Agnetha Fältskog
Encyclopedia
Agnetha Åse Fältskog (born 5 April 1950) is a Swedish recording artist. She achieved success in Sweden after the release of her début album Agnetha Fältskog
Agnetha Fältskog (album)
Agnetha Fältskog is the self-titled debut studio album by Swedish pop singer and ABBA member Agnetha Fältskog. It was released in Sweden in early 1968 through Cupol Records.-Album information:...

 in 1968, and reached international stardom as a member of the pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...

 group ABBA
ABBA
ABBA was a Swedish pop group formed in Stockholm in 1970 which consisted of Anni-Frid Lyngstad, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Agnetha Fältskog...

, which to date has sold over 375 million records worldwide, making it the fourth best–selling music artist in history and the second best–selling band in history.

Early life (1950–1966)

Agnetha (known as Anna in some countries) Fältskog was born on 5 April 1950 in Jönköping
Jönköping
-Notable people:*Lillian Asplund, RMS Titanic survivor*John Bauer, illustrator, painter*Amy Diamond, singer*Agnetha Fältskog, ABBA*Carl Henrik Fredriksson, editor-in-chief and co-founder of Eurozine*Anders Gustafsson, kayaker, Olympian...

, Småland
Småland
' is a historical province in southern Sweden.Småland borders Blekinge, Scania or Skåne, Halland, Västergötland, Östergötland and the island Öland in the Baltic Sea. The name Småland literally means Small Lands. . The latinized form Smolandia has been used in other languages...

, Sweden. 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 Fältskog showed much interest in music and showbusiness, whereas Birgit Fältskog was a very calm and careful woman who devoted herself to her children and household. Fältskog cites Connie Francis
Connie Francis
Connie Francis is an American pop singer of Italian heritage and the top-charting female vocalist of the 1950s and 1960s. Although her chart success waned in the second half of the 1960s, Francis remained a top concert draw...

, Marianne Faithfull
Marianne Faithfull
Marianne Evelyn Faithfull is an award-winning English singer, songwriter and actress whose career has spanned five decades....

, Aretha Franklin
Aretha Franklin
Aretha Louise Franklin is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Although known for her soul recordings and referred to as The Queen of Soul, Franklin is also adept at jazz, blues, R&B, gospel music, and rock. Rolling Stone magazine ranked her atop its list of The Greatest Singers of All...

 and Lesley Gore
Lesley Gore
Lesley Gore is an American singer. She is perhaps best known for her 1963 pop hit "It's My Party", which she recorded at the age of 16. Following the hit, she became one of the most recognized teen pop singers of the 1960s.- Biography :Gore was born in New York City, New York. She was raised in...

 as her strongest musical influences.

Fältskog wrote her first song at the age of six, entitled "Två små troll" ("Two Little Trolls"). In 1958, she began taking piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...

 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 and soon dissolved due to a lack of engagements. At age 15, Fältskog decided to leave school and pursue a career.

Career development in Sweden (1966–1971)

Fältskog worked as a telephonist for a car firm while performing with a local dance
Dance music
Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement...

 band, headed by Bernt Enghardt. The band soon became so popular that she had to make a choice between her job and her musical career. She continued singing with the Bernt Enghardt band for two years. During that time, Fältskog broke up with her boyfriend Björn Lilja; this event inspired her to write a song that would soon raise her to media prominence, "Jag var så kär". At that time, Karl Gerhard Lundkvist, a relative of one of the band's members, retired from his successful rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...

 career and began working as a record producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...

 at Cupol Records. Enghardt sent him a demo recording of the band, but Lundkvist showed interest in Fältskog and her song only. 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
Recording contract
A recording contract is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording artist , where the artist makes a record for the label to sell and promote...

 with CBS Records
CBS Records
CBS Records is a record label founded by CBS Corporation in 2006 to take advantage of music from its entertainment properties owned by CBS Television Studios. The initial label roster consisted of only three artists; rock band Señor Happy and singer/songwriters Will Dailey and P.J...

.

