Erik Hassle

Erik Hassle is a Swedish soul-pop vocalist who made his debut in 2009 with Hassle. Born on August 26, 1988, in Katrineholm, Sweden, he studied at the Rytmus school of music in Stockholm. After signing a recording contract with the Swedish label Roxy Recordings, he made his commercial recording debut in 2008 with the single "Hurtful." The song was only a minor hit at first, reaching the Top 30 of the Swedish chart before beginning to fade away. Months later, "Hurtful" began climbing the charts once again after Hassle signed an international recording contract with Universal Island Records in the United Kingdom and began generating a buzz there. After re-entering the Swedish singles chart in mid-2009, "Hurtful" peaked at number 11 and paved the way for a follow-up single, the Top 30 hit "Don't Bring Me Flowers After I'm Dead."

Hassle fared even better with his self-titled debut record, Hassle, which reached number two on the Swedish albums chart and featured collaborations with Tysper (Tommy Tysper), Mack (Marcus Sepehrmanesh), and Grizzly (Gustav Jonsson) of the songwriting/production team Company Ten, who had previously collaborated with A-Teens and Amy Diamond. Many of those collaborations also appeared on 2010's Pieces, a revised version of Hassle's debut featuring several remixes and one new track. Pieces was released exclusively in the U.K. in an attempt to widen Hassle's European fanbase, but the album failed to chart. ~ Jason Birchmeier, Rovi