Sexier: Any subtext from their previous songs has pretty much become, well, text as of Megalomania.
 * Just Like Robin Hood: Rene's lines in "My oh My". "Gotta steal from the rich ... Gotta give to the poor."
 * Mood Whiplash: Each of their albums contains at least one song which is more serious than the rest, such as "Turn Back Time" and "Aquarius". "My Mamma Said" takes the cake as, despite its fast pace and its unassuming title, it talks about death.
 * Mythology Gag:
 * "Back to the 80's" mentions Barbie.
 * "Halloween" mentions the Candyman from "Lollipop (Candyman)".
 * Pirate: "My oh My" video.
 * Self-Parody: "Bumble Bees" video.
 * Shout-Out: Plenty. "Barbie Girl" is half Shout-Out, half Take That to Barbie, "Doctor Jones" is a Shout-Out to Indiana Jones, "Cartoon Heroes" references Superhero comics among other things, and "Back to the 80's" is full of Shout Outs to pop culture from The Eighties, such as Michael Jackson, Mr. T, and MTV.
 * Soprano and Gravel