The Neverending World Tour

"The Neverending World Tour" was the umbrella name used to describe a series of concert tours by Swedish pop duo Roxette. The name was derived from the title of the duo's debut single, 1986's "Neverending Love". Their sixth and final concert tour, it took place from 23 October 2009 until 8 February 2016, and consisted of 17 separate legs which saw the duo performing a total of 256 concerts in Europe, North and South America, Africa, the Middle East, Australasia and Asia.

It was their first concert tour in over eight years, following vocalist Marie Fredriksson's brain tumour diagnosis in September 2002. That diagnosis led to the cancellation of Roxette's planned appearance at the 2002 Night of the Proms concert series. "The Neverending World Tour" began with the band performing at the 2009 edition of that series, followed by a seven-date warm-up tour of Europe the following year, and more extensive tours in support of studio albums Charm School (2011) and Travelling (2012). Despite those two albums being released over the duration of the tour, set lists primarily consisted of many of their greatest hits; Fredriksson was unable to remember the lyrics of new songs because the illness impacted her short-term memory.

The tour received generally positive reviews, with numerous publications praising Fredriksson's voice and the quality of Gessle's songwriting. It was also a commercial success; the band performed to over 2.5 million people by the time the tour concluded in 2016, with a confirmed box office figure of over US$24 million, based on 45 shows reported to Billboard. The tour was due to be extended beyond 2016 as part of promotion for the duo's tenth studio album, Good Karma (2016). However, these dates were cancelled when Fredriksson was advised by her doctors to cease all touring activity, due to poor health.

The duo's seventh studio album, Room Service (2001), was promoted by their first concert tour in almost six years. Roxette were due to follow up this tour with a stint performing on the multiple-act Night of the Proms concert series, which was to begin in October 2002 and would see the band performing throughout Europe with a live orchestra to over 630,000 attendees during 52 shows. However, on 11 September 2002, vocalist Marie Fredriksson fractured her cranium after collapsing in a bathroom in her home. MRI scans later showed she had a brain tumour in the back of her head. She underwent surgery to successfully remove the malignant tumour, followed by months of chemotherapy and radiation treatment, Fredriksson was left permanently blinded in her right eye, and unable to read or write. She also could not speak for a considerable period of time afterward. All promotional activity for the duo's then-upcoming greatest hits compilation The Ballad Hits (2002) was subsequently cancelled, along with their scheduled appearance at Night of the Proms.

Fredriksson and Per Gessle each released solo albums over the following years, briefly reuniting as Roxette to record two new songs for their 2006 greatest hits compilation A Collection of Roxette Hits: Their 20 Greatest Songs!. During the 6 May 2009 date of the "Party Crasher Tour" at the Melkweg in Amsterdam – Gessle's European tour in support of his same-titled 2008 solo album – he and his band were joined on-stage by Fredriksson to perform acoustic renditions of several Roxette songs. Immediately after the gig, Gessle announced to Swedish publication Aftonbladet that Roxette would perform at the 2009 edition of Night of the Proms, which would begin on 23 October. That same date, Swedish newspaper Expressen reported that the duo had been recording material for a new Roxette album since May 2009. Marie also joined Per on stage again on 10 May 2009 at the Cirkus in Stockholm.

The band performed a series of seven warm-up shows throughout Europe, beginning on 4 August 2010 at Leif's Lounge – a music venue at Gessle's own Hotel Tylösand in Halmstad – and concluding on 12 September at the Saint Petersburg Ice Palace. Roxette's eighth studio album, Charm School, was released worldwide from 11 February 2011. Deluxe editions of the CD included a bonus disc containing 12 tracks recorded live in Halmstad, Saint Petersburg and Stavanger during the 2010 tour. The "Charm School World Tour" began on 28 February 2011 and saw the band performing in Europe, Asia, South America, South Africa and the Middle East. They performed at London's Wembley Arena on 15 November, their first concert in the United Kingdom in 17 years, they last played Wembley on 15 November 1994.

Their ninth studio album, Travelling, followed on 26 March 2012. It was a successor to 1992's Tourism, although, unlike that album – which was recorded in various locations and settings throughout the world during their "Join the Joyride! Tour" – Travelling was primarily recorded in studios in Sweden in-between legs of the "Charm School World Tour". "Roxette Live: Travelling the World" was less extensive than the preceding tour: it began on 14 February and lasted seven months, taking the band to Australasia and Asia, North and South America, South Africa and Europe. The first gig of the tour, on 11 February at the Vector Arena in Auckland, was cancelled when Gessle became ill during the flight from Stockholm; it began instead two days later in Australia. Live Nation Entertainment promoted the tour, after multiple local concert promoters in the country refused to work with the duo. Tickets for their 16 February show at the Sydney Entertainment Centre sold out within 30 minutes of going on sale to the public. The band went on to perform to over 100,000 people during their ten Australian shows. By the end of 2012, they had performed 153 concerts to a total audience of 1.5 million people.

Roxette ceased all touring activity in 2013, with Gessle rejoining Gyllene Tider to release their sixth studio album, Dags att tänka på refrängen, that April, while Fredriksson released her eighth solo album, Nu!, later that year in November. Fredriksson and Gyllene Tider each toured separately in Sweden to support their releases. A live CD and DVD/Blu-ray box set, Live: Travelling the World, was released on 6 December 2013. The set consisted of footage from three concerts from the South American leg of "Roxette Live: Travelling the World". In 2014, Roxette began the "XXX – The 30th Anniversary Tour", with dates initially running from 28 October to 29 November and consisting of 15 concerts in North Asia and Europe. The release of a new greatest hits compilation, Roxette XXX – The 30 Biggest Hits on 11 November, was timed to coincide with these concerts, except in Australia, where The RoxBox!: A Collection of Roxette's Greatest Songs was released on 6 February 2015—four days before the beginning of a tour there.