Jan Eggum

Who is Jan Eggum?

Jan Eggum is a Norwegian singer-songwriter who has been active since 1975. He is often characterised as a "face for the melancholy", and the themes in his songs are often broken hearts, loneliness and sorrow. Sometimes his lyrics have social criticism, but he also shows more trivial and funny sides of himself.

He started as a pub singer in London, and made his living for two years writing songs in English. One of his most famous songs – "En natt forbi" – was originally written in English, with the title "Alone, Awake".

Eggum got a record contract in 1975 with the Norwegian record company CBS, and recorded his debut album "Trubadur" that autumn. His breakthrough came after his third release, the album "Heksedans" from 1977. This album gave him the Norwegian award Spellemannsprisen, and on this album has such classics as "Mor, jeg vil tilbake".

Since this, Eggum has been one of Norway's most well known artists, both as a solo artist and with others. An example of the latter is his membership in Gitarkameratene with fellow guitarists Lillebjørn Nilsen, Øystein Sunde and Halvdan Sivertsen.

Eggum has been a minor political candidate for the Norwegian Green Party.