Born in Lund, Sweden on June 13rd, 1986, music earlier tooks a part of Måns’ life when his parents took him to piano lessons. It obviously wasn’t love at first sight but when Måns started to play guitar, music became a part of him. He decided to enter a music school but it didn’t work as he planned. « There were 200 people in my grade alone who were just as talented as I was, or maybe even more so I thought that what everyone had told me was true – it was a hard business and it was never going to work. »
At the age of nineteen, while he didn’t have any plan for his future, friends convinced him to try his chance going to Idol 2005 audition in Lund. He won over the jury for the next step of the show singing Enrique Iglesias’ song called Hero. “It was my first time in Stockholm, and it was so much fun to be able to go to the coolest clubs. I focused on that more than the competition, but I still came fifth despite often singing pretty badly.” reports Måns about his Idol experience.
After Idol, Måns felt lost concerning his future. Let’s Dance wanted him for its first season in Sweden, he first declined but finally accepted to be a part of it when he knew it will be as the american equivalent program. Måns won the contest with his partner Maria Karlsson. The dance program became a huge springboard for his career. He was the lead role in Grease and signed a recording contract. Måns started to write his own songs and in 2007, two years after Idol, Cara Mia became a huge hit in Sweden after Måns’ Melodifestival participation where he ended up 3rd. Soon, his first album Stand by for… knows the same success story.
In 2009, after a role on the cast of Footloose, Måns released a new album, MZW, which knew the same success than the first one. Hope & Glory, one of the MZW single, represented him in Melodifestivalen again. “My first album was more in keeping with the style of Cara Mia, and my second was meant to be cooler and more adult,” he explains in regards to the growing maturity of his songwriting. “But both of them scream identity crisis! I wrote whatever I felt like and hoped that it all made sense.” says Måns.
Then, Måns focused on his TV host career. In 2010, he hosts Melodifestival and Allsång på Skansen, a major event every summer in Sweden, aired on SVT at Skansen in Stockholm Center. Måns becomes a beloved personality by swedish people but Måns misses music and starts to think about doing a new album. He also admits that he “ tried to be more of a celebrity than an artist, but that’s not me at all.” Then, he moves to Spain with some friends and writes his album Barcelona Sessions. “That’s an album that wasn’t very hit-orientated,” he explains. “It was just about making music that we wanted to listen to, and writing lyrics that reflected my feelings and experiences over the years.” The first hit was Broken Parts followed by Run for your life. The risk was that fans could miss the « old Måns » but instead of this, this album made his public grow up with people of his age or even older.
2015 is a big year for Måns. His third Melodifestivalen participation is the winning one and this means the road is opened for Måns to fulfil his dream to win the Eurovision. “I’ve always been a fan of both Melodifestivalen and Eurovision, Eurovision is like the Super Bowl of music.” And he knows as much Eurovision could be a chance to access a european tour with his bands, Zappanone. Måns’ performance with MP – the famous animated stick man convinced both the audience and the jury. Måns wins the competition with 365 points.
Heroes becomes a hit through Europe and becomes the lead song of his album Perfectly Damaged before the release of Should’ve gone home that will record on its french version – Je ne suis qu’un homme, too. In 2016, the running winner of the Eurovision co-hosts the show with Petra Mede in Stockholm. At the end of April 2017, Måns comes back in charts with his new album Chameleon and begins a european tour. A dream, a goal that he’s living for real now.