It was the same tragic family background that united the ABBA-stars
Anni-Frid Lyngstad and Benny Andersson.
Both had to leave their children when the success came.
Today is the couple Anni-Frid Lyngstad and Benny Andersson worldfamous
stars of ABBA.
They have paid a high price for it and made many sacrifices.
Both had to leave their families once their careers started – that
common problem brought then together.
–
I’m not an artist, just an ordinary girl who likes to
sing funny songs, said Anni-Frid Lyngstad in an interview after ABBA won the
Eurovision Song Contest in Brighton with “Waterloo”. Real artists are people
like Liza Minnelli, she added.
The statement was typical Frida, which she is called by her friends and
when performing. Shy, softspoken and selfcritical is something she always has
been, even after the big successes.
And Frida hasn’t had a lack of successes during her 20 years as a
performer. Yes, she will be 30 in november, but it is actually 20 years ago
since she made her debut. She sang at the Red Cross gala i Torshälla. “Fjorton
År Tror Jag Visst Att Jag Var”, which must have confused the arrangers, since
none of them reported her as underage. When she was 13 she started singing
professionally with a band.
20 years in showbusiness – how come we didn’t hear much about her before
her big break with ABBA an “Waterloo”?
Anni-Frid is one of our best singers, technically, singingwise and
musically, wrote Peter Himmelstrand already back in 1970, but at the same time
he called her the girl with the record for failed Top Ten chances. And the year
after, when Anni-Frid released her first album “Frida” – Dagens Nyheter
reviewer wrote: “A secure, super professional, low key but with a d distinct
personality, many signs of temperament, humour, tenderness and ambition. Apart
from from that she sings that you understand that she has something between her
ears – she simply sings in a very intelligent way.”
Yes, why didn’t Anni-Frid Lyngstad get her big breakthrough in Sweden.
The answer is simply. It wasn’t lack of talent, it was that she wasn’t pushy
enough, not selling her self. Maybe because of a little lack of self confidence
as well. Anni-Frid is the kind, soft calm artists whohas refused to do anything
selfserving just to be famous. To step over others to gain success yourself has
never been her style.
-
What I wish for most is to be harmonius and happy and
open, taking things as they come. Deep inside I’m really a thinker.
Beautiful, talented, happy, not a diva and sympathetic, but at the same
time serious, often sensible and a victim for long an deep depressions.
Her smiling eyes of an undetermined colour with a depth and seriousness.
How did all this come together?
Maybe Anni-Frid’s private life shed some light on that question.
Anni-Frid was born in Ballangen, outside of Narvik in Norway in 1945.
Her mother was Norwegian and her father was a German officer. He had left the
country after the war with promises to come back to his Norwegian girl when
things had calmed down. But he never came back. Anni-Frid, who has done some
research, thinks that his ship sunk outside of Denmark. And in Norway the
hatred against the Germans were huge. Anni-Frid’s was a “tysketös” (someone who
fraternised with the enemy) she was persecuted and ignored in the small town of
Ballangen.
To avoid letting Anni-Frid grow up in this environment Anni-Frid’s
mother asked her mother to take her with her and move to Sweden. The intention
was that she would follow after.
One year old Anni-Frid arrived in Sweden with her grandmother Anni, who
she refers to as mother after her mother got ill and sadly died after arriving
in Sweden.
Grandma Anni was a seamstress and moved around alot until she came to
Torshälla, just outside Eskilstuna.
And it was there Frida grew up. She was a musical child. She was also
ambitious and goaloriented. She won several singing contest, she was the
vocalist from 13 to 16 with Ewald Eks orchestera and after that she joined
Bengt Sandlund Big Band in Eskilstuna
At 17 Anni-Frid had her first child, Hans and the year after she married
the father, Ragnar Fredriksson, who had a furniture store and also was a
musician. Together they formed a band of their own called “The Anni-Frid Four”,
they played 3 nights a week in and aorund Eskilstuna. Five years later they had
a another child, Lise-Lotte and lived a nice family life in a five bedroom
house.
