# Nina Persson

Nina Elisabet Persson (Swedish: ; born 6 September 1974) is the lead singer and lyricist for the Swedish rock band The Cardigans. She also has worked as a solo artist, releasing two albums as A Camp and one under her own name, and has appeared as a guest artist with several other acts.

## Career

Persson made her acting debut in the film Om Gud vill which was released in 2006.
She appears on the Manic Street Preachers song "Your Love Alone Is Not Enough", which reached #2 on the UK chart, on the album Send Away the Tigers. She also features on the 2009 Sparklehorse/Danger Mouse collaboration Dark Night of the Soul singing "Daddy's Gone".
Persson's first solo album released under her own name, Animal Heart, was released on 10 February 2014 on the independent British record label Lojinx Records.
In 2016, Persson appeared as a guest vocalist on the Local Natives song "Dark Days," singing the second verse.
In October 2022, Domino Recording Company posted a single by James Yorkston, Persson and The Secondhand Orchestra called "Hold Out For Love." The track was from the forthcoming album The Great White Sea Eagle. She worked with James Yorkston and Karl-Jonas Winqvist of The Second Hand Orchestra on that album in Malmo. She toured in the UK with them in 2022 and 2023.
She has said that the Cardigans may reform occasionally to play together, but there are no plans to work in a studio to create new music together.

## Personal life

Persson grew up in Jönköping, Sweden. "I grew up in a middle-class, academic family," Persson said in 2014: "I lived in a villa with a garden. I had two younger brothers."
She did not want to be a musician growing up, having an interest in art instead, which resulted in her attending art school. "I never really strived to be a musician; I was just, sort of, recruited into this band. I was bored out of my mind in this small, safe place (Jönköping). I was like, 'Awesome, I get to hang with fun guys.'"
On 16 June 2001, Persson married American songwriter and author Nathan Larson.
Persson was diagnosed with cervical cancer in 2009 and underwent surgical treatment.
After three attempts at in vitro fertilization, their son was born on 30 September 2010. For several years the family resided in Harlem, New York City, but in 2015 they decided to relocate to Malmö, the former base of the Cardigans. In an interview with Swedish daily Dagens Nyheter in March 2018, Persson talked about her expatriate years and the return to Sweden. She pointed out that the return to her native country was family business and did not reflect any wish to reboot her old band.

## Discography
### Studio albums

List of studio albums, with selected chart positions and certifications :
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Certifications |
| Title | Album details | SWE | DEN | FIN | UK | Certifications |
| Animal Heart | Released: 29 January 2014 Label: Lojinx, The End Records Formats: CD, LP, digital download | 2 | 14 | 19 | 120 | |

### Singles

* 1996: "Desafinado" (Japanese-only release)
* 2000: "Theme from 'Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased)", Nina Persson & David Arnold (#49 on UK singles chart)
* 2007: "Your Love Alone Is Not Enough", Manic Street Preachers feat. Nina Persson (#2 on UK singles chart)
* 2014: "Animal Heart"
* 2014: "Sometimes"
* 2015: "The Legacy (Theme Song)"
* 2018: "Var ligger Sverige?" (feat. Thomas Öberg, Moto Boy & !Regeringen)
* 2018: "Ligg Lågt" (feat. Thomas Öberg, Moto Boy, !Regeringen & Selma Modéer Wiking)

### Soundtracks

* 2014: "Tänk Om... Musiken Från Filmen"
* 2015: "What if... (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack What if...)"

