Åse Agneta "Agnetha" Fältskog (; born 5 April 1950) is a Swedish singer and songwriter, best known as a member of the pop group ABBA. She first achieved success in Sweden with the release of her 1968 self-titled debut album. She rose to international stardom in the 1970s as a member of ABBA, which is one of the best-selling music acts in history.
After the unofficial break-up of ABBA in December 1982, she had success later in the decade as a solo artist with three albums and a leading role in a movie. She became reclusive in the 1990s, avoiding outside publicity and residing on the Stockholm County island of Ekerö.
Fältskog stopped recording music for 16 years until she released the album My Colouring Book in 2004, followed in 2013 by A, her highest UK charting solo album to date. She reunited with ABBA from 2016 until 2022 and they released their ninth studio album, Voyage.
Life and career Early life Åse Agneta Fältskog was born in Jönköping on 5 April 1950.Official Biography of Agnetha Fältskog She was the first of two daughters of department store manager Knut Ingvar Fältskog (1922–1995) and his wife Birgit Margareta Johansson (1923–1994). Ingvar showed much interest in music and show business, at EF News International and Birgit devoted herself to her children and household.Agnetha Fältskog's Biography at Agnetha Faltskog.net Fältskog's younger sister, Mona, was born in 1955.
Fältskog wrote her first song at the age of six, titled "Två små troll" ("Two Small Trolls").Agnetha Fältskog – Wikipedia (SWE) In 1958, she began taking piano lessons, and also sang in a local church choir. In early 1960, Fältskog formed a musical trio, the Cambers, with her friends Lena Johansson and Elisabeth Strub. They performed locally in minor venues but soon dissolved due to lack of work. Fältskog's first professional engagement came after she was taken on by a local dance band at the age of 15, following which she left school and worked as a telephonist whilst also performing with the band.
Fältskog cites Connie Francis, Marianne Faithfull, Aretha Franklin, Lesley Gore and Petula Clark as her strongest musical influences.
Career development in Sweden (1966–1971)
For two years Fältskog continued singing with the Bernt Enghardt band, and as its popularity grew, decided to give up her other job when combining both careers proved physically too demanding. During that time, Fältskog broke up with her boyfriend Björn Lilja; this event inspired her to write a song, "Jag var så kär" ("I Was So in Love"), that soon brought her to media prominence.
At that time, Karl Gerhard Lundkvist, a relative of one of the band's members, retired from his successful rock and roll career and began working as a record producer at Cupol Records. Enghardt sent him a demo recording of the band, but Lundkvist only showed interest in Fältskog and her song. She was worried because he was not interested in the band, and they were not to be included on the record. However, she decided to accept the offer and signed a recording contract with Cupol Records.
Her self-penned debut single "Jag var så kär" was recorded on 16 October 1967 and released through Cupol Records the following month. It topped the Swedish Chart on 28 January 1968 and sold more than 80,000 copies. The second single, her self-penned "Utan dig" ('Without you'), was also a big hit and so was her third single from 1968 "Allting har förändrat sig" ('Everything has changed'). She also submitted the song "Försonade" ('Reconciled') to Melodifestivalen, the Swedish preliminary for the Eurovision Song Contest, but it was not selected for the final. Fältskog developed a career as one of Sweden's most popular pop music artists, participating in a television special about Swedish composer Jules Sylvain in 1969. The same year, she released the single "Zigenarvän" ('Romani Friend') about a young girl attending a Romani wedding and falling in love with the bride's brother. Its release coincided with a heated debate about Romani in the Swedish media, and Fältskog was accused of deliberately trying to make money out of the situation by writing the song.
Fältskog's success continued throughout the late 1960s. She met German songwriter/producer Dieter Zimmermann, to whom she became engaged. Her albums thus reached the German charts, and Zimmermann promised she would achieve great success in Germany. However, when she went there and met with record producers, the venture was not productive; Fältskog refused to meet the demands of the producers, describing their chosen material as "horrible". She soon ended her engagement to Zimmermann and returned to Sweden.
In 1970, she released "Om tårar vore guld" ("If Tears Were Gold"). The Danish composer Per Hviid claimed that she used 22 bars from his composition "Tema" ("Theme"), although it was written in the 1950s and had never been recorded. The case dragged on until 1977 when a settlement was reached and Fältskog paid the Danish musician SEK 5,000,000.
In 1972, Fältskog portrayed Mary Magdalene in the Swedish production of the international hit musical Jesus Christ Superstar.
First marriage and years with ABBA (1971–1982)
Fältskog met Björn Ulvaeus, a member of the Hootenanny Singers, for the first time in 1968 and then again in 1969. Her relationship with Ulvaeus, as well as her friendship with Anni-Frid Lyngstad and Benny Andersson, with whom Ulvaeus had already written songs, eventually led to the formation of ABBA. Fältskog and Ulvaeus married on 6 July 1971 in the village of Verum, with Andersson playing the organ at their wedding. Their first child, Linda Elin Ulvaeus, was born on 23 February 1973, and their son Peter Christian Ulvaeus on 4 December 1977. After seven years of marriage, the couple decided to separate in late 1978 and filed for divorce in January 1979. The divorce was finalised in July 1980. Both Fältskog and Ulvaeus agreed not to let their failed marriage interfere with their responsibilities with ABBA. The failure of their marriage inspired Ulvaeus to write the lyrics of "The Winner Takes It All".