That was how life was for Anni-Frid when she travelled to Stockholm to
partake in Barnens Dags Talangtävling at Skansken in Stockholm in 1967. It was
the 3rd of September, a day Swedes will remember because it was the
day the traffic rules changed and we started driving on the right side of the
road. It was also a day Anni-Frid never ever will forget, because it changed
her life competely.
Master of ceremony was Lasse Holmqvist and when she had won she asked
her what she was going to do tonight.
- Going home to Eskilstuna and sleep said Anni-Frid.
- No, you are not. Outside the entrance of Skansen is a car waiting for
you to take you to Swedish Television.
“Hylands Hörna” (see clip here) was a marathon show that evening with more guests and performers than usual to help celebrate the change of driving on the right side of the road. Anni-Frid had always dreamt about performing on TV, but maybe not this unprepared.
- Just take it easy, in a few hours you will be famous, said the pianist
Leif Asp to her.
In Eskilstuna was the family unaware of what was going on watching the
TV-show. Grandma cried and couldn’t belive her eyes. Frida’s performance
started a little shaky, she held the microphone to close to her mouth but after
a few seconds her professionalism and security of being on a stage took over.
She sang he winning song from Skansen “En Ledig Dag”, written by Östen
Warnerbring – better than ever. The audience soon realised that it wasn’t a
little amateur but a fullfeathered artist.
Lots of fans wrote to her. One man wrote: “I saw you on Hylands’ Hörna and you were the best singer and the most
beautiful. I liked your eyes and your long redbrown hair. If you come to our
Folkpark this next summer I would like to meet you. I’m an ordinary farmer.
After your performance we could go to “Knutte’s” and eat cheesecake. It’s
delicious. Write me a letter if you have the time.” Dazed and happy Anni-Frid returned to the family in Eskilstuna.
Reporters and photographers were waiting in the garden and the phone never
stopped ringing. - I can’t understand what has happened, Frida said to a reporter. Here I
have been working as a singer for 10 years and now this – POW! Three record companies were waiting in line plus a number of
showbusiness people who wanted to have her perform in their shows. - And a BIG thing that I can’t talk about yet, said Anni-Frid.
Everything’s spinning. (The BIG thing was Lasse Lönndahl who wanted to have her
as a partner for his summer tour. He wasn’t the only one, but the first one to
ask.). So there she was, Anni-Frid Lyngstad, mother of two with house, husband
and an established suburban life and now she could choose freely what she
wanted to do careerwise. Which offer should she accept, questions, questions. - Ragnar is a wonderful husband, but not a very good musician, so I
guess I have to trade bands in the future if I’m going to be really
successfull. And Ragnar agreed. Take the chance both he and Grandma said. Go for the
singingcareer. We will help you with the kids and everything. And Anni-Frid went for it. She toured the Folkparks with Lasse Lönndahl,
sang for a year and a half with Charlie Norman, toured the Folkparks with Lasse
Berghagen. The she appeared in the varietyshow Kar-de-mumma-reyn at the Folkan
theatre in Stockholm. Then she made a dinnershow with Roffe Berg. And then
finally the album “Frida”. Success after success – always upwards, but it was impossible to combine
10 months of life on tour with a family life. Anni-Frid and Ragnar divorced
amicable and the children stayed with her father. Anni-Frid moved to Stockholm. - The first few months were a nightmare. I’ve never been so lonely and
missed my family so much. What saved her was her friendship with Benny Andersson, the organ player
and composer from Hep Stars. He had the same experiences in his private life –
he left his fianceé and two children so they really understood each other. “She left her musician husband and her two children just to get ahead
and make a big musical career in Stockholm”, many evil people said. It was really for the best for the children, it was for their sake I
made this sacrifice. And the divorce was finalized two months before I even met
Benny. Benny and Frida met at Kramers in Malmö on April 1 and they got engaged at Hamburger Börs later
that summer. “I believe in artist marriages”, said Frida. The wedding has been postponed though, at first the reason was that they
couldn’t afford it, they wanted a big three day wedding. During 1972-1973 it seemed that Frida and Benny really had found each
other and Frida’s depression had disappeared. Benny had given her a new sense
of security and she had started to enjoy life. In November 1970 Benny and Frida had joined up with Björn Ulvaeus and
Agnetha Fältskog for the first time. In 1972 they released their first song
“People Need Love”. In March of 1973 Frida said that they really ought to get a
name for the band. And now everything started spinning faster and faster;
folkpark tours, new recordings, TV and the grand Eurovision Song Conest victory
in 1974. After that victory Anni-Frid
has no longer a choice to call herself an artist no matter how humble she is.
