Agnetha Fältskog
Agneta Åse "Agnetha" Fältskog is a Swedish singer, songwriter, and 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
Agneta Åse Fältskog was born in Jönköping on 5 April 1950. She was the first of two daughters of department store manager Knut Ingvar Fältskog and his wife Birgit Margareta Johansson. Ingvar showed much interest in music and show business, and Birgit devoted herself to her children and household. Fältskog's younger sister, Mona, was born in 1955.Fältskog wrote her first song at the age of six, titled "Två små troll". 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", 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", was also a big hit and so was her third single from 1968 "Allting har förändrat sig". She also submitted the song "Försonade" 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" about a young girl attending a Gypsy wedding and falling in love with the bride's brother. Its release coincided with a heated debate about Gypsies 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". The Danish composer Per Hviid claimed that she used 22 bars from his composition "Tema", 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".As a member of ABBA, Fältskog was also known as Anna in some countries.
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. Fältskog's album spent 53 weeks on the Swedish album chart, but failed to reach the Top 10, peaking at No. 11. It contained three further Svensktoppen entries for Fältskog: her Swedish-language version of ABBA's "SOS" ; "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. Fältskog possesses a soprano voice and her range expands from D3 to E♭6.
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 and ending with "När du tar mig i din famn" from the compilation Tio år med Agnetha in January 1980. 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".
Fältskog also recorded the Swedish Christmas album Nu tändas tusen juleljus with daughter Linda Ulvaeus which peaked at No. 6 on the Swedish album chart in December 1981.
Fältskog participated in Melodifestivalen again, albeit only as a composer. In 1981, she wrote the ballad "Men natten är vår" with lyrics by Ingela Forsman, 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", a song which she herself had performed in its English version during ABBA's 1979 world tour.
Moberg's recording of the song remains the only version to have been officially released to date.
Fältskog sang solo parts in the following ABBA songs: "Disillusion", "I Am Just a Girl", "Hasta Mañana", "Dance ", "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! ", "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", "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".
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 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 No. 1 in Sweden, Norway, Finland, Belgium, and Denmark, top 5 in Germany, The Netherlands and No. 18 in the UK. The album achieved sales of 1.5 million copies in the first year. Two singles from the album became hits in continental Europe: "The Heat Is On" became a No. 1 hit in Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, and Belgium and No. 2 in The Netherlands and Germany. The song peaked at No. 35 in the UK. The album's title track reached No. 1 in Belgium and peaked at No. 4 in the Netherlands. In North America, the album track "Can't Shake Loose" was released as the lead-off single, reaching No. 29 on the Billboard Hot 100, and No. 23 on the RPM Top 50 singles chart in Canada.
Fältskog's next studio album, Eyes of a Woman, produced by Eric Stewart of 10cc, was released in March 1985. "She is quite content to grace the works of various other lesser mortals with her immaculate, sugar-sweet voice", wrote Barry McIlheney in Melody Maker. The album sold well in parts of Europe, peaking at No. 2 in Sweden and reaching the Top 20 in Norway and Belgium, but scraped into the UK Top 40 just for one week. The album sold up to 800,000 copies. The self-penned lead single "I Won't Let You Go" achieved moderate success in Europe, reaching No. 6 in Sweden, No. 18 in the Netherlands and No. 24 in West Germany.
In 1986, Fältskog recorded another duet, "The Way You Are", with Swedish singer Ola Håkansson, which became another No. 1 hit in Sweden, Norway and Brazil.
In early 1987, Fältskog recorded the album Kom följ med i vår karusell with her son Christian. The album contained songs for children and was sung in Swedish. Agnetha recorded duets with her son and a children's choir for the album. In 1988, it was nominated for the Swedish music prize Grammis in the category 'Barn'.
In the summer of 1987, Fältskog travelled to Malibu, California, to record her fourth post-ABBA solo album, I Stand Alone, produced by Peter Cetera and Bruce Gaitsch, who had collaborated on Madonna's La Isla Bonita. Released in November of that year, I Stand Alone was a minor hit in Europe, except in Sweden, where it spent eight weeks at No. 1 and became the best-selling album of 1988. More than 300,000 copies were sold throughout Scandinavia. According to Hans Englund, the Swedish head of WEA, more than 800,000 copies were sold globally. However, chart-wise outside Scandinavia, the results were less impressive.
The single "I Wasn't the One ", on which Fältskog duetted with Peter Cetera, was released primarily in North America, and became her second solo single to chart on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at No. 93. It was also a Top 20 Billboard Adult Contemporary hit. The track was also recorded in Spanish for the Latin American market as "Yo No Fui Quién Dijo Adiós". Fältskog refused to promote the album in major TV shows in West Germany, but she made a promotional visit to London in February 1988, appearing on the Terry Wogan Show.