Anni Frid Lyngstad

Anni-Frid Synni Lyngstad /ˈaniːfriːdˌsʏniː ˈlʏŋstɑːd/ (Ballangen, Narvik, Norway, November 15, 1945), known as Frida, and by marriage Her Serene Highness The Princess Anni-Frid of Reuss, Countess of Plauen is a Norwegian-born singer-songwriter who is part of the group ABBA.

Biography

Childhood

He was born in Bjørkåsen (Ballangen), near Narvik (Norway), five months after the end of World War II, as a result of a relationship between Synni Lyngstad (June 19, 1926 - September 28, 1947), a young Norwegian, and a married German sergeant, Alfred Haase. She always believed that her father had died when her ship back to Germany sank during the war. After a German magazine published her origin story in 1977, she discovered that her father had not died and she was able to meet him in person at a date arranged by her then-fiancé. Benny Anderson.

In 2002 The Guardian newspaper published a report listing her as one of 12,000 children called “tyskerbarnas” (or “German bastards”) because they were born from the union of soldiers Germans and Nordic women in search of the improvement of the Aryan race. Both the mothers ("tyskerhoren", "German bitches") and the children were disowned after the defeat of the Third Reich, and "suffered humiliation, public opprobrium and, in some cases, even death."

At the end of World War II, his mother and grandmother had sought refuge in Sweden for fear of reprisals from the Norwegian population, whose government put many of the children born to German parents in mental institutions or sent them away. abroad. Synni died before Frida was two years old, so she was raised by her grandmother Arntine in Torshälla.

From a very young age, she demonstrated her aptitude for singing, because when she entered school for the first time in 1952, everyone was impressed by her voice. Her teacher took her out every Friday to sing in front of the class. But when it wasn't about singing, she was very shy (“I remember she was a very sweet and very shy girl. Every Saturday she would go to the library and come home with a huge stack of books”). They were quite poor, since Arntine worked as a seamstress and she did not get much money, but she still managed to buy a piano in installments. She was also the one who knitted her clothes.

Career

Beginnings (1958-1969)

It was her grandmother, who used to sing her Norwegian songs, that led to her love of music. He demonstrated great talent from his early school years. On Fridays, her teacher used to ask her to sing in front of the class and she soon became known among her classmates and her neighborhood for her beautiful voice.

She made her debut at the age of eleven, in a performance to benefit the Red Cross. A year later, in 1958, she went to speak in person with the director of the Evald Ek Orkesta to ask her to be the vocalist in his band. Evald himself admitted "it was hard to believe how such a young person could sing so well. In addition, she had great versatility on stage, she was not ashamed to sing ».

So, Anni-Frid got her first job as a jazz singer at the age of thirteen. Every weekend she would perform in front of an audience that would gather to dance and sing for up to five hours. The songs that she liked to interpret the most were the classics «All of me», «Night and Day» «Begin the Beguine» among others. She also began taking singing lessons with the tenor Folke Andersson. She would later begin performing with the 'Bengt Sandlunds Bigband'. specializing in Glenn Miller, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Ella Fitzgerald and Peggy Lee.

In 1963 she was the lead singer of the "Gunnar Sandervarn Trio" before forming her own band, "The Anni-Frid Four." In both groups she worked, Ragnar Fredriksson, her first husband and father of her two children, Hans (January 26, 1963) and Lise-Lotte (February 25, 1967-January 3, 1998). Her marriage to the musician lasted until 1968 and the divorce was final in 1970.

In 1967, he won the umpteenth contest over the summer, securing a spot in the national "New Faces" which he wins with the song "En ledig dag" ("A day off", version of the theme "Weekend in Portofino"). It was the game show host Lasse Holmqvist who announced that, as part of the prize, he was going to appear that night on the national television show Hylands Höger-Hörna, hosted by the popular Lennart Hyland, who had a full-length special that night. It was September 3, the night in which the Swedes went from driving on the left to driving on the right, to adapt to international standards, so the Swedish authorities preferred to keep the population glued to the television.

Frida's performance was seen all over Sweden causing a huge sensation and many producers and record labels wanted to get in touch with her. Executives from EMI, who had organized the New Faces contest, fearing they would lose her, traveled from Stockholm to her residence in Eskilstuna the next morning with a contract. EMI producer Olle Bergman recalls "We really liked her and thought she had everything to become someone." On September 11, she recorded & # 34;En ledig dag & # 34; which would become the first single with EMI under the His Master's Voice record label. With the utmost professionalism and security, she recorded the voices in a single take. The first songs she recorded for EMI are included in the compilation "Frida 1967-1972".

