Kee Marcello

Kee Marcello (born Kjell Hilding Lövbom on February 20, 1960, in Ludvika, Sweden) is a Swedish musician, best known as the former guitarist in the hard rock band Europe. He is currently pursuing his solo project Kee Marcello’s K2 and is also a member of the glam rock act Easy Action.

Throughout the years, Marcello played in various bands such as Stetson Cody Group, Norbom Hilke and Noice, before he formed Easy Action in 1983. They released two albums, Easy Action and That Makes One, before Marcello left the band in November 1986 to join Europe, replacing their original guitarist John Norum. Marcello had previously collaborated with Europe vocalist Joey Tempest on the single “Give A Helpin’ Hand” for the charity project Swedish Metal Aid. Marcello recorded two albums with Europe, Out of This World and Prisoners in Paradise, before the band decided to go on hiatus in 1992.

In 1993 Marcello and former Easy Action drummer Freddie Von Gerber collaborated in the band Red Fun, and released a self-titled album that featured a melodic metal sound with heavy blues influences. In 1995 Marcello released his first solo album Shine On, which had a west coast influenced sound, similar to The Eagles. In 1999, he made a guest appearance on the In Flames album Colony, contributing the second guitar solo on the song “Coerced Coexistence”.

In 2003 he formed the band Kee Marcello’s K2 and released the album Melon Demon Divine. When Europe reunited with John Norum later that year, Marcello decided not to be part of the reunion. “I told them I didn’t want to participate in a [new] studio album because musically, I want to go in a different kind of direction than the music Europe stands for,” he said in an interview, “Then we talked for a while about doing a six-piece tour – it didn’t turn out that way because of different reasons.”

Easy Action reunited for a gig at the Sweden Rock Festival in 2006 and is currently working on a new studio album. Kee Marcello’s K2 are starting their European tour in November 2009, a new album is due for release in February 2010.