At 81, DJ Gloria fills Sweden's dancefloors
- Last updated: August 30, 2025 | 10:52
She drops the beat and gets her groove on, spinning discs like a pro as her head-to-toe sequins twinkle under the lights: 81-year-old DJ Gloria is filling dancefloors across Sweden.
"I've been a DJ for 16 years. Today I'm really good... There's not a person I can't get onto the dancefloor," she told the media at her seniors' residence in a leafy neighbourhood of southern Stockholm.
DJ Gloria, whose real name is Madelein Mansson, plays Sweden's hottest nightclubs with special gigs for crowds over the age of 50 -- ID cards required! -- which primarily draw women who just want to get down and boogie.
On a recent evening at the Josefina club on Stockholm's waterfront, her setlist included hip-swinging hits like "Mamma Mia", "Funkytown", "Moves Like Jagger" and "I've Been Thinking About You".
"She's just fantastic," 63-year-old Eva Jakobson told the media while taking a break from the dancefloor.
"I mean, at that age ... she brings so much energy and love. If you are 55 plus, it's not so easy to find somewhere to go (dancing). And Gloria just started this for all of us."
Another partygoer, 69-year-old Louise, agreed.
"She's the best DJ we have ever had in Sweden," she said.
"She promotes all these women. She makes them strong. Look at them, they are young forever. Love her!"
Mansson decided to become a DJ after her husband passed away when she was 62, following nine years of caring for him around-the-clock.
"I was depressed. Listless and sad," she recalled.
She chose to become an aerobics instructor. Putting the music together for her classes was great fun, and her playlists grew longer and longer.
"One night I was having dinner with friends. We were sitting outside, it was summer and we were drinking wine, and I heard myself say, 'I think I'm going to be a DJ'."
'In bed by 11:00 pm'
A friend's DJ son gave her three private lessons and she was on her way.
"I was really bad in the beginning," she admitted. She visited other clubs to see how DJs worked.
She discovered there was not a single Swedish club that opened before 11:00 pm.
"Scandalous! I want to be home and in bed by 11:00 pm. So I asked a friend, 'Do you want to start a 50-plus disco with me?'"
The friend agreed, and now they run a company together.
DJ Gloria's gigs usually start around 6:00 pm and wrap up around 11:00 pm.
She kicks off every set with "I Will Survive" by Gloria Gaynor.
"It's totally perfect for starting a disco... It has 116 to 118 beats per minute. So it's not too fast and not too slow," she said. "And the lyrics are good."
Sometimes she rounds off the evening with Beyonce's version of "At Last", or a little Elvis, or "sometimes with AC/DC's 'Thunderstruck' if I'm in the mood".
Selfies and new music
At her gigs, the Swede can be seen interacting with the crowd, clapping, stepping and swinging lithely to the thumping beat, her dazzling "DJ Gloria" headphones hugging her ears.
Some women come up her booth to take selfies with her, while others request songs on colourful Post-it notes on a side table.
Mansson -- who has a varied background as a jazz singer, a clothing designer and garden centre owner -- keeps up with music trends, picking up influences from everyone she meets.
"I recently met a 15-year-old girl who was listening to The Weeknd and Drake. I think they're great."
And while she already has DJ gigs booked a year in advance, she also has another side hustle up her sequined sleeve.
"I'm writing a book about exercise for seniors called 'Good Enough: A Little But Often'."
Agence France-Presse