Agnetha Fältskog

Blonde, beautiful and a great singer to boot, what else could you ask for? Well, Agnetha Fältskog is also a talented songwriter, and as one of half of the ABBA vocal department, she became a worldwide superstar. Since ABBA ceased making records Agnetha has carried on where she left off, having been a successful solo singer in Sweden prior to ABBA. Her 2013 release A proves she still has the talent, the voice and the ear for what makes a great song.

Agnetha Fältskog was born in Jönköping, Sweden and by the age of six had written her first song. In 1958, she began taking piano lessons, was singing in a local church choir and two years later Agnetha formed a trio, The Cambers, with two friends performing locally without much success. She left school at fifteen and worked as a telephonist, performing with a local dance band in the evenings.

She soon had to make a choice between singing or answering the phone and chose singing, staying with the Bernt Enghardt Band for two years before her song ‘Jag var så kär’ was heard by CBS Records and she signed a deal releasing it as a single in 1968, becoming a big star in Sweden in the process. In 1970, she released ‘Om tårar vore guld’, her most successful solo single in Sweden; two years later she played Mary Magdalene in the Swedish production of Jesus Christ Superstar.

Agnetha had first met Björn Ulvaeus in 1968, their friendship with Frida and Benny led to the formation of ABBA. Agnetha and Björn married in 1971 and it was not long after that the ABBA roller-coaster took off, carrying them and their friends to stardom beyond any of their wildest dreams. As well as recording and working with ABBA, Agnetha recorded solo material, which gave her a lot of success on the Swedish charts.

At the end of 1982, her marriage to Benny over, Agnetha duetted with a former ABBA backing vocalist, Tomas Ledin on a song called “Never Again”, which became a Top Five hit in Sweden, and can be found on the album, That’s Me – the Greatest Hits.  The following year she released her first post-ABBA solo album, Wrap Your Arms Around Me; it sold well throughout Europe, made No.18 in the UK and became the biggest selling album of the year in Denmark.

Agnetha’s next studio album in 1985, Eyes of a Woman, was produced by Eric Stewart of 10cc and sold well around Europe, helped by the hit single, ‘I Won’t Let You Go’. In 1986 she recorded another duet, this one with Swedish singer Ola Håkansson, ‘The Way You Are’, which was another No.1 in Sweden and it is on That’s Me – the Greatest Hits. The following year she recorded an album with Peter Cetera and the hit single from the album, ‘I Wasn’t the One (Who Said Goodbye)’, on which she duetted with Peter Cetera, is also on the That’s Me – the Greatest Hits album.

In 2013 Agnetha released her eagerly anticipated new album, A. The first single from the album is, ‘When You Really Loved Someone’ and it also includes a duet with Take That’s Gary Barlow, ‘I Should’ve Followed You Home’.

Format: UK English