Raven was born in Lorenskog, Norway; her father is a teacher. She has an older brother and two younger sisters. Her surname is of Norse origin, with Ravn meaning Raven, which she adopted as her stage name Marion Raven as well as her trademark raven logo. Raven enjoyed singing from a young age, sometimes writing lyrics for the songs she sang.
M2M and international success
In 1995, Raven's father arranged for her to make a demo in a studio in Oslo, together with her childhood friend, Marit Larsen. The duo got a record deal with EMI Norway and formed M2M. A year later, they produced children album titled, "Marit og Marion synger kjente barnesanger" which means "Marit and Marion Sing Well-Known Children Songs". M2M was nominated for the Norwegian Grammy, Spellemannprisen, the following year.  In 1998, M2M started recording pop demos in English and struck a record deal with Atlantic Records. The two collaborated with many songwriters from around the world and produced their multi-platinum debut album, Shades of Purple, that was released in 2000, with the lead single, "Don't Say You Love Me" featuring on the soundtrack of Pokemon: The First Movie. The song was co-produced by Jimmy Bralower and Peter Zizzo (Celine Dion), and mixed by Tom Lord-Alge. It peaked on the Billboard Hot 100 at No. 21, selling 39,000 units in a week, according to SoundScan. Their second album, The Big Room, which was recorded in a studio in Bearsville in Woodstock, New York, was released in 2002. After world tours to promote The Big Room ended, M2M joined Jewel on her world tour as an opening act. M2M later disbanded in September 2002.  Raven was offered a recording contract with Atlantic Records, though the offer was later revoked. She co-wrote "Pointless Relationship" that was the lead single of Australian singer, Tammin Sursok's debut album, 'Whatever Will Be'. She also collaborated on the track "That Day", a song released by Norwegian pop singer, Maria Arredondo, from Arredondo's 2004 follow-up album Not Going Under, and co-wrote the song "Disconnected", a song included on Lindsay Lohan's debut album "Speak" in 2004.
What did Marion Raven do in M2M?
The duo got a record deal with EMI Norway and formed M2M.
The duo got a record deal with EMI Norway and formed M2M.