Robin Miriam Carlsson (Swedish pronunciation: [ˈrɔ̌bːɪn ˈkɑ̌ːɭsɔn]; born 12 June 1979), known professionally as Robyn (pronounced [ˈrɔ̌bːʏn]), is a Swedish singer, songwriter, record producer, and DJ. Musically, she is noted for performing upbeat dance-oriented songs that often feature melancholic lyrics, and has been called the "stateswoman of alt-pop" by The Guardian.
Her 1995 debut album Robyn Is Here produced two Billboard Hot 100 top 10 singles: "Do You Know (What It Takes)" and "Show Me Love". Her second and third albums, My Truth (1999) and Don't Stop the Music (2002), were released in Sweden. After forming her own label, Konichiwa Records, and becoming an independent artist, Robyn returned to international success with her fourth album, Robyn (2005). The album brought a Grammy Award nomination and spawned the singles "Be Mine!" and "With Every Heartbeat" – the latter of which topped the charts in the United Kingdom.
Robyn released a trilogy of mini-albums in 2010, with all parts culminating in her seventh studio album, Body Talk (2010). They received unanimous critical acclaim and three Grammy Award nominations, and produced three top-10 singles: "Dancing On My Own", "Hang with Me" and "Indestructible". The sleeper hit “Dancing On My Own” is often credited as her signature song and helped rejuvenate her career. Robyn followed this with two collaborative EPs: Do It Again (2014) with Röyksopp, and Love Is Free (2015) with La Bagatelle Magique. She followed this with her eighth solo album, Honey (2018) to widespread acclaim. After an extended hiatus of eight years, she released her ninth solo album, Sexistential (2026), which received critical acclaim and featured the top-ten single "Dopamine".
Robin Miriam Carlsson was born on 12 June 1979 in Stockholm. Robyn's parents led an independent theatre group ("Scheherazade"), and growing up in that environment influenced her sense of style: "I was around people who dressed up for work every day, and so the concept of how you can use clothes to change your personality or communicate who you are is very interesting to me." Robyn has two younger siblings.
Robyn voiced the character of Miranda in the 1989 Swedish-Norwegian animated film The Journey to Melonia. Directed by Per Åhlin, the film is loosely based on William Shakespeare's The Tempest.
Robyn recorded "Du kan alltid bli nummer ett" ("You Can Always be Number One"), the theme song for the Swedish television show Lilla Sportspegeln, in 1991 at age 12. This was a version in Swedish of the theme song for Sport Goofy in Soccermania (1987). Robyn performed her first original song at that age on another television show, Söndagsöppet (Sundays). Robyn performed an opening act for Tina Turner in Sweden.
As a reaction to her parents' divorce, she wrote a song called "In My Heart". She was discovered by Swedish pop singer Meja in the early 1990s when Meja and her band, Legacy of Sound, visited Robyn's school as part of a musical workshop. Impressed by Robyn's performance of "In My Heart", Meja contacted her management and a meeting was arranged with Robyn and her parents. At age 14, after completing middle school education in 1993, Robyn signed with Ricochet Records Sweden (which was acquired by BMG in 1994). Robyn collaborated with producers Max Martin and Denniz Pop, who gave the singer a gritty (but popular) sound.
1994–2004: Robyn Is Here, My Truth and Don't Stop the Music
She began her pop-music career at age 15, signing with RCA Records in 1994 and releasing her debut single ("You've Got That Somethin'") in Sweden. Later that year, Robyn's Swedish breakthrough came with the single "Do You Really Want Me (Show Respect)". The singles became part of the album Robyn Is Here, which was released in October 1995. Robyn also contributed vocals to Blacknuss' 1996 single, "Roll with Me." She entered Sweden's pre-selection for the Eurovision Song Contest 1997 as co-writer and producer of "Du gör mig hel igen" ("You Make Me Whole Again"), which was performed by Cajsalisa Ejemyr. In Melodifestivalen 1997, the song finished fourth.
