Editing Michael Learns to Rock (section)

== History ==
===Formation (1988–1992)===
In 1988, singer Jascha Richter with the intent of forming a band to perform his songs, asked his high school friend and drummer Kåre Wanscher in [[Aarhus, Denmark]] to perform with him. Realizing the limitations of playing as a duo, they recruited the guitarist Mikkel Lentz, who was then playing rock music with his group the Rocking Studs. On 15 March 1988, their first night of practice made them realize they needed a fourth musician, so they asked Søren Madsen, another guitarist who was into [[Led Zeppelin]], to join in on bass guitar.<ref name="quartly"/> Although Madsen was not an obvious choice for a pop band, he was invited on the basis that he had been part of the band Hip Hop that had reached the finals of a Danish competition to nominate a song to the [[Eurovision Song Contest]].

Since Richter already had a number of original songs, eliminating the need to jam, they were able to quickly record a demo tape intending it to be sent to the 'Rock Grand Prix' competition in their hometown Aarhus, they had to hurriedly come up with a name before posting it; Richter wrote as the name of the sender 'Michael Learns to Rock', partly inspired by a line from his school English textbook and partly because they were a pop band taking part in a rock concert. Lentz and Richter have admitted that the band was named after [[Michael Jackson]]: "I think Richter was thinking of Michael Jackson, because he was called 'the king of pop' and it was kind of funny, because it was like, what would he sound like if he learned to rock? It was wordplay," Lentz has stated. Richter claimed in an interview:  "Yeah, it was like [[Johnny Hates Jazz]] and [[Frankie Goes to Hollywood]]. Sure, I've regretted calling ourselves this many times since, but we were successful so quickly, we had to stick with it and over time I got used to it."<ref name="quartly">{{cite news |title=Michael's learned to rock |author=Jules Quartly |newspaper=[[Taipei Times]] |date=6 July 2007 |url=http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/feat/archives/2007/07/06/2003368385/}}</ref>

On 22 May 1988, the quartet played their first public show in Aarhus in 'Rock Grand Prix' at Aarhus's biggest venue, Ridehuset. As one of the two winning teams, MLTR performed that summer at the Aarhus Outdoor Festival on 20 June, however, only 20 people turned up. The disappointment was offset by a daily newspaper, ''Information'', describing the unknown group as "an immensely positive surprise". On 30 July 1988, the group entered and won the city's famed annual talent shows 'We Have The Stage – Do You Have The Music?' at Aarhus Musikhus.<ref name="fuglsang">{{cite web |url=http://www.danishmusic.info/index.php?id=1310&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=454&cHash=c802068681 |title=The Danes Hit the Charts |author=Fuglsang, Jens |year=2008 |work=Danish Arts Agency/Music Centre |access-date=25 March 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180419001046/http://www.danishmusic.info/index.php?id=1310 |archive-date=19 April 2018 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Jens Peter (J.P.) Andersen, a member of the contest jury as well as a promoter of [[Skanderborg Festival|Danmarks Smukkeste Festival]] (literally, "Denmark’s Most Beautiful Festival") at [[Skanderborg]], was impressed with the band's talent but was somewhat annoyed at their lack of professionalism, so he decided to become the band's manager, at the band's request.<ref name="fuglsang"/> Michael Learns to Rock continued playing live throughout [[Jutland]] and recording material in order to attract the attention of Danish record labels. One of these efforts included the band contributing four tracks for the double album ''Secrets'', a record organised by the Danish Rock Council to create interest in four talented but 'secret' new bands. They finally signed a record deal with the Danish label Medley in January 1989.<ref name="Thaimajor">{{cite news |title=Michael Learns to Rock: Live in Bangkok|url=http://www.thaiticketmajor.com/concert/mltr_biography_eng.htm}} Thai Ticket major Retrieved 30 September 2010</ref> However, the band did not release their first album, ''[[Michael Learns to Rock (1991 album)|Michael Learns to Rock]]'', until September 1991, backed by the American record label [[Impact Records]] and with much of the album including the first American single, "My Blue Angel", mixed and produced by the American producers [[Tony Peluso]] and Steve Barri.<ref>{{cite news|title=Michael Learns to Rock: My Blue Angel|url=http://www.discogs.com/Michael-Learns-To-Rock-My-Blue-Angel-Remixes/release/929405}} [[discogs.com]] Retrieved 30 September 2010</ref>

