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'Princess Anni-Frid Reuss of Plauen', also known as 'Frida' (but born ''Anni-Frid Synni Lyngstad'' on November 15, 1945 in Bjørkåsen near Narvik, Norway), is a Norwegian singer, best known as one of the four members of Swedish pop group ABBA.

Contents

Early life

Career

Personal life

Awards and recognition

Discography

Swedish Albums

English Albums

Compilations

Singles

Limited singles

References

External links

Early life

Lyngstad was born out of wedlock in Bjørkåsen, a suburb of Ballangen, near Narvik, Norway, as a result of a liaison between 18-year-old Synni Lyngstad (June 19, 1926 - September 28, 1947), and a married German sergeant, Alfred Haase (born 1919), at the very end of the Second World War and the German occupation of Norway.
In the spring of 1947, Anni-Frid, her mother Synni, and her grandmother Arntine Lyngstad left her birthplace because of fear of reprisals from people who were angry and vengeful towards those who had dealings with the Germans during the occupation. This could result not just in insult, but also in forced separation of infants from their parents and relatives.
Anni-Frid was thus taken by her grandmother across the Swedish border and eventually south to Torshälla, near Eskilstuna. Her mother stayed behind in Norway and worked for a period in the south, but then became ill and returned to Sweden, where she died from kidney disease soon afterwards, aged 21. Although it is said that Anni-Frid’s father, Alfred, had promised to return to Norway after the war, he never did (claiming to be unaware of Synni's pregnancy), and thus Anni-Frid was raised by her grandmother alone. However, a near contact with her family in Norway continued, and Anni-Frid recalls with warmth, summer holidays spent with them at her birthplace.
Lyngstad believed that her father had died when his ship to Germany was sunk during the war. However, after the German teen magazine ''Bravo'' published her biography and a background story in August 1977, she discovered that her father was alive, and were reunited that year.
In his book, “Bright Lights, Dark Shadows”, Carl Magnus Palm explained the apprehension Anni-Frid felt about meeting her father for the first time. For reasons unknown, Anni-Frid and Alfred no longer maintain contact. In 2005, however, Haase appeared in a German tabloid magazine, pleading with Anni-Frid to resume contact.

Career

Lyngstad 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 reportoire 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, Lyngstad won a national TV talent contest, and in the next few years released several marginally successful singles for EMI. She spent the summers touring and in January 1969, Lyngstad took part in a cabaret that toured the country. It was in February at a venue in southern Sweden that she met future spouse Benny Andersson. The following month, Anni-Frid participated in Melodifestivalen (the Swedish heats for the Eurovision Song Contest), with the song ''Härlig är vår jord'', and finished fourth. The song became her first single in the charts.
Her first album, ''Frida'', produced by her then fiancé Andersson, was released in 1971. The album received unanimously generous praise from the critics, who especially noted the precision and versatility of Lyngstad as a vocalist. Anni-Frid played in cabarets, toured and performed regularly on TV and radio and, subsequently, her relationship with Andersson and friendship with Björn Ulvaeus and Agnetha Fältskog eventually led into the formation of ABBA.
Her next solo album in Swedish, ''Frida ensam'', that included the original Swedish version of the future ABBA mega-hit ''Fernando'', was released in 1975 when she was already involved in ABBA. The album 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".
In 1982, during ABBA's last year as a working band, Lyngstad released her first solo album in English, the Phil Collins-produced ''Something's Going On'', that topped the charts in Sweden and reached the Top 20 in the UK, Germany and Top 50 in the U.S. It sold around 1.5 million copies worldwide and spawned a hugely successful single, ''I Know There's Something Going On'', that was a No.1 hit in Sweden and France, made the Top Five in Germany and many other european countries. It sold around 3.5 million copies. In the U.S., the single reached No.13 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and No.9 on Radio & Records airplay chart. The music video for the song was heavily promoted on MTV. The album itself was also well received by the critics, with Billboard writing: "Abba's auburn-haired songstress makes a bold solo project a stunning success", while Mark Coleman described ''Something's Going On'' in the 3rd edition of Rolling Stone Album Guide as a "sharp, rock-oriented, delightfully eclectic album". William Cooper had a similar opinon in All Music Guide: "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."
In 1983, Lyngstad assisted with 'Abbacadabra - the Musical', and featured with Daniel Balavoine on one track 'Belle, Belle' of the resulting album, 'Abbacadabra - Conte Musical'. This track was a cover of 'Arrival', an instrumental track from the ABBA album of the same name.
Lyngstad's next album, ''Shine'' (1984) enjoyed moderate success. It reached the Top 20 in several European countries, No.6 in Sweden being its highest position, and proved to be her last foray into the international music world.
In the years that followed, she was seriously engaged in environmental work but also found time to make a couple of guest appearances on recordings by fellow Swedish artists, former colleague and husband Benny Andersson's 1987 album in particular.
In 1992, she performed live at the Stockholm Water Festival and released an environmental charity single with her cover of Julian Lennon's song ''Saltwater''.
In 1996, Lyngstad recorded a Swedish language album '' Djupa Andetag'' that topped the Swedish charts and attracted positive reviews. A follow-up album was reportedly in works, but eventually shelved due to personal reasons.
Several one-off recordings followed, including a 2002 duet with Filippa Giordano on the Barcarolle from opera Les contes d'Hoffman by Jacques Offenbach, and the song "The Sun Will Shine Again", written especially for Lyngstad by former Deep Purple member Jon Lord and recorded in 2004. Both performances, however, were not released as singles: "Barcarolle" is only available on the special Japanese edition of Giordano's "Rosso Amore" album, and "The Sun Will Shine Again" can be found on Jon Lord's album "Beyond The Notes".
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 Cirkus in Stockholm.