“Waterloo” sold 54 million copies worldwide in countries from Eucador, the Fiji
Islands, Thailand and Japan. In Sweden only 300.000 copies were sold – a
fantastic sales figures for a small country. ABBA – Anni-Frid – Benny –
Agnetha – had over night become international superstars. Huge success and many positive reviews in the papers the following day.
Anni-Frid Lyngstad had finally gotten her big break at the age of 23 – after
performing for 10 years.
"Both had to leave their children when the success came."
They "had to," huh?
I find so much to admire in the personalities of ABBA. For instance, it's almost impossible to exaggerate how huge they were (still are), and yet they have remained uncannily humble ("down-to-earth," as Agnetha would say) about their success. That's so much better than the teeny-bopper with a drop or two of talent trying to stretch her last 30 seconds of fame by boasting about what little she has accomplished.
But I have to admit that the way Frida and Benny dealt with their children (his first two, anyway) has always disturbed me.
Posted by: mikespeir | 09 June 2009 at 19:24
It's hard to keep contact with the kids when the court assigns them to the father just because "the mother, being an artist, wouldn't be able to bring them up properly"...
How easy it is for us to judge before we do understand. Sad.
Posted by: Kate | 09 June 2009 at 20:07
If that's the way it happened, Kate, then it would change things a lot. (For Frida, anyway.) It's just not what I've read.
And let me make it clear that I'm not condemning. I've done as bad myself. I have a lot of regrets. That's one reason this discussion makes me sad. I know the heartache involved.
Posted by: mikespeir | 09 June 2009 at 20:58
Mikespeir, that's the way it happened. Frida told about the court and the judge's decision in some of her early interviews and I think Mikael even posted one of them here. She just stopped talking about that when kids moved to her, obviously.
Posted by: Kate | 09 June 2009 at 22:12
I recall reading that Frida herself felt that she couldn't provide normal upbringing for her children after the divorce and didn't even try to get custody.
She even mentioned once that since Lise-Lotta first few years grew up mostly with Ragnar (at first) and then with him and his new wife, she wouldn't even call Frida 'Mom'. She would call Ragnar's wife 'Mom' instead.
Posted by: George (USA) | 10 June 2009 at 09:54
I also think this article is typical for its time. Women weren't supposed to leave their families to pursuit a career outside of the home. The head line "Frida & Benny left their kids when the big success came" is very misleading since almost 90% of the article is about Frida's situation. This was 1975 and women weren't supposed to work outside on a regular basis (like touring 10 months/year), they should stay home, take care of the kids and the house and be very content with that.
Posted by: Micke | 10 June 2009 at 18:41
The sexism of the era shines through - it was (and still is, it seems) more acceptable for a man to head off an pursue a career. If a woman does it, she's bad news. One thing that constanty shines through in the Swedish articles is Frida's shyness and depression. Depression is such an incredibly difficult thing to handle. The foreign/English interviews in those days always focussed on her snappy dress sense and "bubbly" personality. They totally missed the reality of a woman with real sadness in her life.
Posted by: Tony | 13 June 2009 at 13:36
Frida is and sounds so beautiful in that video and we shouldnt judge what we for a fact dont know.
Posted by: Madonna | 29 August 2009 at 21:53