Robyn's US breakthrough came in late 1997, when the dance-pop/R&B singles "Show Me Love" and "Do You Know (What It Takes)" reached the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100. She performed "Show Me Love" on the American children's show All That that year. She also made two appearances on Soul Train: on October 4, 1997, performing "Do You Know (What It Takes)" and "Just Another Girlfriend", and returned as the headlining act on April 25, 1998, performing "Do You Know (What It Takes)" again as well as the QDIII remix of "Do You Really Want Me (Show Respect)". The songs also performed well in the UK. Robyn re-released "Do You Really Want Me (Show Respect)" internationally, but it was less successful than the other releases. It was ineligible for the US charts because there was no retail single available, but it reached number 32 on the Hot 100 Airplay chart. "Show Me Love" was featured in the 1998 Lukas Moodysson film, Fucking Åmål, and the song's title was used as the title of the film in English-speaking countries. As Robyn's popularity grew internationally, she was diagnosed with exhaustion and returned to Sweden to recover.
Robyn's second album, My Truth, was released in Sweden in May 1999 and subsequently in Europe. The single, "Electric", was a commercial success and propelled My Truth to the number-two position in Sweden. The autobiographical album included the tracks "Universal Woman" and "Giving You Back". Despite her US success with Robyn Is Here, My Truth was not released in that country, partly because it included two songs which referenced an abortion she had in her teens. Robyn contributed to Christian Falk's 1999 debut solo album, Quel Bordel (What a Mess), appearing on "Remember" and "Celebration". The following year, she appeared on "Intro/Fristil" on Petter's self-titled album. In 2001, Robyn performed "Say You'll Walk the Distance" for the soundtrack of On the Line.
She signed a worldwide deal with Jive Records in July 2001, moving from BMG after the singer was "disillusioned with the lack of artistic control [she] had there"; a year later, Jive was acquired by BMG when it bought Zomba Records. Robyn later said, "I was back where I started!" In October 2002, she released the album Don't Stop the Music in Sweden. The album's singles, "Keep This Fire Burning" and "Don't Stop the Music", received airplay in Scandinavia and elsewhere in Europe. The promotional single "O Baby" became the fifth-most-played song on Swedish radio in 2003. The title track was later covered by the Swedish girl group Play, and the lead single ("Keep This Fire Burning") was covered by the British soul singer Beverley Knight. In May 2004, Robyn's Best was released in the US. It was a condensed version of her debut album, with no material from her later releases. In 2006, after her departure from BMG, Det Bästa Med Robyn (The Best of Robyn) was released in Sweden with material from her first three albums; notable omissions, however, were the singles "Don't Stop the Music" and "Keep This Fire Burning".
2004–2009: Konichiwa Records and Robyn
The decade-long relationship between Robyn and her label ended in 2004. When Jive Records reacted negatively to "Who's That Girl?"'s new electropop sound, the singer decided to release music on her own. In early 2005, she announced that she was leaving Jive to start her own label. Konichiwa Records was created to liberate Robyn artistically. She said on her website that her new album would be released earlier than anticipated, with notable collaborators including Klas Åhlund from Teddybears STHLM, Swedish duo The Knife and former Cheiron Studios producer Alexander Kronlund.
Robyn released the single "Be Mine!" in March 2005. Her fourth album, Robyn, was her first number-one album in Sweden when it was released a month later. Influenced by electronica, rap, R&B and new-age music, Robyn was critically praised and earned the singer three 2006 Swedish Grammy Awards: "Årets Album" (Best Album), "Årets Kompositör" (Best Writer, with Klas Åhlund) and "Årets Pop Kvinnlig" (Best Pop Female). The album evoked global interest in Robyn, who was recognised for co-writing the song "Money for Nothing" for Darin Zanyar (his debut single). She released three more singles—"Who's That Girl?", "Handle Me" and "Crash and Burn Girl"—from the eponymous LP, which was popular in Sweden. Robyn appeared on the Basement Jaxx track "Hey U" from their 2006 album, Crazy Itch Radio, and contributed "Dream On" and "C.C.C" to Christian Falk's People Say (his second album) that year. In December 2006, Robyn released The Rakamonie EP in the UK as a preview of her more-recent material; this was followed by the March 2007 release of "Konichiwa Bitches". A revised edition of Robyn was released in the UK the following month, with two new tracks—"With Every Heartbeat" (a collaboration with Kleerup) and "Cobrastyle" (a cover of a 2006 single by Swedish rockers Teddybears)—with slightly altered versions of the original music.