Personal life

On April 3, 1963, aged 17, Lyngstad married salesman and fellow musician Ragnar Fredriksson. The marriage produced two children: Hans ''Ragnar'' Fredriksson (born January 26, 1963) and Ann ''Lise-Lotte'' Fredriksson (born February 25, 1967, died January 13, 1998). They separated shortly after their daughter's birth and were officially divorced on May 19, 1970. On the very same day, Lyngstad's grandmother Arntine passed away, aged 71.
In May 1969, Lyngstad met Benny Andersson, and the couple were quickly engaged. By 1971 they were living together, but did not marry until October 6, 1978, during the height of ABBA's success. However, after only three years of marriage, they divorced in 1981.
In 1982, Lyngstad left Sweden and moved to London, before relocating to Switzerland in 1986 where she has been living ever since.
On August 26, 1992, Lyngstad married her longtime boyfriend, Prince Heinrich Ruzzo Reuss of Plauen (May 24, 1950 – October 29, 1999). Upon marriage, Lyngstad acquired the title of ''Her Serene Highness Princess Anni-Frid Reuss of Plauen''. Prince Heinrich died of lymphoma in 1999, while a year earlier, Lyngstad's daughter Lise-Lotte Casper was fatally injured in a road accident in Livonia, New York, United States on January 13, 1998. Through Lyngstad's marriage to Heinrich, 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, Anni-Frid 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 18 months later she would return to the recording studio.

Awards and recognition

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

Discography

Swedish Albums

★ ''Frida'' (1971)

★ ''Frida ensam'' (1975)

★ ''Djupa andetag'' (1996)

English Albums

★ ''Something's Going On'' (1982)

★ ''Shine'' (1984)

Compilations

★ ''Anni-Frid Lyngstad - Min egen stad'' (1971)

★ ''På egen hand'' (1991)

★ ''Tre kvart från nu'' (1993)

★ ''Frida 1967-1972'' (double CD) (1997)

★ ''Frida - The Mixes'' (1998)

Singles

★ ''I Know There's Something Going On'' (1982) SWE #1, D #5, US #13, UK #43, AU #5, FR #1

★ ''To Turn The Stone'' (1982)

★ ''Here We'll Stay'' (1983) US #102, UK #100

★ ''Belle'' (Duet with Daniel Balavoine, 1983)

★ ''Time'' (Duet with B.A. Robertson, 1983)

★ ''Shine'' (1984) SWE #6, D #47, UK #82

★ ''Come to me (I am woman)'' (1984)

★ ''Twist In The Dark'' (France-only) (1984)

★ ''Heart of the country" (12"single, UK-only 1984)

★ ''Sa länge vi har varann'' (Duet with Ratata, Sweden-only 1987) SWE #5

★ ''Även en blomma'' SWE #11 (1996)

★ ''Ögonen'' (1996)

★ ''Alla mina bästa är" (Duet with Marie Fredriksson) (1997)

Limited singles

★ ''En Kväll Om Sommarn / Vi Vet Allt, Men Nästan Inget'' (1971) with Lars Berghagen

★ ''Änglamark (Artister För Miljö featuring Frida)'' (1992)

★ ''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

★ ''Guinness Book of British Hit Singles'' 7th Edition - 1988

External links

★ Official ABBA website

★ Stiftelsen Anni-Frid Lyngstads Miljöfond