In 1975, during the same period as her bandmate Anni-Frid Lyngstad recorded her Swedish number one album Frida ensam, Fältskog recorded and produced her solo album Elva kvinnor i ett hus. These albums were both recorded between sessions and promotion for the ABBA albums Waterloo and ABBA.
The album spent 53 weeks on the Swedish album chart (longer than any of ABBA's albums), but failed to reach the Top 10, peaking at number 11. It contained three further Svensktoppen entries for Fältskog: her Swedish-language version of ABBA's "SOS" (also number four on the single sales chart); "Tack För En Underbar Vanlig Dag"; and "Doktorn!" Except for "SOS", all the songs had lyrics by Bosse Carlgren and music by Fältskog herself. The creation of the album had been underway since 1972 when Fältskog started writing the songs, but it was delayed because of the work with ABBA and her pregnancy. In 1974, Fältskog and Carlgren agreed on a concept for the album; it should consist of 12 songs, each sung by 12 female characters living in the same apartment building. However, in the end, only 11 songs were featured on the album, and the concept was not fully developed.
Between 1968 and 1980, Fältskog had a total of 18 entries on the Svensktoppen radio chart, starting with the debut single "Jag var så kär" in January 1968, which peaked at the top position, and ending with "När du tar mig i din famn" ("When You Take Me in Your Arms") from the compilation Tio år med Agnetha in January 1980, which it last charted at that top position. These 18 entries, most of which were composed or co-written by Fältskog herself, spent a total of 139 weeks on the chart during this time, with the biggest hit being 1970's "Om tårar vore guld" (number one for 15 weeks).
Fältskog also recorded the Swedish Christmas album Nu tändas tusen juleljus with daughter Linda Ulvaeus which peaked at number six on the Swedish album chart in December 1981.
In 1981, Fältskog wrote the ballad "Men natten är vår" ("But the Night Is Ours") with lyrics by Ingela Forsman for the Melodifestivalen, but instead of performing the song in the contest herself, she chose new talent Kicki Moberg. The song placed 9th out of 10. The single, which Fältskog produced in the Polar Studios with the same musicians as on contemporary ABBA recordings, was backed with the Swedish version of "I'm Still Alive", entitled "Här är mitt liv" ("Here Is My Life"), a song which she herself had performed in its English version (lyrics by ex-husband Björn Ulvaeus) during ABBA's 1979 world tour.
Moberg's recording of the song remains the only version to have been officially released to date.Carl Magnus Palm (2001) Bright Lights – Dark Shadows, Omnibus Press UK;
Fältskog possesses a soprano voice and her range expands from D3 to E♭6. She sang solo parts in the following ABBA songs: "Disillusion" (the only ABBA song to have been written by her, lyrics by Björn), "I Am Just a Girl", "Hasta Mañana", "Dance (While the Music Still Goes On)", "SOS", "I've Been Waiting for You", "When I Kissed the Teacher", "My Love, My Life", "Take a Chance on Me", "The Name of the Game", "Move On", "Thank You for the Music", "Get on the Carousel", "Chiquitita", "Lovelight", "As Good as New", "If It Wasn't for the Nights", "Kisses of Fire", "Dream World", "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)", "The Way Old Friends Do", "The Winner Takes It All", "Happy New Year", "Lay All Your Love on Me", "Head Over Heels", "One of Us", "Soldiers", "Slipping Through My Fingers", "Just Like That" (never officially released in its entirety by the group), "I Am the City", "Under Attack", "The Day Before You Came", "Don't Shut Me Down", "I Can Be That Woman" and "Keep an Eye on Dan".
As a member of ABBA, Fältskog was also known as Anna in some countries.
Solo career development (1982–1988) Although no official announcement was made, ABBA effectively disbanded in late 1982 to early 1983. At the end of 1982, Fältskog duetted with Swedish singer (and former ABBA backing vocalist) Tomas Ledin on a song called "Never Again", which became a Top Five hit in Sweden, and Top 10 in Norway, Belgium, and Finland. The song was also released in a Spanish-language version, entitled "Ya Nunca Más". In the summer of the same year, Fältskog had a leading role in the Swedish movie Raskenstam.
In May 1983, Fältskog released her first post-ABBA solo album, Wrap Your Arms Around Me, produced by Mike Chapman. The album became a moderate hit in North America and Australia but reached the higher regions of the charts across Europe, including the top spots in Sweden, Norway, Finland, Belgium, and Denmark (where it became the biggest-selling album of the year), top five in Germany, The Netherlands and number 18 in the UK. The album achieved sales of 1.5 million copies in the first year.Faltskog, Agnetha; Ahman, Brita (1997). As I Am: ABBA Before & Beyond. Virgin Publishing. p. 91. Two singles from the album became hits in continental Europe: "The Heat Is On" became a number one hit in Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, and Belgium and number two in The Netherlands and Germany. The song peaked at number 35 in the UK (and was Fältskog's highest charting and only UK Top 40 hit until 2004).4 June 1983 Top 40 Official Singles Chart UK Archive. Official Charts (4 June 1983). Retrieved 19 April 2014. The album's title track reached number one in Belgium and peaked at number four in the Netherlands.Quick Reference Summary . Home.zipworld.com.au (22 March 2014). Retrieved 19 April 2014. In North America, the album track "Can't Shake Loose" was released as the lead-off single, reaching number 29 on the Billboard Hot 100,Agnetha Fältskog – Chart history. Billboard. Retrieved 19 April 2014. and number 23 on the RPM Top 50 singles chart in Canada.