ABBA is now universally recognized as one of the world’s most famous bands. The Swedish Five are still well-known around the world. Agnetha Faltskog, one of the group’s members, has chosen a life away from the spotlight.
Faltskog was one of ABBA’s major vocalists, along with Anni-Frid Lyngstad. She persuaded fans to dance to certain songs while breaking their hearts with others, thanks to her all-time great pop voice. Above all, she and her other band members became one of the most intriguing music icons of all time.
Faltskog now has a stable existence in Sweden, but that doesn’t mean she isn’t constantly writing new songs. She looks fantastic at 72!
There aren’t many people who haven’t heard of ABBA. It doesn’t matter if you were there the first time they played Waterloo or weren’t born for another 30 years. When they hear the group’s music, today’s 10-year-olds are likely to dance just as energetically as everyone else.
International superstars ABBA
Even choosing a single favorite ABBA song is nearly hard. That’s undoubtedly why they became such global celebrities; there’s an ABBA song for every moment of our lives, whether sad, joyful, inspirational, or regretful.
Something unique about ABBA is that all of the members practically vanished after the group split up. They continued to compose music, but they were content to live a quiet life away from the spotlight. Agnetha Faltskog, on the other hand, was.
So, what happened to her after ABBA broke up? And how did she become involved with the group from the beginning? This is Agnetha Faltskog’s lovely story!
Agnetha was born in Jönköping, Sweden, on April 5, 1950. She was the first of two girls born to Knut Ingvar Fältskog, a department store employee, and Birgit Margareta Johansson. Agnetha Faltskog was drawn to music from a young age. Her favorite performers included Tom Jones, Petula Clark, and Dusty Sprinfgield, and she was undeniably talented.
Faltskog wrote her first song, about two tiny “trolls,” when she was just five years old. She would routinely go to her neighbor’s house to play the piano; she began formal instruction at the age of eight. She was also a member of the local church choir.
Faltskog formed The Cambers with two childhood friends in 1960, when she was 13 years old. They only had minor community involvement, and she felt it was time for a change after two years.
Agneta became a member of the Swedish folk music band Bernt Enghardt. The band toured Sweden, playing Swedish dance music.
«Before me, they had a vocalist named Agneta who quit,» Agnetha said. «They had placed advertisements asking for a new vocalist, and it was a major plus that I was also named Agnetha when they found me and after I auditioned.»
Faltskog worked as a telephonist for a car manufacturer while traveling with Bernt Enghardt, but her job wasn’t ideal.
At the age of 17, she released her first single.
She arrived home late, “around 2 or 3 a.m.,” and was scheduled to return to work just hours later. She even passed out at the auto shop one day, and her mother gave her an ultimatum.
«’Either you work as a regular person or you devote yourself entirely to singing,’» Agnetha recalls her mother saying. «It wasn’t a difficult decision; I wanted to keep singing.»
Agnetha sang with the Bernt Enghardt band for two years before breaking out to pursue a solo career. She decided to add a “h” to her surname after releasing her first solo album.
Faltskog’s debut song, Jag var s kär [I Was So In Love], was released when he was 17 years old. It quickly rose to the top of the Swedish sales chart in 1968, and soon after, a man named Bjorn Ulvaeus heard her song on the radio.
«I recall listening to Agnetha’s first hit on the radio. It was magic,» Benny remarked in the BBC documentary Agnetha: Abba and After.
«She did a couple sort of back-to-back, both good songs,» Benny Andersson added. She did some good things, like sing in time with herself.»
ABBA transformation
Bjorn and Benny were both talented musicians who had previously collaborated. Agnetha’s career took off after her breakthrough smash, and she was soon scheduled to perform alongside Bjorn Ulvaeus.
«We did a TV show together, and she and I performed a duet. «That was an incredible moment,» he recalled. «That evening was when it actually occurred; we fell in love, and then we became a couple.»
Benny fell in love with another singer, Anni-Frid Lyngstad, at the same time Agnetha and Bjorn sang together.
Now, there were four extremely talented musicians in the same room, but they weren’t planning on forming a band. Anni-Frid and Agnetha later appeared as background vocals on Bjorn and Benny’s 1970 album Lycka [Happiness].
The four instantly began to collaborate. They released the song People Need Love in 1972, but it was only moderately successful in Sweden. At this point, the foursome was known as Björn and Benny, Agnetha and Anni-Frid. They chose to compete in Melodifestivalen, Sweden’s Eurovision Song Contest qualifying competition, and performed the song Ring, Ring. They came in third place, but the song was a tremendous hit in Sweden.
Ring spread to several European countries, where it remained popular. By this point, the group’s reputation had spread across the country. They would finally achieve their goals a year later, in 1974.
The triumph of ABBA’s “Waterloo”
They returned to Melodifestivalen, this time with the song Waterloo. They won the Swedish qualifier and then did something that would change the course of music history before performing at the Eurovision Song Contest in Brighton: they chose to change their group’s name.
ABBA was created.
While ABBA went on to win the Eurovision Song Contest—a period in ABBA history that many consider to be the most memorable—Agnetha had other plans.
She married Bjorn Ulvaeus in 1971, and their first child, Linda, was born in 1973. Agnetha was pregnant during the height of the ABBA frenzy, which was growing by the day.
