Anni-Frid Lyngstad

All you want to know about Anni-Frid Lyngstad

Frida Lyngstad
Lyngstad at the world premiére of the film Mamma Mia! in Stockholm, July 2008.
Lyngstad at the world premiére of the film Mamma Mia! in Stockholm, July 2008.
Background information
Birth name Anni-Frid Synni Lyngstad
Also known as Frida Lyngstad Reuss
Born 15 November 1945 (1945-11-15) (age 63)
Origin Bjørkåsen, Ballangen, Norway
Genre(s) Jazz, easy listening, pop
Occupation(s) Singer
Instrument(s) Vocals, piano
Years active 1967–1984; 1996–2004
Label(s) EMI, Polar Music, Andersson Records
Associated acts ABBA

Anni-Frid, Princess Reuss von Plauen (born Anni-Frid Lyngstad 15 November 1945 in Bjørkåsen, Ballangen, Norway) is a Norwegian-born singer, best known as Frida Lyngstad, one of the four members of Swedish pop group ABBA.[1]

Contents

Early life

Frida was born in Bjørkåsen, a small village Ballangen, near Narvik, north of Norway, as a result of a liaison between 19-year-old Synni Lyngstad (19 June 1926 - 28 September 1947), and a (married) German officer, Alfred Haase (born 1919), just before the end of the Second World War and the German occupation of Norway. Lyngstad's father returned to Germany when his troops were evacuated.

In early 1947, Lyngstad, her mother, and her maternal grandmother, Arntine Lyngstad, left her birthplace because of fear of reprisals from people vengeful towards those who had dealings with the Germans during the occupation. This could entail not just insults, but also forced separation of infants from their parents and relatives (see War children and Lebensborn).

Frida was taken by her grandmother across the border to Sweden and eventually south to the city of Torshälla, (near Eskilstuna). Her mother stayed behind in Norway and worked for a period in the south of the country, but then became ill and traveled to Sweden to be with her mother and daughter. Synni Lyngstad died from kidney disease soon afterwards, aged 21. Lyngstad was raised by her grandmother alone. However, a near contact with her family in Norway continued, and Lyngstad recalls with warmth summer holidays spent with them at her birthplace.

Frida believed that her father had died on his way back to Germany when his ship was reported to have sunk during the war. However, after the German teen magazine Bravo published a poster and a complete biography and a background story of Frida´s life, with names of her father and mother, Fridas half brother in Germany went in to his father Alfred Haase and asked him if he was in Norway/Ballangen during the war. Alfred said yes and his son showed the poster of Frida and said: "This is your daugther". A few months later Frida met his father in Stockholm 1977. Benny was with her and as she wanted to keep this first meeting as private as possible, only one photografer was present. [2]

Career

Lyngstad showed musical talent at an early age, and got her first job as a dance band and schlager singer in 1958, aged 13. Later, she teamed up with a 15-piece 'big band', who performed a jazz repertoire covering Glenn Miller, Duke Ellington and Count Basie; her vocal idols being Ella Fitzgerald and Peggy Lee. In 1963, she formed her own band, the Anni-Frid Four, and married the bass player Ragnar Fredriksson, aged 17. The marriage produced two children, but the couple were divorced by 1970.

In 1967, Frida won the national swedish talent competition named "New Faces", arranged by recordcompany EMI and held at Skansen, Stockholm. The song she had choosen for this occasion was "En Ledig Dag" ("A Day Off"). The first price in this contest was a recording contract with EMI Sweden. Unbeknownst to Lyngstad, the winner of the contest was also expected to appear the same evening in the country's most popular TV show at that time, Hylands Hörna.This happened on the same day Sweden went from driving on the left hand to the right hand, so almost the whole nation were watching TV this evening. Frida performed her winning song and this very first exposure to a wider TV-audience, caused such a big mess and so many record companies and composers got in touch with Frida, EMI, started to fear they might loose their new singer. To be sure, EMI drove all the way from Stockholm to the town Eskilstuna and ended up in Fridas home with the recordingcontract for her to sign. EMI-producer Olle Bergman remembers: "We got so interested and fond of her and I thought she had everything a person needs to become something." This first and unic TV performance can be seen in "Frida-the dvd" and the early songs she recorded for EMI Sweden are included in the EMI compilation Frida 1967-1972, digitally remastred and relseased by EMI Sweden 1997. On September 11 1967, Frida recorded the vocals for "En Ledig Dag", wich was to become her first single for EMI Sweden. Proffessional and selfassure on this first day in the studio, she recorded the vocals in just one take. On 10 January 1968, she performed this song on national TV, and at this occasion briefly met future ABBA member Agnetha Fältskog, who also performed her first single in the same programme. Lyngstad toured Sweden in 1968, and recorded several singles for EMI. She decided to move to Stockholm to start working full time as singer.