Although not making any headway as intended in America despite airplay for "My Blue Angel", which did peak at #70 on the [[Cash Box|''Cash Box'' Top 100]], <ref>{{cite book|title=Cash Box Pop Hits: 1952-1996|last=Whitburn|first=Joel|author-link=Joel Whitburn|year=2014|publisher=Record Research}}</ref> a later single (the second in Denmark after "I Still Carry On") from the album, "[[The Actor (Michael Learns to Rock song)|The Actor]]", topped the Danish chart and also did well in [[Norway]], [[Sweden]], [[Indonesia]], [[Malaysia]], [[Singapore]] and the [[Philippines]].<ref name="fuglsang"/> In January 1992, the album topped the Danish charts, followed soon after by success in Asia, selling 25,000 copies and earning gold status in Indonesia alone.<ref name="Thaimajor"/>

===International breakthrough (1993–1996)===
Encouraged by the performance of their first album, Michael Learns to Rock released a second album, ''[[Colours (Michael Learns to Rock album)|Colours]]'', in October 1993 which sold over 1.1 million records.<ref name="fuglsang"/> The album included the singles "[[Sleeping Child (Michael Learns to Rock song)|Sleeping Child]]", "[[25 Minutes]]" and "Out of the Blue". The band toured Asia for the first time. At the Phoebus Concert Hall in Bangkok they played to their largest audience until then of 12,000 people. The performance of this album coupled with the band's live performances resulted in the band receiving 'The Best Performing Act of the Year' award in 1994 at SEA Grammy Awards in Singapore for their performance of "25 Minutes", followed by the 'Gold Preis' from the German radio station RSH (Radio Schleswig-Holstein) in 1995 for radio hits such as "Wild Women'" and "25 Minutes".<ref name="Thaimajor"/><ref>{{cite news|title=Michael Learns to Rock: Legendary Musical Group in One-Night Performance at Bali's Hard Rock Hotel to Aid Aceh Relief on February 6, 2005.|url=http://www.balidiscovery.com/messages/message.asp?Id=2352|access-date=29 September 2010|archive-date=21 May 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180521191423/http://www.balidiscovery.com/messages/message.asp?Id=2352|url-status=dead}} Bali News Retrieved 30 September 2010</ref>

In August 1995, Michael Learns to Rock's third album ''[[Played on Pepper]]'' was released, selling more than 1.2 million units.<ref name="fuglsang"/> Tracks in this album included "[[That's Why (You Go Away)]]" and "[[Someday (Michael Learns to Rock song)|Someday]]". For the first time, the band recorded and produced the whole album themselves.<ref name="mirrormag">{{cite news |title=Learning to Rock|author = Marisa De Silva and Ishani Ranasinghe|url=http://sundaytimes.lk/041010/mirror/4.html|access-date=30 September 2010}} ''Mirror'' magazine.</ref> To promote the album, the group performed 25 shows in ten countries. The release of this album also increased the band's presence in hitherto untapped markets like [[Brazil]], [[South Africa]], the [[UAE]] and eleven countries in the Far East, including [[Japan]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Danish Rock Balladeers|url=http://www.bangkokpost.com/141108_Realtime/14Nov2008_real79.php |work=Bangkok Post|access-date=30 September 2010}}{{dead link|date=August 2012}}</ref>

To capitalize on the success of ''Played on Pepper'' and to curb piracy,<ref name="Thaimajor"/> Michael Learns to Rock released the [[greatest hits]] album ''[[Paint My Love - Greatest Hits|Paint My Love]]'' in October 1996, primarily in Asia; the album sold 3.4 million copies.<ref name="fuglsang"/> The song, "Paint My Love", is an English version of "Kun med dig" by Danish singers Dorthe Andersen and Martin Loft, which was composed by Jascha Richter. The band was also chosen as the headliner for the 'Celebrate Hong Kong' concert on 6 July 1997, marking the [[Transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong|transfer of Hong Kong]] from the [[United Kingdom]] to [[People's Republic of China|China]].<ref name="fuglsang"/> The album also topped the charts in South Africa with sales of more than 350,000 copies in South Africa alone.