Having children while being one of, if not the, largest band on the planet was obviously difficult.
In fact, Agnetha stated that she was relieved that Ring Ring did not win Melodifestivalen because she was months away from giving birth to Linda.
«During the 10-12 years we were doing ABBA, I managed to mix marriage, childbirth, divorce, and global success,» Faltskog noted. «I can tell you it wasn’t easy. It wasn’t easy leaving home, especially because dad [Bjorn] was also gone. We left our children, but we made certain that they were well-cared for.
Bjorn Ulveaus and Agnetha Faltskog
«We weren’t gone as long as you would think. We decided that if we were gone for 14 days, we would also be gone for 14 days.»
ABBA’s worldwide success was excellent for all of its members, but Agnetha still mourned the fact that she had to leave her children.
It was difficult for her, and she had even considered leaving the group.
«Those were trying times. Should I stay or should I go? ‘How can we make this right?’ «I said that we had to be at home the same amount of time we were out touring,» Agnetha added.
«I was never going to leave [the group], but it was something I could tell myself just to manage, to get everyone to understand how tough it was.»
Waterloo’s victory was spectacular. But that was only the beginning of what was to be a new period in music history. Since winning Eurovision didn’t guarantee success post-competition, it took some time before ABBA got their next major hit.
ABBA: Hits
18 months later, they published the song SOS, which also became a great success. On the same album, ABBA, from 1975, the band released the song Mamma Mia, which ascended to the number one spot on charts all over the globe.
It reached No. 1 in Australia for 10 weeks, and the ABBA frenzy «down under» was wild. Australia actually awarded the group a total of six Number One singles, becoming one of the most ABBA-crazy nations.
Over the following years, ABBA produced additional albums, and the hits simply kept on coming. Songs like Fernando and Dancing Queen immediately found their mark, with the final one becoming the group’s lone No. 1 in the US.
At this time, ABBA had fashioned themselves into one of the most popular groups in the world — and properly so. The list of hits the trio released is enormous, including songs like Money, Money, Money, Knowing Me, Knowing You, Chiquitita, The Winner Takes It All, Super Trouper, Take A Chance On Me, and Lay All Your Love On Me.
When ABBA recorded their sixth album in 1979, Agnetha and Bjorn were divorced. However, it was not unpleasant, and the band continued with their professional tasks.
Agnetha Faltskog sang a divorce song.
Agnetha performed the song The Winner Takes It All, which was inspired by their divorce.
«It’s incredibly touching that he wrote it right after we divorced.» «I didn’t mind,» stated Agnetha. «Doing that song was great because I could put so much heart into it.»
«I didn’t mind sharing it with the public,» she explained. «It didn’t feel wrong in the least. That song is packed with meaning.»
In 2013, Agnetha spoke with the Daily Mail about her divorce from Bjorn. She maintains they are on good terms for the sake of their two children.
«Bjorn and I have been through heartbreak,» she explained. «It’s pleasant. Love has many ups and downs, but I remain optimistic. I haven’t closed any doors.»
Anni-Frid and Benny divorced two years after they married in 1978. In 1982, the band thought they were done.
Working as a lone proprietor
They published a new album, The Singles: The First Ten Years, which included all of their greatest hits as well as two new tracks. When New Year’s Eve arrived that year, however, ABBA decided to take a break.
If they wanted to, they could always get back together in a few years, according to the group. But that never happened.
Agnetha, on the other hand, pursued a solo career. She recorded a number of songs, with the lovely Wrap Your Arms Around Me being her greatest success from her three albums published in the 1980s.
She opted to go away from the limelight after achieving little success. Agnetha was quiet and desired a life away from the limelight. She still resides on an island outside of Stockholm, Sweden. And she still looks fantastic!
Faltskog chose to leave ABBA and her stardom behind. Many individuals, however, thought she was being extremely clandestine in doing so.
«I’m not particularly mysterious.»
Her decision to isolate herself was unusual. Agnetha Faltskog, on the other hand, was displeased with this viewpoint.
«I’ve been described as mysterious, but that’s not the case,» she told The Guardian. «I guess I’m simply really grounded,» she says. Other things occupy my time; I have children, grandchildren, two dogs, and a vast rural estate. «I have my own life.»
Agnetha is the grandmother of three grandchildren. They don’t know anything about their grandmothers’ lives as global celebrities.
«I spend a lot of time with the grandchildren,» Faltskog explained. «They enjoy it when we all sing at the same time. It’s great to hear them, and they can really sing. I don’t talk much to them about Abba and the past, but they will become more aware as they grow older. Tilda, the oldest, already has a little more knowledge.»
Agnetha Faltskog is estimated to be worth $20 million, according to The Guardian. Because there is talk of ABBA returning, that figure could grow soon.
ABBA is preparing to release new music.
Faltskog’s most recent album was published in 2013, but Bjorn Ulvaeus has promised that new ABBA songs will be released.
«There will be new music this year; that is a certainty; it is no longer a case of it might happen; it will happen,» Ulvaeus told the Herald Sun.
«We’re very, very close.» The four of us are standing in the studio for the first time in 40 years, and there’s something amazing about knowing what we’ve been through. It’s tough to express into words, yet we have such strong bonds.»
Agnetha Faltskog’s voice have fully captured my attention. She was a fantastic performer, and I hope to see her on stage again soon.
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