On January 29, 1968, he performed at "Studio 8" for national television where she would meet her future ABBA partner, Agnetha Fältskog, who also performed her first single. That same year she went on tour with Lasse Lönndahl and Bengt Hallberg and recorded several singles for EMI, moving to Stockholm to work as a singer full-time.

In 1969 he participated in the Melodifestivalen, the Swedish Eurovision qualifying musical contest with the song "Härlig är var jord" (Our world is wonderful) finishing in fourth position. There she would meet her second husband and ABBA member, Benny Andersson.

Before ABBA (1970-1972)

Her first album, "Frida" Produced by his partner Benny Andersson, it premiered in 1971 on EMI Columbia. The work received rave reviews from experts and the press who especially praised the precision and versatility of his voice. A reviewer for the Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter wrote "A convincing and professional debut LP from someone with an easy but confident personality with light touches of character, humor and tenderness. He sings in a way that you know he has something on his mind, with a lot of intelligence." That same year he released the single "Min egen stad" ("My own city"), a version of Andersson's "It's nice to be back" with lyrics by Peter Himmelstrand, reaching No. 1 on Svenkstoppen. This success led EMI Columbia to reissue the album Frida and add it to the B-side of the LP. All the songs from the work appear on the compilation «Frida 1967-1972»

Frida continued to work in cabarets, tour, and perform on television and radio. In 1972, her relationship with Andersson and her friendship with Björn Ulvaeus and Agnetha Fältskog culminated in the formation of ABBA. That same year, and after five years with EMI Sweden, Lyngstad changed record companies and signed with Polar Music. There she recorded "Man vill just leva lite dessemellan" (One wants to live a little once in a while) which gave her her second number 1 on the Swedish charts.

ABBA and "Frida Ensam" (1972-1982)

At first, Frida had doubts about acting alongside her partner Benny Andersson, his best friend, Björn Ulvaeus and his wife Agnetha Fältskog. Their first project together in the winter of 1970-1971 was the cabaret show "Festfolket", which was not very successful. The following year, Frida went on tour with Lasse Berghagen while the other three future members of ABBA began performing together on a regular basis. When he returned with them, Benny and Björn realized the quality of the combination of Frida and Agnetha's voices, finally laying the foundations of ABBA.

Her next album, in Swedish, was "Frida Ensam" (Frida Alone), released in 1975 and produced by Benny. The work includes the hit Swedish version of "Fernando", which stayed at No. 1 on the Svenkstoppen charts for nine weeks. The recordings took a year and a half and were made between the recording sessions for the group's "Waterloo" and "ABBA" albums.

"Frida Ensam" became a commercial success in Sweden, topping the Swedish album charts for six weeks and staying on the charts for 38. In addition to "Fernando", it mainly included a collection of covers by artists including were: "Wouldn't it be nice" by the Beach Boys ("Skulle de' va' skönt"), "The Wall Street Shuffle" by the 10cc ("Guld och gröna ängar") and "Life on Mars" by David Bowie ("Liv pa Mars"). According to Melody Maker magazine: «The album portrays a very emotional and strong Frida who shows us the true value of music; that if she interprets herself properly and with feeling she can overcome language barriers ». His success led him to get the platinum record.

International solo career (1982-1984)

In 1982, during ABBA's last year, Frida recorded and released her first solo album in English. Produced by Phil Collins, "Something's Going On" became a worldwide hit. Many of the tracks had a more rocky sound with Collins' drumming as the main contribution, especially on the lead single "I know there's something going on", which topped the charts in Belgium and Switzerland. In Australia, Austria, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, South Africa and Sweden, among other countries, it reached the Top 5. Thanks to promotion on MTV, the song also achieved great success in the United States, reaching #13 on the chart. Billboard and #9 on Radio & Records in 1983. In the UK, where it was not as successful, it charted at #43.

It got rave reviews. Billboard wrote "ABBA's brunette breaks ground with gutsy project," while Mark Coleman called the album "witty, rock-oriented and deliciously eclectic" in Rolling Stone's 3rd Edition Album Guide.. William Cooper opined similarly in AllMusic "Frida escapes the creative limitations of being a member of one of the most famous groups in the world with a solid and fascinating album."

The Swedish television channel SVT documented this event by filming the entire recording process. The result was a one hour program including interviews with Frida, Phil, Björn, Benny and the rest of the musicians involved in the project. Thanks to the success of the album (with 1.5 million copies sold worldwide) and the lead single, Frida was nominated "Best Female Artist of the Year" in 1982 by the readers of the Aftonbladet newspaper, receiving the Swedish Rockbjörnen music award.