===Mainstream success in Asia (1997–1999)===
They released their fourth studio album, ''[[Nothing to Lose (Michael Learns to Rock album)|Nothing to Lose]]'', was released in September 1997, and also sold more than 1.1 million copies. In an incident that showcased Michael Learns to Rock's popularity in Asia, 20,000 fake tickets were sold (more than twice the number of real ones) for a concert in [[Hanoi]], [[Vietnam]], in December 1997 and while the concert was on, those outside with fake tickets tried to break into the concert hall through the windows causing riot police to be deployed.<ref name="urbanwire">{{cite news|title=MLTR: It's about the music|author=Jasmine Oei|url=http://theurbanwire.com/jun04/mltr.html|work=theurbanwire.com|access-date=2 October 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716152847/http://theurbanwire.com/jun04/mltr.html|archive-date=16 July 2011}}</ref><ref name="toi">{{cite news |author=Kevin Lobo|title=Michael Yearns to Rock|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Entertainment-Music/Michael-yearns-to-rock/articleshow/6053473.cms | work=The Times of India|date=16 June 2010| access-date= 2 October 2010}}</ref> The band travelled to South Africa in January 1998, playing sell-out concerts in [[Johannesburg]] and [[Pretoria]], consequently taking ''Nothing to Lose'' to the top of the charts in South Africa.<ref name="Thaimajor"/>

Soon after, the band's members took a break to spend time with their families and to develop projects on their own or in collaboration with other performers. They also decided to re-brand the band under the simpler name of MLTR.<ref>Allan Lykke Poulsen, "Nu hedder vi MLTR", ''[[Ekstra Bladet]]'', 20 May 1999</ref> During the break, Richter wrote some new songs for the band, one of which is "Strange Foreign Beauty" that was later added to the 1999 greatest hits album ''[[MLTR (album)|Greatest Hits – Strange Foreign Beauty]]''. In a process undertaken by MLTR for the first time, the song was made by compiling the best details from recordings of ideas made individually by the four members. This album included their previous hits, either remixed or refined in some way by notable international producers such as [[Chris Lord-Alge]] (for "Someday", "Something You Should Know" etc.), Cutfather & Joe (for "Sleeping Child") and the Swedish producer [[Per Magnusson]] (for the MLTR top hit "The Actor'").<ref>{{cite news|title=Michael Learns to Rock MLTR|url=http://www.discogs.com/Michael-Learns-To-Rock-MLTR/release/1229284|work=[[discogs.com]] |access-date= 2 October 2010}}</ref><ref>"Michael Learns To Rock udsender den 19. maj et »Greatest Hits«-album", [[Berlingske Tidende]], 7 May 1999</ref> This greatest hits album went to the top of the Danish sales charts (the second MLTR album after their first album to do so), as well in [[Sweden]] and [[Portugal]], and logged sales of nearly a million copies.<ref name="Thaimajor"/>

