Friday, November 11: Rock Birthdays

Happy Birthday today (Nov. 11) to keyboardist Mic Michaeli of the band Europe. He's 54. Also celebrating is former Accept drummer Stefan Schwarzmann (51).

Keyboardist Mic Michaeli can be heard on one of Europe's biggest songs, "The Final Countdown" and has co-written several Europe songs, including the hit ballad “Carrie”. Europe formed out of Stockholm in 1979 under the name Force with vocalist Joey Tempest, guitarist John Norum, bassist Peter Olsson and drummer Tony Reno. Mic Michaeli joined the band in 1984 for the band’s Wings of Tomorrow tour, taking over for singer Joey Tempest behind the keyboards. The band rose to fame in the 1980’s with their third album, 1986’s The Final Countdown which sold over three million copies in the United States. They toured earlier this year, celebrating the album's 30th anniversary. Eropehas sold over 20 million records worldwide.

Check out Europe appearing in a recent Geico commercial below.