Robert Wells And His Orchestra - Sun Studio Sessions (2017)

Robert Wells is a Swedish composer, pianist, and singer who debuted as a recording artist in the late '80s and is best known for his long-running musical production Rhapsody in Rock. Born April 7, 1962, in Stockholm, Sweden, he studied at the Royal Swedish Music Academy, beginning his education there at the young age of 11. As a recording artist, he made his commercial debut in 1987 with the single "Upp På Berget" and the eponymous album Robert Wells, both of which were Top 20 hits on the Swedish charts. A couple years later, after the fairly unsuccessful second album The Way I Feel (1988), Wells released Rhapsody in Rock (1989), a musical production that mixed classical with rock & roll and boogie-woogie. The album was a modest hit at the time of its release, reaching the Top 30, and spawned a couple sequels: Rhapsody in Rock II (1990) and Rhapsody in Rock III (1993). Following a collaborative album with Charlie Norman, Norman and Wells (1996), Wells released Rhapsody in Rock: Complete (1998), a new version of his signature musical production. It was a smash hit this time, reaching number six on the albums chart, and spawned a bunch of follow-up albums: Rhapsody in Rock: World Wide Wells (2000), Rhapsody in Rock: Completely Live (2001), Rhapsody in Rock: The Complete Collection (2003), Rhapsody in Rock: Anniversary (2004), and The Best of Rhapsody 1998-2008 (2008), most of which were Top Ten hits. In 2009 Wells scored the biggest hit single of his career to date, the chart-topping smash "Handful of Keys." ~ Jason Birchmeier