### Collaborations and soundtrack appearances

| Year | Song Title | Main Artist | Album |
| 1996 | "Autumn Waltz" | Scents | Scents |
| 1996 | "Desafinado" | Nina Persson | 12 Standards |
| 1998 | "Som Glas" | Fläskkvartetten | Jag Ger Vad Som Helst För Lite Solsken |
| 1998 | "Appalachian Lullaby" | Shudder To Think | First Love, Last Rites OST |
| 1998 | "J’en Ai Marre D’être Bleu" | Mathieu Boogaerts | J’en Ai Marre D’être Deux |
| 1999 | "Is It Really Real?" | Nathan Larson | I Am Not Scared (Promo) |
| 1999 | "What the Hell Are You Crying For?" | Nathan Larson | Desert Blue OST |
| 1999 | "The Bluest Eyes in Texas" | Nina Persson | Boys Don't Cry OST |
| 2000 | "Theme From Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased)" | Nina Persson | Randall and Hopkirk OST |
| 2000 | "Lid" | Ray Wonder | A New Kind of Love |
| 2001 | "Losing My Religion" | Nina Persson & Nathan Larson | Lad De Små Børn OST |
| 2001 | "Gold Day" | Sparklehorse | It's A Wonderful Life |
| 2001 | "Apple Bed" | Sparklehorse | It's A Wonderful Life |
| 2001 | "Just Because a Man Expects Me To" | Nathan Larson | Jealous God |
| 2001 | "Exit Smiling" | Nathan Larson & Patrik Bartosch | The Château OST |
| 2002 | "Bängen Trålar" | Soundtrack of Our Lives | Nationalsånger |
| 2003 | "Friends" | Backyard Babies | Stockholm Syndrome |
| 2004 | "Dirty Love" | Division of Laura Lee | Das Not Compute |
| 2004 | "Fiction" | Nathan Larson | FilmMusik |
| 2004 | "Le Pont De La Tristesse" (a.k.a. "Creme Fresh (Moods)") | Nathan Larson | FilmMusik |
| 2004 | "Miss You" | Marit Bergman | Baby Dry Your Eyes |
| 2004 | "Outro" | Marit Bergman | Baby Dry Your Eyes |
| 2004 | "Prom Night" | Sir Eric Beyond | The Beauty of Nature EP |
| 2005 | "You Hate My Beautiful Love" | Monkeystrikes | You Hate My Beautiful Love |
| 2005 | "Flyg Min Väg" | Freddie Wadling | Jag är Monstret |
| 2005 | "Aviva Pastoral" | Nathan Larson | Palindromes OST |
| 2005 | "Lullaby (Aviva's and Henrietta's Theme)" | Nathan Larson | Palindromes OST |
| 2005 | "Up on a Cloud" | Nathan Larson | Palindromes OST |
| 2005 | "Roaring 40's" | Christian Kjellvandar | Faya |
| 2005 | "Little Fish Theme" | Nathan Larson | Little Fish OST |
| 2006 | "Angel's Fall (Sorry Angel)" | Nina Persson | Monsieur Gainsbourg Revisited |
| 2006 | "Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground" | Nina Persson | Om Gud Vill OST |
| 2006 | "Itämaista Rakkautta (Oriental Love)" | Nina Persson | Om Gud Vill OST |
| 2006 | "Black Winged Bird" | Nina Persson | The Cake Sale |
| 2007 | "Your Love Alone Is Not Enough" | Manic Street Preachers | Send Away the Tigers |
| 2007 | "Your Love Alone... (Nina Solo Acoustic)" | Manic Street Preachers | Your Love Alone Is Not Enough |
| 2007 | "Vänner" | Svante Thuresson | Svante Thuresson och Vänner |
| 2008 | "Land of a Thousand Dances" | Dave Cloud & The Gospel of Power | Pleasure Before Business |
| 2008 | "Baby You Got Me Wrong" | Florian Horwath | Sleepyhead |
| 2008 | "Why'd You Come in Here Looking Like That?" | Jill Johnson | Music Row |
| 2009 | "Electric Flowers" (w/ RZA) | N.A.S.A. | The Spirit of Apollo |
| 2009 | "Tears from a Child's Eye" | Nicolai Dunger | Play |
| 2009 | "Daddy's Gone" | Dangermouse/Sparklehorse | Dark Night of the Soul |
| 2009 | "Electraglide" | Aurelio Valle | Tender Parasites OST |
| 2009 | "Lament Of Belles" | Nathan Larson | Lula Magazine |
| 2010 | "Brothers in Arms" | Georg Wadenius | Reconnection |
| 2010 | "The Blues" | Primary 1 | Record Store Day 10" |
| 2011 | "Cowboys and Hobos" | Nathan Larson | My Idiot Brother OST |
| 2011 | "The End of the Line" (Recorded 1997) | Lars Bygden | Songs I Wrote |
| 2011 | "Jolene" | Dollykollot | Dollykollot |
| 2011 | "Daddy Was An Old Time Preacher Man" | Dollykollot | Dollykollot |
| 2011 | "The Weed Had Got There First" | Dollykollot | Dollykollot |
| 2011 | "Place I Love" | Nathan Larson | Dark Horse OST |
| 2012 | "Make Believe" | James Iha | Look to the Sky |
| 2012 | "Till Next Tuesday" | James Iha | Look to the Sky |
| 2012 | "I Swung the Election" | The Citizens Band | Grab a Root and Growl |
| 2014 | "Heat" | Brothers of End | Shakers Love |
| 2014 | "Fight Song (God's Pocket)" | Nathan Larson | God's Pocket OST |
| 2015 | "Static" | Ben Lee | A Mixtape From Ben Lee |
| 2016 | "Come Give Me Love" | Timo Räisänen | Timo sjunger Ted |
| 2016 | "Saturday" | Nina Persson | Hello Mark Linkous - A Tribute to Sparklehorse |
| 2016 | "Dark Days" | Local Natives | Sunlit Youth |
| 2017 | "Dead for Seconds" | Moto Boy | NEW MUSIC |
| 2022 | "Hold Out For Love" | James Yorkston with The Second Hand Orchestra | The Great White Sea Eagle |