Agnetha Fältskog biography

Synopsis

Early Music Career

Singer Agnetha Åse Fältskog was born on April 5, 1950, in Jönköping, Sweden. Fältskog was the first daughter of parents Ingvar and Birgit. Encouraged by her father, Ingvar, to participate in theater and music, Fältskog fell in love with performing and began writing her own songs on the piano while still very young. At only 13 years old, she formed a musical group called The Cambers with two of her friends. The group performed only at small, local events, but nonetheless provided Fältskog with early experience in a career that would take her to the heights of international fame.

In 1965, at the age of 15, Fältskog left school to focus on music more seriously. She was in a band headed by Bernt Enghardt, who later sent a demo of the group's music to a producer at Swedish label Cupol Records. Because the producer was related to one of the group's members, he listened to the demo thoroughly, and was most impressed by a song called "Jag var så kär" ("I Was So In Love").

The song had been written and sung by Fältskog, and was about a recent break-up she had gone through. The producer invited Fältskog to record an album with Cupol; though she had some reservations about leaving Enghardt's band behind, the allure was too great. She signed with Cupol, and her first album, Agnetha Fältskog, reached the top of the Swedish charts in January 1968.

Still a few months shy of her 18th birthday, Fältskog had already become famous in her home country. Throughout 1968 and 1969, her singles and albums remained very popular with Swedish listeners, but Fältskog was poised to take on a larger audience.

Birth of ABBA

In 1969, Fältskog became engaged to Björn Ulvaeus. At the time of their engagement, Ulvaeus was working with a songwriter named Benny Andersson. Andersson was engaged to an Anni-Frid Lyngstad, who, much like Fältskog, was becoming an increasingly popular singer in Sweden. The two women sang back-up vocals for their fiancés and performed with them at small concerts. In time, these two couples used the first letters of their first names -- Agnetha, Bjorn, Benny and Anni-Frid -- to form the name of their musical group, ABBA.

In the meantime, Fältskog looked for ways to further her career. The first Swedish production of Jesus Christ Superstar was set to premiere in 1971, and Ulvaeus encouraged Fältskog to try out for a part. Fältskog won the role of Mary Magdalene, and participated in the first Swedish cast recording of the musical.