Swedish debut album Frida, 1971.

In 1969, she participated in Melodifestivalen - the Swedish heats for the Eurovision Song Contest - with the song "Härlig är vår jord" ("Our Earth is Wonderful"), and finished fourth. Backstage she met her future spouse Benny Andersson, who also participated in the contest as composer. They soon met again at another venue and then became a couple.

Her first album, Frida, produced by her then fiancé Andersson, was released in 1971. The album received unanimously generous praise from the critics and the press, who especially noted the precision and versatility of Lyngstad´s voice, hitting every note to perfection. She now scored her first Swedish No.1 hit with "Min Egen Stad" ("My Own Town"). All the four future Abba-members sang back-up vocals on this song. The album is now included in the EMI compilation Frida 1967-1972. Anni-Frid continued to play in cabarets, and tour and regularly perform on TV and radio. Subsequently, her relationship with Andersson, and friendship with Björn Ulvaeus and Agnetha Fältskog eventually led into the formation of ABBA. In 1972, Lyngstad changed record companies and moved to the Polar Music label. She recorded the single "Man Vill Ju Leva Lite Dess Emellan", which became her second No.1 hit in the Swedish charts.

Her next solo album in Swedish, was the masterpiece Frida ensam (Frida Alone), produced by Benny Andersson. This album includes her succsessful swedish version of "Fernando", wich became a huge hit in Scandinavia. In Sweden, Frida´s "Fernando" stayed at the Nr 1 spot on the charts for 10 weeks. The album was recorded between sessions of the Abba albums "Waterloo" and "Abba". Due to the rising popularity of the group, the album took 18 months to record. It became an enormous commercial and critical success in Scandinavia, topping the Swedish album charts for six weeks and remaining in the charts for 40. The album was mostly a collection of covers of songs by artists like the Beach Boys, 10cc and David Bowie, receiving positive reviews from Melody Maker: "The album portrays Frida as a very strong and emotive singer and shows the true value of the music, that if sung properly and with enough feeling it transcends all language barriers".

The ABBA years 1972-82

Lyngstad at first hesitated working together with her boyfriend Benny Andersson, his best friend Björn Ulvaeus and his girlfriend again, Agnetha Fältskog [3] ; their first cooperation was the cabaret act Festfolk, who flopped in the winter of 1970–1971 - and 'Frida' toured on her own while the other three future ABBA members started performing on a regular basis that year [4]. Andersson and Ulvaeus were busy producing other artists, but soon discovered the qualities of Lyngstad's and Fältskog's voices combined: ABBA came to life. With her warm mezzo-soprano voice, Frida contributed leadvocals to some of ABBA's biggest hits like "Fernando", "Money, Money, Money", "Super Trouper", "I Have a Dream", "Knowing Me, Knowing You" and shared leadvocals with Agnetha Fältskog on "Mamma Mia", "Waterloo", "Dancing Queen", "The Name of the Game", Voulez-Vous", "Summer Night City" and others. She became known as 'the brunette' or 'the redhead' of the girls, always surrounded by an air of style, class, elegance and beauty. Lyngstad clearly enjoyed the spotlight more than the other three members of ABBA. She was the only one of the four who really liked to tour and to meet audiences live. She is a real and true performer wich clearly can be seen in Abba live footage[5]. She took on an active part in co-designing the famed ABBA costumes for their tours and tv performances.[6] As ABBA went separate ways, Anni-Frid Lyngstad has been the only one who openly regrets there never was a reunion.

After ABBA

International debut album Something's Going On, 1982.

