Ulf Ekberg is the only non-Berggren in Ace of Base. His responsibilities to the band lie mainly in composing lyrics and music and producing; however, he has lent his vocal talents to tracks such as "Don't Turn Around," "Happy Nation," Wheel of Fortune", "Living in Danger," and, most recently, "Perfect World," on Ace of Base's sophomore effort, "The Bridge." Ace of Base's songs are deceptively sweet and, depending on your view, simple; they give no hint of the turmoil that plagued Ulf during his teenage years, when he was deeply involved with Gothenburg's skinhead gangs. However, since those troubled times, Ulf has completely turned his life around, renounced the neo-Nazi doctrines of hate, and is a productive member of society, promoting positive values of love and tolerance through his music (a prime example is the song "Happy Nation," penned by himself and Jonas). Here is a brief summary of his life previous to Ace of Base, gathered from various sources throughout Europe and the U.S. He's got a younger sister (by two years) named Annika. His father, Mats, is 53 and is a data engineer. He coached the Swedish tennis team in the 70's. Ulf's mom Monika is a psychiatrist (or a psychologist) and also approximately 53 years old. At the age of four, his behavior became destructive; for instance, he and his buddies burned down a playground (and some say, the school as well) When he started in school, some kids from another gang were in his class. Ulf, also, was quite a bright student--his father had taught him so much math that he was smarter than his teacher. That pissed the teacher off, and he sent Ulf to the principal's office as often as he could. The kids thought he was a nerd, and kicked his butt--not exactly a happy beginning. In 1979 Mats gave up on the Swedish team, and started with the Danish tennis team instead. Danish kids don't like Swedish kids, so that started some fights. Ulf even knocked another kid's tooth out during a fight, but it might have been an accident. After three years, Monika and the kids went back to Gothenburg, and Ulf started in a new school. His dad stayed in Denmark for another three years, working with the tennis team. It was during this period that Ulf started drinking and doing drugs. He also joined the skinhead gang BSS (it translates into Keep Sweden Swedish). When the gang broke off into two factions, he was drawn into the more radical of the two, which sided with the Aryan Resistance. Ulf realized that this lifestyle was no good when the violence hit too close to home--two of his closest friends were killed. At 16 he met this girl, Pernilla, and she dragged him out of that life. He started as a cook on a ferry that sailed between Gothenburg and Kiel, Germany. Ulf and Pernilla didn't stay together very long, but Ulf cared for her very much. After three years at sea, he started his music career. He made music on a Commodore20, and he met Jonas in 1989. Jonas made the music, and Ulf handled all the technical stuff. Ulf slept in the studio, rented out his apartment in the early days, and lived on microwave food; every penny went to finance new equipment. When Ace of Base released their very first album in Scandinavia, "Happy Nation", the band discussed replacing Ulf, because of the notoriety that his past might bring to band. Kjeld Wennick, the owner of Mega Records, was informed of Ulf's past through an anonymous phone call; naturally, this angered him, and that was when they--Ulf included--debated his future role with the band. However, they decided that Ulf should stay in the band, and decided to be as up front as possible on the whole issue. In March 1993, they held a press conference in which Ulf revealed his past and apologized for it. USA Today said that it caused a scandal across Scandinavia at the time; however, it is in the past and se ems to be a relative non-issue these days. During his teen years--at the age of fifteen--he had his first "experience" with girls. In an interview, he has described it as "Nothing good!" and said that it came about when he was exceedingly drunk one night. These days, he's settled down quite a bit; he's not only active with Ace of Base but has worked with other projects, like Metrix, and has been rumored to have been approached by David Hasselhoff (of Baywatch fame). He has also endeavored into commercials, appearing in a German shoe store commercial, and reportedly being so amused by the experience that he has started his own production company. He is currently dating Swedish model and television personality Emma Sjöberg; they reportedly met when he went on her Swedish talk show for an interview. They have been seeing each other since about early spring 1996 and have been seen all over Europe, including Cannes, France and vacationing in Spain in late July/early August. He drives racy cars: a black Ferrari F355 convertible and a black BMW 850i. He currently makes his home in Marbella, Spain, as he is too well-known in Sweden; he prefers Marbella with its spectacular weather and his relative anonymity. Marbella is a small resort town on the Costa del Sol in southern Spain and it is home to many celebrities worldwide; for instance, Ulf's neighbor is Sean Connery.