It 's unbelievable to think that Swedish group Roxette have been around for the past 25 years – producing some of our generation's most classic hits. The singing duo of Marie Fredriksson and Per Gessle have captivated audiences around the world with their chart-topping songs, selling over over an estimated 60 million records globally.

And now after a 8-year hiatus from the music scene, the duo are currently visiting South Africa as part of their world tour to promote their latest album  Charm School – which was released in February earlier this year.

Famous for their chart-topping hits such as the Pretty Woman-soundtrack No.1 hit “It Must Have Must Love”, “Listen To Your Heart” and or even “Joyride”, Marie and Per are currently enjoying their second visit to South Africa. The first was in 1995 as part of their world tour.

In 2002 tragedy almost struck the group when Marie was diagnosed with a brain tumour. She hasn't been the same ever since and underwent rehab to recover from the surgery. These days she's scaled down a great deal of her concerts and gigs and a Roxette reunion in 2008 came about after Per convinced her to return to making “some good classic hits” - after she gave up on being in the spotlight.

Speaking to members of the Cape Town press at a briefing held at Kfm studios this week, Per told reporters that Marie has a schedule that their band's management and touring group “respects very well”. “She's a fighter and even though doing really well, we've had to respect her wishes to spread out concert days and rest days, because she needs to look after her body.”

While Marie was absent from the press conference (taking a rest day), Per said the group had enjoyed being back in SA. “Wherever we go, we're welcomed with open arms by our fans but there's something special about SA and the warm people here. We love performing here for our fans and it's great to see the support we get here. It's amazing!”

Touching on the subject about Roxette's reunion, Per says it's something that “almost never happened”. “Marie and I are very close and having been through so much together over the years, we'd almost lost her. There was a 5 percent chance she could survive, and look today she's back on stage performing again.”

He adds that while Marie was recovering at home in Sweden, they never ruled out a reunion.  “I love to write music and sing songs so I worked on my solo tracks and released some albums. It was during a tour  in 2008, I asked Marie to perform a few Roxette songs with me on stage. Even though she was terrified and scared, the crowd loved her and she saw how much they wanted us as a duo back on stage. That kick-started Roxette's comeback on the music scene.”

And it seems they haven't lost their touch, dazzling Cape Town fans over the past two days – with one more concert to go before heading off to Johannesburg and Sun City.

Per said what he loved most about visiting Cape Town, is the “great vineyards”. “I love SA wine and I've previously brought my family out for a visit a few years ago, and we took a tour to all the wine farms outside Cape Town. While there I met up with Ernie Els (SA golfer) and Bjorn Bjorg (Swedish tennis star) and had a great time. I also love the food here and the great sights of Cape Town.”

And we hear Marie wants to go on a safari, too! Apparently Per's already visited Shamwari Game Reserve in the Eastern Cape, before with his family but Marie's yet to experience the honour of seeing SA's big five in person.

So will Marie and Per continue to deliver the legendary Roxette music we've all become accustomed to after 25 years?

“I feel this is the best Roxette band our fans have ever seen. We're enjoying touring around the world and we'll continue to sing and produce hits as long as Marie's comfortable with how we do things and as long as the fans keep supporting us. All we'd like to do is to continue to make good music!”