Ann-Frid Lyngstad turns 80 today.
Anni-Frid Lyngstad turns 80 today, Saturday. PDO
Abban Anni-Frid Lyngstad, Frida, turns 80 today. Frida is, of course, best known for Abba, where she worked together with Benny Andersson, Agnetha Fältskog and Björn Ulvaeus.
In addition to success, Lyngstad’s life has been overshadowed by tragedies since childhood.
Frida was born on November 15, 1945 in Ballangen, Norway. His father was a German soldier Alfred Haase and mother Sin Lyngstad.
Anni-Frid Lyngstad in the 50s. PDO
The Nazi German occupation of Norway had ended only a year earlier, so it was a great shame when Synni had a child with the occupier.
Synni Lyngstad died when she was only 21 years old, Frida was only 2 years old at the time.
Frida moved to Sweden with her grandmother, who had become her guardian.
Frida discovered early on that she could sing, and she stopped going to school. In 1967, he won a singing competition and got a recording contract.
Songs from Frida appeared, but they were not very successful. The turning point was in 1969, when he met Benny Andersson. Frida had already decided to divorce her husband, leave her two children and move to Stockholm before the meeting. She had become pregnant when she was only 16 years old.
Benny was already collaborating with Björn Ulvaeus, who had met Agnetha Fältskog that same year.
The four got together and Abba was born, one of the world’s most successful bands of all time.
Abba won the Eurovision Song Contest in 1974. PDO
In 1974, Abba made their international breakthrough when they won the Eurovision Song Contest. At the same time, the tunes also changed, and traditional vocal music had to give way to a modern pop sound.
Abba’s popularity was wild. In addition to Waterloo, many other Abba songs, such as Mamma Mia, Dancing Queen, SOS, Knowing Me, Knowing You, Honey, Honey climbed the charts and have become evergreen classics.
The band was wildly popular and performed to full audiences around the world.
Frida and Benny got married in the midst of the Abba craze in October 1978. They had no children.
Björn Ulvaeus, Agnetha Fältskog, Anni-Frid Lyngstad and Benny Andersson in the 70s. PDO
The couple’s union ended in divorce in 1981, but they continued to work together. In 1982, Abba stopped, Frida moved to London and started a solo career.
From London, he moved to Switzerland, where he met Prince Ruzzo Reuss, an architect of Swedish background. They got married in 1992.
Despite the new love, the 90s became a sad decade for Frida.
His daughter Lise-Lotte Fredriksson died in a car accident in his country of residence in the United States in 1998 at the age of only 30.
Tragedies followed one another. Frida’s husband Ruzzo Reuss died at the age of 49 from cancer in 1999, and Frida had to bury her loved ones again.
Frida was supposed to continue her solo career in 1998 Djupa andetag after the album, but due to tragic deaths, the new album was not made.
Björn Ulvaeus, Anni-Frid Lyngstad, Agnetha Fältskog and Benny Andersson in a rare joint photo at Stockholm’s Royal Palace in May of last year. PDO
Frida, who lives in Mallorca and Switzerland, has rarely been seen in public. In 2022, he participated with other Abban members in the premiere of the Voyage show in London. Last year Abba released the Voyage album.
– This is probably the last thing we do… Also because of our age. We are not young anymore, but you never know, Frida said in a BBC2 documentary.
In the spring of last year, Frida, together with the Abbas, received from King Kaarle Kustaa the 1st class commander’s badge of the Vaasa Order, which is a very high honor in Sweden.
Anni-Frid Lyngstad in London at the Voyage premiere, where Abba stars appear as holograms. PDO
Sources: AbbasiteIL Archive, BBC