Marie Fredriksson, who as the singer of Roxette was one of the most recognisable voices in 1980s and 90s pop, has died aged 61 following a long illness.

The voice behind It Must Have Been Love had suffered from health problems after undergoing radiation treatment for a brain tumour. The song is a power ballad and is a masterpiece of pain.

Her family said in a statement to Expressen, a newspaper in her native Sweden: “It is with great sadness that we have to announce that one of our biggest and most beloved artists is gone.”

In September 2002, Fredriksson had a seizure in her bathroom and suffered a cracked skull. A subsequent MRI scan revealed she had a brain tumour, and she was given a 25% chance of survival. She survived, but had health problems as a result of radiation therapy. She was able to perform until 2016, when she announced her retirement due to the effects of her illness.

Her partner in Roxette, composer Per Gessle, expressed his love for Fredriksson and her family, and said: “Things will never be the same.”

The pair, who first met in the late 1970s, formed in 1986 on the suggestion of a Swedish record executive. Fredriksson had had a moderate solo career, while Gessle had found success with his band Gyllene Tider, who had broken up after renaming themselves Roxette.

The duo had hits in Sweden, but it wasn’t until an American exchange student took their second album back to Minneapolis, and handed it to a radio station, that they became a word-of-mouth success in the US. Beginning with The Look in 1989, they had four US No 1 hits,  Listen to Your Heart, Joyride, and perhaps the best known of all power ballad It Must Have Been Love, which also reached No 3 in the UK and was included on the soundtrack to ‘Pretty Woman’.

Fredriksson is survived by her husband, music producer Mikael Bolyos, who she married in 1994, and their two children Josefin Bolyos, 26, and Oscar Bolyos, 23.