In 1982, during ABBA's last year as a working band, Frida recorded and released her first post Abba solo album. This was also her first soloalbum in english. The Phil Collins-produced album was called Something's Going On, and became a big succsess for Frida worldwide. A much rockier sound was found on many of the songs and Phil Collins special drumsound contributed a lot, especially on the leadsingle. The album sold 1.5 million copies and spawned the succssesful single "I Know There´s Something Going On", wich topped the charts in Switzerland, Belgium, Costa Rica and France, where it stayed No 1 for five weeks. The song also reached the Top five in Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, Norway and Australia amongst others. In the United States, the single reached a respactable No.13 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No.9 on Radio & Records. The song and its video was heavily promoted and played on MTV. This single sold 3.5 million copies worldwide and is the best selling solorecord for any of the four former Abba members. The album itself recived good critics, with Billboard writing: "Abba´s aurburn-haired songstress makes a bold solo project a stunning succsess", while Mark Coleman described the album in the third edition of Rolling Stone Album Guide as "a sharp, rock-oriented, delightfully eclectic album". William Cooper had a simmilar opinion in Allmusic: "Frida escapes the creative limitations of being a member of one of the world´s most popular groups on this solid and often riveting album". Swedish Television SVT documented this historical event, by filmimg the whole recording process. The result became a one hour TV-documentary, including interviews with Frida & Phil, Björn & Benny, as well as all the musicians on the album. This documentary is included and can be seen in Frida-the dvd. Due to the succses of this album and its lead-single, Frida was voted "Best Female Artist Of The Year" 1982, by the readers of Swedens biggest eveningpaper Aftonbladet, receiving the Swedeish Music Award Price Rockbjörnen.

In 1983, Lyngstad assisted with ABBAcadabra - the Musical, and recorded one of the tracks with two different male vocalists in different lanquages, including Frenchman Daniel Balavoine on the track "Belle" and on the English version "Time" with B. A. Robertson. This track was a cover of "Arrival", an instrumental track from the ABBA album of the same name.

Lyngstad's next album was the experimental, Shine (1984). This album was clearly ahead of its time when first released. Recorded at Studios De La Grande Armée in the heart of Paris and produced by famous producer Steve Lillywhite, known as producer for artists like Peter Gabriel, U2, Rolling Stones and Morrissy amongst others. The young producer Lillywhite was only 25 when this album was recorded and he gave Frida a very experimental sound. He managed to create a relaxed atmosphere in the studio and this can be heard on Frida´s vocals here. Her voice really Shines here and vocally its maybe her best album. The album reached the Top 20 in many European countries, No.6 in Sweden being its highest position. One of the songwriters and backing vocalist for this album was Kirsty MacColl, who was killed in a boating accident in Mexico in December 2000. Lyngstad recently commemorated a song on her most recent compilation album to MacColl, "Chemistry Tonight", which MacColl had co-written.

In 1987 Frida was in the choir on her former husbands Benny Andersson's song "Klinga Mina Klockor".

Also in 1987, Lyngstad recorded the single "Så Länge Vi Har Varann" ("As Long As We Have Each Other") with the Swedish pop group "Ratata", the group being one of Lyngstad's favourites. One day, singer Mauro Scocco called and said that he had a song suitable for a duet. After hearing it, Lyngstad accepted immediately. The song was and still is, a big succsess in Sweden.

In 1990, Lyngstad became a member in the committee of the Swedish environmental organisation "Det Naturliga Steget" ("The Natural Step"). The organisation wanted a "famous face" to help them reach the public, and in 1991 she became chairwoman for the organisation "Artister För Miljön" ("Artists For The Environment").

In 1992, Lyngstad performed live at the Stockholm Water Festival at the Kings Castle and released the environmental charity single with her cover of Julian Lennon's song "Saltwater". All the money from this single goes to charity.

In 1993, due to Queen Silvia's 50th birthday, Frida was asked to perform Dancing Queen on stage, just like ABBA had performed it when the king and queen got married.. Frida contacted The Real Group and did this amazing á capella version of the song. The swedish prime minister at the time, said it was a genious step to do Dancing Queen á capella. This performance was filmed by swedish TV and can be seen in "Frida-the dvd".