===Continuing as a trio (2000–2006)===
In 2000, Søren Madsen decided to leave the group to embark on a solo career. The remaining three members set themselves the challenge of pursuing a sound different from that of their previous albums and thus produced the album ''[[Blue Night (Michael Learns to Rock album)|Blue Night]]'', which almost went platinum in [[Denmark]] and sold well in Asia,<ref name="jowu" /> with sales over one million. The following year a biography of MLTR, ''Something You Should Know'' written by Poul Martin-Bonde, was published along with a few previously unreleased recordings. The English translation of the book was called ''It Never Rains on Bali'',<ref>{{cite news |author= Poul Martin Bonde|title=Google Books – It Never Rains on Bali: The Story of Michael Learns to Rock|year=2001|isbn=9788756292375|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ySLuMgAACAAJ&q=michael+learns+to+rock}}</ref> a reference to an incident that took place during the band's 1995 [[Bali]] concert, where a no-rain forecast proved wrong and the unexpected rain stopped the concert.<ref>{{cite news|title=Rain Stops Play|url=http://www.midaspromotions.com/aboutus.htm|publisher=Midas Promotions|access-date=18 March 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100324094913/http://www.midaspromotions.com/aboutus.htm|archive-date=24 March 2010}}</ref>

After the release of ''Blue Night'', the band took a prolonged break, with Richter working on his solo album ''Planet Blue''. The band later admitted that they even considered disbanding during this time. They ultimately decided against it, following the success of their greatest hits album releases, including ''19 Love Songs / Love Ballads'' in 2002, which went to number 2<ref>{{cite news |title=MICHAEL LEARNS TO ROCK – 19 LOVE SONGS (ALBUM)|url=https://danishcharts.dk/showitem.asp?interpret=Michael+Learns+To+Rock&titel=19+Love+Songs&cat=a| publisher=danishcharts.dk |access-date= 2 October 2010}}</ref> in Denmark.

In 2004, the band regrouped again, departing from the name MLTR, and using the original name for their sixth album called ''[[Michael Learns to Rock (2004 album)|Michael Learns to Rock]]'', released in Asia as ''Take Me to Your Heart''. The album focused on the Asian market. The single "Take Me to Your Heart" was a remake of [[Jacky Cheung]]'s "[[The Goodbye Kiss (album)|Goodbye Kiss]]" ("吻别"), and was popular in China, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Thailand and [[Taiwan]]. By the end of 2006 alone, the single created a record when it sold over 6 million paid downloads and was awarded the "Most Downloaded Single of the Year 2006". MLTR sang an English and Chinese duet of "Take Me to Your Heart" with the Chinese singer Hu Yanbin at a 2005 New Year's Party in Guangzhou, China. The band also sang the song with the [[South Korea]]n star [[Shin Hye-sung]], lead vocalist of the famous boy band [[Shinhwa]]. This album has been one of the major successes of MLTR in Asia, especially China.<ref>{{cite news |title=Danes Play, China Buys – Danish band Michael Learns to Rock sells millions in Asia|author = Charles Ferro & Steve Mclure|date= 29 January 2005 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZxQEAAAAMBAJ&q=Michael+learns+to+rock+billboard&pg=PA44}} Billboard- Google Books Retrieved 14 March 2010</ref>

===Independent label; MLTR Music (2007–2013)===
In 2007, MLTR performed at the [[Formula1]] in Shanghai and The 6th Golden Eagle Award Ceremony.<ref name="jowu" /> Later in the year, MLTR released ''The Best of Michael Learns to Rock Live'' and in July toured Hong-Kong, Taiwan, Thailand and Malaysia. Elsewhere, this album was released as ''The Live Musical Adventures of Michael Learns to Rock / I Walk This Road Alone'', and featured live recordings from their Take Me to Your Heart Asian Tour, mainly from the September 2005 concerts in [[India]].<ref name="quartly"/>

