1973–1994: Early life Nystrøm was born in Tønsberg, Norway. When she was a teenager, she became interested in performing. She began modeling whilst also worked as a bartender. From 1990 to 1993, she appeared on the Norwegian game show
Casino, which aired on
TVNorge.
1994–2001: Aqua and Aquarium In 1994, Nystrøm was working as a singer on the Norwegian cruise ship
MS Peter Wessel and was spotted by musician
René Dif. He recruited her as lead singer for the music group
Joyspeed, later renamed
Aqua. The group consisted of vocalists Nystrøm, Dif along with
Søren Rasted and
Claus Norreen. In 2001, the band split.
2002–2006: Solo career and Play With Me After the breakup of Aqua, Nystrøm continued as a soloist. In 2003, she released her first album
Play with Me. It marked a change in her musical style, from the bubblegum sound of Aqua to a more
R&B-influenced style. It reached number 30 on Denmark's
Hitlisten chart and 74 on Norway's
VG-lista chart. The album single "Virgin Superstar" was given some radio airplay, but did not chart and was not released. Her debut single "
It's Your Duty" was released on 8 September. It peaked at number 3 on Denmark's Hitlisten chart and number 9 on Norway's VG-lista chart. In 2004, she released the second single "Pretty Young Thing", a cover of
Stella Soleil, which did not chart. She released a third and fourth single as limited vinyl promos of a cover version of "
Here We Go", which originally was performed by
Moonbaby, and "Scream" to DJs and radio stations. The song "We Wanna Party", which Nystrøm recorded and co-wrote with
Xenomania, appeared on
Girls Aloud's 2008 album
Out of Control. Nystrøm and Xenomania co-wrote two more Girls Aloud songs, the tracks "
No Good Advice" and "You Freak Me Out", which appeared on the Girls Aloud debut album
Sound of the Underground. "No Good Advice" became a breakout hit for the group. In 2005, Nystrøm provided guest vocals on the
LazyB single "I Love N.Y." and as part of charity project Giv Til Asien on the single
Hvor små vi er, which peaked at number 1 at Danish single charts.
2007–present: Aqua reunion On 26 October 2007, Nystrøm reunited with the other members of Aqua. After fielding offers by record companies in Denmark, Canada, United States, and United Kingdom, they settled with an eight concert tour in Denmark as part of the 2008
Grøn Koncert festival. After the big success of the summer concert, Nystrøm continued with work with Aqua and released a new track, "
Back to the 80s", on 25 May 2009. They released their
greatest hits album on 15 June, which featured the track, along with sixteen remastered tracks and three other new songs, "My Mamma Said", "Spin Me a Christmas" and "Live Fast, Die Young". From May to August, they toured Scandinavia and performed at several gigs in Germany, the UK, and France. The greatest hits CD was released in North America and many European countries on 22 September, and in the UK on 29 September. In 2009, Nystrøm had a major role in the 2009 film
Deliver Us from Evil under Danish director
Ole Bornedal. On 14 March 2011, Aqua released the single "
How R U Doin?". They released the album
Megalomania, on 3 October. She is one of the judges for
Voice – Danmarks største stemme (Denmark's version of
The Voice) which aired from November 2011 to February 2012 and also a judge in The Voice of Norway. Nystrøm acted in the movie
Varg Veum – Cold Hearts (2012 film) as Varg Veum's girlfriend, whose profession was that of a social worker. == Personal life ==