In 1996, Lyngstad recorded her Swedish language album Djupa Andetag ("Deep Breaths"). It was a long awaited album as 12 years had passed since "Shine" was released. The album attracted overall positive reviews and was a big succsess in Scandinavia and become Nr 1 on the albumchart in Sweden. Frida did many TV-appereances in Sweden, Norway, Denamark and Finland to promote the album. Djupa Andetag was one of the very first Swedish albums to be released as a combined audio/video CD-ROM, including interviews with Lyngstad, footage from the making of the album as well as promotional videos. Despite the fact that Djupa Andetag was officially only released in Scandinavia and the songs were entirely sung in Swedish, a remix album of the single tracks "Även En Blomma", "Alla Mina Bästa År" (a duet with Roxette's Marie Fredriksson) and "Ögonen" was released in Germany in 1998, entitled Frida - The Mixes, an evidence of Lyngstad's continuing popularity in Continental Europe. A 1 hour documentary about the making of this album, both in the studio and from Fridas home in Spain can be seen in "Frida-The DVD" A follow-up album with producer Anders Glenmark was reportedly in works, but was shelved due to death in Fridas family.

German remix album, Frida - The Mixes, 1998.

Several one-off recordings followed, including a 2002 duet with opera singer Filippa Giordano of the Barcarolle from Jacques Offenbach's Les contes d'Hoffman as well as the song "The Sun Will Shine Again", written especially for Lyngstad by former Deep Purple member Jon Lord, and recorded in 2004. Neither of these were however released as singles: "Barcarolle" is only available on the Japanese edition of Giordano's album Rosso Amore, and "The Sun Will Shine Again" can be found on Jon Lord's album "Beyond The Notes". Lord and Lyngstad made several TV appearances in Germany performing the song, on shows like The Sunday Night Classics and The Golden Henne Gala. Lyngstad also joined Lord on stage singing the song during his European autumn tour in 2004.

For the 2004 semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest, staged in Istanbul thirty years after ABBA had won the contest in Brighton, Lyngstad appeared in a special comedy video made for the interval act, entitled "Our Last Video". Each of the four members of the group appeared briefly in cameo roles, as did, among others, Cher and British comedian Rik Mayall. The video was not included in the official DVD release of the Eurovision Contest, but was issued as a separate DVD release on the Universal Music label. It was billed as the first time the four had worked together since the group split in 1982 - a truth with modification. In fact, they each filmed their appearances separately.

Also in 2004, Lyngstad appeared with former bandmates Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus at London's fifth anniversary performance of Mamma Mia!, the musical based on ABBA songs. In 2005, she joined all three of her former ABBA colleagues at the Swedish premiere of Mamma Mia! at the arena Cirkus in Stockholm.

On 15 November 2005, to celebrate Lyngstad's 60th birthday, Universal Records released the "Frida Box Set" consisting of all the solo albums she recorded for Polar Music, all digitally remastered and including a set of bonus tracks. Also included was "Frida The DVD" where she openly - for more than three hours - talks about her life and her career in music. The DVD includes many rare clips, such as early Swedish TV performances and promo videos made for her international solo projects.

In November 2007, it was reported that Lyngstad and Jon Lord are planning to do further demo recordings together.

Personal life

On 3 April 1963, aged 17, Lyngstad married salesman and fellow musician Ragnar Fredriksson. They had two children: Hans Ragnar (born 26 January 1963) and Ann Lise-Lotte (25 February 1967 - 13 January 1998). They separated early in 1969 and were officially divorced on 19 May 1970. On the very same day, Lyngstad's grandmother, Arntine, died, aged 71.

In February 1969, Lyngstad met Benny Andersson, and the couple were engaged in August. By 1971 they were living together, but did not marry until 6 October 1978, during the height of ABBA's success. However, after only three years of marriage, they separated in February 1981 and were divorced in November of the same year. In 1982, Lyngstad left Sweden and moved to London. In 1986 she relocated to Switzerland.

On 26 August 1992, Lyngstad married Prince Heinrich Ruzzo Reuss von Plauen (24 May 1950 – 29 October 1999).[6] By this marriage, she has two stepdaughters, Princess Henriette and Princess Pauline. The prince died of lymphoma in 1999; a year earlier, on 13 January 1998, Lyngstad's daughter, Lise-Lotte Casper (born Fredriksson), died of injuries sustained in a car accident in Livonia, Michigan in the United States. Through Lyngstad's marriage to Prince Heinrich Ruzzo, who was a student at the same boarding school as the reigning King of Sweden, she became acquainted with the Swedish royal family and eventually became close friends with Sweden's Queen Silvia.