In 1983, Frida helped Abbacadabra by recording a version of "Arrival", the instrumental track from ABBA's self-titled album, in different languages; in French, titled "Belle", she sang it as a duet with Daniel Balavoine and in English, titled "Time" along with B.A Robertson and produced by Mike Batt.

Frida's next album, «Shine», was released in 1984. It was recorded at the De La Grande Armée studios in Paris and produced by Steve Lillywhite, known for working with artists such as Peter Gabriel, the Rolling Stones, Morrissey among others. The work was less successful than expected although it reached the Top 20 in many European countries reaching #6 in Sweden.

Later years: 1985-2004

In 1987, Frida was part of the choir on the recording of her ex-partner Benny Andersson's song "Klinga mina klockor". Also in that year, she recorded the single "Sa länge vi har varann" ("As long as we have each other") with Swedish pop group Ratata, one of her favorites. The singer Mauro Scocco contacted her because he had a song to do a duet. After listening to it, the singer immediately accepted. The song was a huge hit in Sweden and an English version entitled "As long as I have you" was recorded.

In 1990, Lyngstad joined the committee of the Swedish environmental organization Det Naturliga Steget (The Nature Step) who wanted a famous face to help them reach the public. In 1991 she was president of the organization Artister för Miljö (Artists for the Environment). In 1992 she created the Children and Environment Foundation focused on organizing summer camps for underprivileged children. That same year she performed during the Stockholm Water Festival at the royal residence and premiered a version of Julian Lennon's song "Saltwater". All profits from the single went to charity. In 1993, on Queen Silvia's 50th birthday, Frida performed Dancing Queen at the Stockholm Opera together with The Real Group.

In 1996, he recorded the album Djupa Andetag (Deep Breath) twelve years after Shine. The work received mostly positive reviews and was a hit in Sweden where it reached #1 on the charts. Frida appeared on numerous Swedish, Norwegian, Danish and Finnish television shows to promote it. Djupa Andetag was one of the first Swedish albums/CD-ROMs, which included interviews with Frida, the making-off of the album and promotional videos.

A new album was in the plans under the production of Anders Glenmark but the death of Frida's daughter in 1998 led to its indefinite cancellation.

During the early years of the XXI century, Frida made a few recordings, including, in 2002, a duet with the opera singer Filippa Giordano for the theme "La Barcarolle" and "The sun will shine again", composed by the former member of Deep Purple Jon Lord, in 2004. In the same year, during the semifinal of the Eurovision contest in Istanbul and thirty years after ABBA's victory, he appeared along with the rest of the group's members in a video titled "Our last video" (Our last video). Also in 2004, she accompanied Benny and Björn at the fifth anniversary of the musical "Mamma Mia!" in London.

Music break and few public appearances: 2005-present

On November 15, 2005, in celebration of Frida's 60th birthday, Universal Records released "Frida 4xCD 1xDVD" which included all her solo works including bonus tracks. Also included was "Frida - The DVD", a documentary recorded in the Swiss Alps where the singer talked about her career before and after ABBA as well as the making off of "Something going on" and "Djupa andetag", as well as her first appearance. on television performing "En ledig dag".

Third marriage

In 1992, Frida married Prince Heinrich Ruzo Reuss von Plauen (May 24, 1950–October 29, 1999), who died of lymphatic cancer. A year earlier, in 1998, the daughter Frida had had from her first marriage, Ann Lise-Lotte Casper (February 25, 1967–January 13, 1998) died in a traffic accident in the United States, where she lived. Anni-Frid's marriage to the prince opened the doors of the Swedish Royal Court for her, since her husband was a childhood friend of King Carl XVI Gustaf.

Current Life

In 2004, he recorded a song composed by his great friend Jon Lord (The Sun Will Shine Again), to whom he paid tribute in the 2013 edition of Zermatt Unplugged.

Frida currently resides in Zermatt, Switzerland, and is dedicated to charity work, especially drug prevention and environmental issues. She has recently been seen at the premieres of the musical Mamma Mia! in the company of another ABBA member, Björn Ulvaeus.

In December 2014 he released a new song, "1865", in honor of Mount Matterhorn and published his autobiography.

Discography

• Frida (1971)
• Frida ensam (1975)
• Something's Going On (1982)
• Shine (1984)
• Djupa andetag (1996)
• Frida 1967-1972 (1997 - Compilation)