In the world of bubblegum pop, there’s been no one who could touch Aqua’s fame.

Aqua (1996-2001/2008-2012/2016) is a Danish-Norwegian bubblegum pop group who are extremely famous not only in Denmark, but worldwide. They’ve sold a total of 28 million albums and singles worldwide. The group consists of Lene Nystrøm, René Dif, Søren Rasted, and ex-member Claus Norreen. The group is most known for their massive single “Barbie Girl”.

The group members met in 1988 and were going to be called Joyspeed. The band formed in 1994 and their first single was “Itsy Bitsy Spider”. The single was a commercial failure and failed to chart in other countries. After this failure, the group left their label to go to record label company Universal and changed their name to Aqua.

The second single they released was “Roses Are Red”, which was successful and later certified platinum. “My Oh My” was the third single and was later certified Gold in just six days.

In 1997, Aqua released their debut album, Aquarium. The album reached number one in Norway, Denmark, New Zealand, Europe, and Australia. Most of the singles on the album reached the number one spot in Denmark. It has since sold over fourteen million copies world wide.

When “Barbie Girl” became the third single, it was highly controversial because of the sexual nature of the song. Mattel later sued the group because they believed that the song damaged the Barbie brand. However, the court dismissed the case. Despite that, it became the group’s most successful song and one of the most popular bubblegum pop songs. Impressively, the song charted in America in the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100.

Aquarius was released in 2000. The single “Cartoon Heroes” was number one in Norway and Denmark and reached the top ten in other countries.

The next year, Aqua announced that they would be splitting as it was obvious that the group wasn’t getting along. However, the split didn’t last as they returned in 2007. In 2009, the group released their second greatest hits album called Greatest Hits which included a new song, “Back to the 80’s”.

In 2011, Aqua finally released their highly anticipated album Megalomania. They announced the release of the album a year before. What was interesting about the album was that it wasn’t bubblegum pop but more mature and mainstream dance. The album had mixed reviews from fans and critics, however, the album still was successful.

In 2016, the group reunited again to perform on tour. Norreen also left the group at this time due to not having an interest in touring.