Today, Lyngstad still engages in charity work - environmental issues in particular. In 2005, she stated in an interview that she had no interest in a music career, though eighteen months later she returned to the recording studio. She currently lives in Zermatt, Switzerland.

Awards and recognition

In 1982, Lyngstad won the Swedish music prize Rockbjörnen for the Best Female Artist.

Discography

Swedish albums

English Albums

Compilations

Singles

  • "I Know There's Something Going On" (1982) SWE #1, D #5, US #13, UK #43, AU #5, FR #1, NO#3
  • "To Turn The Stone" (1982) D #39
  • "Here We'll Stay" (1983) US #102, UK #100
  • "Belle" (Duet with Daniel Balavoine, 1983)
  • "Time" (Duet with B.A. Robertson, 1983) UK #45
  • "Shine" (1984) SWE #6, D #51, UK #82
  • "Twist In The Dark" (France only) (1984)
  • "Heart of the country" (UK only 1984)
  • "Come to me (I am woman)" (1985)


Selected Swedish singles

  • "En Ledig Dag" / "Peter, Kom Tillbaka" (debut record - 1967).
  • "En Kväll Om Sommarn" / "Vi Vet Allt, Men Nästan Inget" (1971) with Lars Berghagen
  • "Så länge vi har varann" (A-side to Ratata-single) (Duet with Ratata, Sweden only 1987) SWE #5
  • "As Long as I Have You" (B-side to Ratata-single "Om Du Var Här", also on 12") (Duet with Ratata, Sweden only 1987)
  • "Änglamark / Saltwater" (1991) (Sweden only, as "Artister För Miljö")
  • "Även en blomma" SWE #11 (1996)
  • "Ögonen" (1996)
  • "Alla mina bästa år" (Duet with Marie Fredriksson) (1997)

Other singles

  • "Lieber Gott" (2003) Frida & Dan Daniell CD single - Switzerland in aid of charity Kinder in Not (Children in Need)
  • "The Sun Will Shine Again" (2004) Frida & Jon Lord promotional single only from Jon Lord's album

References

  1. ^ "REUSS". prodigy.net. Retrieved on 2008-03-19.
  2. ^ [1] Palm, Carl Magnus, page 47 - 49
  3. ^ [2] Palm, Carl Magnus, page 161
  4. ^ [3] Palm, Carl Magnus, page 164
  5. ^ [4] Palm, Carl Magnus, page 253
  6. ^ [5] Palm, Carl Magnus, page 252

Sources

  • Carl Magnus Palm: Bright Lights - Dark Shadows, Omnibus Press UK 2001, ISBN 0.7119.8389.5
  • Carl Magnus Palm: ABBA - The Complete Recording Sessions, Century 22 Limited UK, 1994. ISBN 0-907938-10-8

External links

v • d • e
ABBA
Agnetha Fältskog • Björn Ulvaeus • Benny Andersson • Anni-Frid Lyngstad
Studio albums
Compilations
Singles
"People Need Love" • "He Is Your Brother" • "Ring Ring" • "Love Isn't Easy (But It Sure Is Hard Enough)" • "Waterloo" • "Honey, Honey" • "So Long" • "I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do" • "SOS" • "Mamma Mia" • "Fernando" • "Dancing Queen" • "Money, Money, Money" • "Knowing Me, Knowing You" • "The Name of the Game" • "Take a Chance on Me" • "Eagle" • "Summer Night City" • "Chiquitita" • "Does Your Mother Know" • "Voulez-Vous" • "Angeleyes" • "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)" • "I Have a Dream" • "The Winner Takes It All" • "On and On and On" • "Super Trouper" • "Lay All Your Love on Me" • "One of Us" • "When All is Said and Done" • "Head Over Heels" • "The Visitors" • "The Day Before You Came" • "Under Attack" • "Thank You for the Music"
Related articles
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anni-Frid_Lyngstad"

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