Early years Janson was born and raised in
Hammarö, in the province of
Värmland, Sweden. At the age of nine, he began taking cello lessons while three years later starting to learn how to play the guitar, today his main instrument. Before entering high school, where he studied music, Janson already had founded his own
jazz-rock band,
Mantra, in which he played the guitar and wrote all the music. The band was dissolved in 1981 when Janson decided to move to
Stockholm, where he lives today. Settled in the capital, Janson became a coveted
studio musician also frequently being engaged as a record producer and music arranger. In addition he worked as a guitarist on tours with artists such as
Roxette, Michael Ruff Band,
Nils Landgren Funk Unit,
Tomas Ledin and
Ratata. In 1989, Janson recorded and released a solo album,
Livingroom, for which he was nominated a
Swedish Grammis Award, equivalent to the
Grammy in the United States.
Strings and orchestra arranger In 1992, Janson teamed up with his brother
Ulf Janson starting to write music arrangements for orchestras, both also working as
conductors. Through the years they have collaborated with the
London Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the
City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra and the
Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra. The opera crossover quartet
Il Divo was formed by the music manager
Simon Cowell in 2003. Their
self-titled debut album was released in November the following year and went straight to number one in the UK and in seven other countries. Henrik and Ulf Janson arranged the orchestra and worked as conductors on parts of the album, On each three records, Henrik also was engaged as a guitarist. as well as in eight other countries. Two years later, in 2009, they returned working with Potts on his sophomore album
Passione. • "
That's My Goal" with
Shayne Ward, the 2005
X Factor winner • "
Evergreen" with
Will Young, the 2002
Pop Idol winner • "
Anyone of Us (Stupid Mistake)" with
Gareth Gates, the 2002
Pop Idol runner-up • "
If I Let You Go", "
Fool Again" and "
My Love", all with
Westlife, released in 1999-2000 Other songs including string arrangements by Janson are "
Fuckin' Perfect" and "
I Don't Believe You" (both with
Pink), "
Toxic" (
Britney Spears), "
The Call" and "
Show Me the Meaning of Being Lonely" (both with the
Backstreet Boys). with music written and produced by Janson for the event, was performed by the Swedish opera trio Divine. == Personal life ==