In November 2008, MLTR released their seventh studio album titled ''[[Eternity (Michael Learns to Rock album)|Eternity]]'' under their own independent label, MLTR Music, in association with the Danish label At:tack. This album has the distinction of being the first MLTR album to be produced solely by Mikkel Lentz. The band mention on their website that the name is an indication of the fact that "the band plan to make music for as long as they still find joy in the process". Although the sales were slow (admittedly, according to the band), the second single from the album, "Sweetest Surprise" reached No. 1 in Thailand within a few weeks of release.<ref>{{cite news|title = MLTR No. 1 in Thailand|author = Charlotte Lund Dideriksen|date = 4 February 2009|url = http://scandasia.com/viewNews.php?coun_code=th&news_id=5172|url-status = dead|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110716012454/http://scandasia.com/viewNews.php?coun_code=th&news_id=5172|archive-date = 16 July 2011}} ScandAsia.com Retrieved 14 March 2010</ref> The following year, another track, "It's Gonna Make Sense", gained popularity in Asia after it was played as the farewell song on the Philippine reality TV show ''[[Pinoy Big Brother: Double Up|Pinoy Big Brother]]''. The promotion of the album took MLTR on the Eternity South East Asia Tour, the response to which, the band declare, has led them to consider playing more concerts abroad, especially in Southeast Asia.<ref>{{cite news|title= Thanks for your great support|date= 9 September 2009|url= http://www.mltr.dk/?m=200909|url-status= dead|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100616003638/http://www.mltr.dk/?m=200909|archive-date= 16 June 2010}} mltr.dk Retrieved 2 October 2010</ref>

Michael Learns to Rock completed touring their home-country Denmark, having played unplugged concerts in February and March 2010 with fair success. In June 2010, the band undertook a three-city promotional tour of India playing shows at [[Mumbai]], [[Delhi]] and [[Bangalore]] to promote the latest album ''"Eternity"''. More Unplugged shows followed in Denmark in late 2010. The band also did a short promotional tour of China and [[Macau]] from 27 September to 1 October 2010 for their upcoming China concerts in December 2010 and to give a preview of their Chinese Tour Compilation CD.<ref>{{cite news |title= Currently working on 2 new songs for our Chinese December-Tour Compilation CD |date= 20 September 2010 |url=https://www.facebook.com/michaellearnstorock?ref=ts#!/michaellearnstorock?v=wall&ref=ts}} facebook.com Retrieved 2 October 2010</ref> This was followed up with their first ever international Unplugged concerts at Beijing, Shanghai and [[Guangzhou]] in December 2010. The track "Fairy Tale", an English cover version of a song originally performed by singer Li Jian, and later popularized by Hong Kong pop diva [[Faye Wong]], was released in conjunction with the CD release.<ref>{{cite news|author= Zhang Qian|title= Chinese inspiration for Danish group|date= 3 December 2010 |url=http://www.shanghaidaily.com/sp/article/2010/201012/20101203/article_456219.htm}} ShanghaiDaily.com Retrieved 26 January 2011</ref> Following this, the band was scheduled to play another unplugged tour in Denmark in spring 2011.

In a blog, dated 13 April 2010 on the band's website, the band announced that they have started working on their next album. Over the latter part of 2010 and throughout 2011, Michael Learns to Rock began giving feelers about their next studio album on their official Facebook page. The album which was till then not named, was set to be released on 11 August 2011 in Europe and Denmark, with releases following in other territories around the same time, but was subsequently postponed to an unspecified later date.<ref>{{cite news |title= Hi Everybody. Good to see your messages...|date= 26 January 2011 |url=https://www.facebook.com/michaellearnstorock?ref=ts#!/michaellearnstorock?v=wall&ref=ts}} facebook.com Retrieved 26 January 2011</ref> In a teaser Facebook update, the band revealed the name of one of the tracks to be "Ice Breaker".<ref>{{cite news |title= Hi everybody. We are still busy in the studio.. |date= 18 January 2011 |url=https://www.facebook.com/michaellearnstorock?ref=ts#!/michaellearnstorock?v=wall&ref=ts}} facebook.com Retrieved 26 January 2011</ref> Elsewhere, in a note on his Facebook Page, Jascha Richter had revealed the name of another song, "Hanging On", from the forthcoming album.<ref>{{cite news |author= Jascha Richter|title= Århus!|date= 18 February 2011 |url=https://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=165072920208642}} facebook.com Retrieved 21 February 2011</ref>

On 19 November 2011, the band unveiled the song "Any Way You Want It" from the forthcoming album at a live concert in Kathmandu produced and organized by ODC Network (P)LTD. The band also shot footage in and around Kathmandu and during the performance of the song, to include it on the song's music video. The video of the song was then released formally on 11 June 2012 by the band on YouTube first, and soon after, it started airing on TV in India and Nepal.

The studio album ''[[Scandinavia (album)|Scandinavia]]'' was released on 11 June 2012 in India digitally by Virgin Records on Nokia Music. Subsequently, release of the physical CD of album took place in many Asian countries, namely India (30 June 2012), Malaysia (2 July), Singapore (4 July), Thailand (12 July), Korea (12 July), Taiwan (13 July), Hong Kong (17 July), Philippines (19 July), Indonesia (15 August), and then in China. The album was released in Denmark by Sony Music Denmark on 3 September 2012. The album was also made available in Asia on iTunes. As in the case of the previous album ''Eternity'', the album ''Scandinavia'' was also solely produced by Mikkel Lentz.

The first single from ''Scandinavia'', "Renovate My Life", was released on iTunes on 9 June 2012, going on air in Denmark from 11 June. The album release began on 11 June 2012, with the release of a music video for "Any Way You Want It" on YouTube, as well as the digital release of the album in India. The music video features different places of [[Kathmandu]] valley and the capital city of [[Nepal]], where the band performed a concert in November 2011. The physical CD of ''Scandinavia'' was first released on 30 June 2012 in India by [[Virgin Records]], by [[Warner Music Group|Warner Music]] during July in Southeast Asia, and by [[Sony Music Entertainment|Sony Music]] on 3 September 2012 in Denmark.

===25th anniversary, side projects, new album (2014–2020)===
In 2014, the group released ''[[25: The Complete Singles]]'' in commemoration of the band's 25th anniversary, released on 25 October 2014, which included two new studio recordings. The first single, "Silent Times" was released on 16 September 2014, followed by "Call on Love", released on 18 December 2014. The band also recorded "Eternal Love", the theme song of the Korean drama series, ''[[Healer (TV series)|Healer]]''. The song was written by Lee Sang Joon, Denzil "DR" Remedios, and Ryan Jhun Sewon.<ref>{{cite web|title=[Drama/OST] "Healer" OST Part 1 to be released|url=http://jichangwookkitchen.com/2014/12/07/dramaost-healer-ost-part-1-to-be-released/|access-date=2 February 2015|date=7 December 2014}}</ref> In 2015, the group released the single "I'll Wait for You" on 6 November 2015. In 2016, they released the single "We Shared the Night" on 5 February 2016, their Valentine's Day gift to their fans.

The song "It's Gonna Make Sense" from the album ''Eternity'' was featured in the Indian film ''[[Welcome M1LL10NS]]'', directed by Milroy Goes, in which Mikkel Lentz contributed the background score to the film. The film was filmed in the states of [[Goa]] and [[Punjab, India|Punjab]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5906418/soundtrack|title=Welcome M1LL10NS (2018)|via=www.imdb.com}}</ref> It was also contested at the [[91st Academy Awards]] and qualified<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.asianage.com/life/more-features/261218/waiting-in-the-wings.html|title = Waiting in the Wings|date = 26 December 2018}}</ref> at Oscars 2019 in the General Category.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.heraldgoa.in/Cafe/Aiming-for-the-stars/136558.html |title=Aiming for the stars |date=25 September 2018 |newspaper=[[O Heraldo]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180925010409/https://www.heraldgoa.in/Cafe/Aiming-for-the-stars/136558.html |archive-date=25 September 2018 |place=Panaji}}</ref>

The band had been working on their new record over the course of 2017 and into early 2018. In late January 2018, the band organized a competition over their social media platforms for the title of their upcoming album. Over the course of the week, they released the titles of the songs slated to be released through their new record. On 2 February 2018, the band released a new single titled "Everything You Need".

After the contest, the band announced its winner, as well as the title of their ninth studio album, ''[[Still (Michael Learns to Rock album)|Still]]''. Released on 21 March 2018 through all digital music platforms successfully and on limited number of special physical copies, the album features songs that sound like "Michael Learns to Rock but it sounds like today," according to Wanscher.