Her début single "Jag var så kär", written by herself, was released through Cupol Records in 1967, and topped the Swedish Chart on 28 January 1968 and sold more than 80.000 copies. She also submitted the song "Försonade" to Melodifestivalen
Melodifestivalen
Melodifestivalen is an annual music competition organised by Swedish public broadcasters Sveriges Television and Sveriges Radio . It determines the country's representative for the Eurovision Song Contest, and has been staged almost every year since 1959...

, the Swedish heats of the Eurovision Song Contest
Eurovision Song Contest
The Eurovision Song Contest is an annual competition held among active member countries of the European Broadcasting Union .Each member country submits a song to be performed on live television and then casts votes for the other countries' songs to determine the most popular song in the competition...

, but it was not selected for the final. Fältskog developed a career as one of Sweden's most popular pop music
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...

 artists, participating in a television special about pilots in 1968. 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.

Her success continued throughout the late 1960s. She then met German songwriter/producer Dieter Zimmerman, to whom she became engaged. Thus Fältskog's albums were reaching German charts, and Zimmerman promised Fältskog she would achieve great success in Germany. When she went there and met with record producers, she refused to meet their demands, describing their chosen material as "horrible". Fältskog soon ended her engagement to Zimmerman and returned to Sweden.

In 1970, she released "Om tårar vore guld", which was perhaps her most successful song in Sweden before ABBA
ABBA
ABBA was a Swedish pop group formed in Stockholm in 1970 which consisted of Anni-Frid Lyngstad, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Agnetha Fältskog...

. This was in spite of a claim from a Danish composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...

 that she had used 22 bars from his composition "Tema", even though it had been written in the 1950s and had never been recorded. The case dragged on until 1977, when a settlement was reached and Fältskog paid the Dane SEK
Swedish krona
The krona has been the currency of Sweden since 1873. Both the ISO code "SEK" and currency sign "kr" are in common use; the former precedes or follows the value, the latter usually follows it, but especially in the past, it sometimes preceded the value...

5,000. In 1972, Fältskog portrayed Mary Magdalene
Mary Magdalene
Mary Magdalene was one of Jesus' most celebrated disciples, and the most important woman disciple in the movement of Jesus. Jesus cleansed her of "seven demons", conventionally interpreted as referring to complex illnesses...

 in the Swedish production of the international musical hit Jesus Christ Superstar
Jesus Christ Superstar
Jesus Christ Superstar is a rock opera by Andrew Lloyd Webber, with lyrics by Tim Rice. The musical started off as a rock opera concept recording before its first staging on Broadway in 1971...

.

Marriage to Björn Ulvaeus and years with ABBA (1971–1982)

Fältskog met Björn Ulvaeus
Björn Ulvaeus
Björn Kristian Ulvaeus is a Swedish songwriter, composer, musician, writer, producer, a former member of the Swedish musical group ABBA , and co-composer of the musicals Chess, Kristina från Duvemåla, and Mamma Mia!...

, a member of the Hootenanny Singers
Hootenanny Singers
The Hootenanny Singers were a popular folk group from Sweden, founded in 1961, and continuing into the 1970s. The group included Björn Ulvaeus, who later was a member of ABBA. Other bandmembers were Johan Karlberg, Tony Roth and Hansi Schwarz...

, in 1969. Her relationship with Ulvaeus, as well as her friendship with Anni-Frid Lyngstad
Anni-Frid Lyngstad
Anni-Frid Prinzessin Reuss von Plauen , is a Norwegian-born Swedish pop singer...

 and Benny Andersson
Benny Andersson
Göran Bror "Benny" Andersson is a Swedish musician, composer, a former member of the Swedish musical group ABBA , and co-composer of the musicals Chess, Kristina från Duvemåla, and Mamma Mia!...

, with whom Ulvaeus had already written songs, eventually led to the formation of ABBA
ABBA
ABBA was a Swedish pop group formed in Stockholm in 1970 which consisted of Anni-Frid Lyngstad, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Agnetha Fältskog...

. Fältskog and Ulvaeus married on 6 July 1971 in the village Verum, with Andersson playing the organ at their wedding. Their first child, Linda Elin Ulvaeus
Linda Ulvaeus
Linda Elin Ulvaeus is a Swedish singer-songwriter, screen and stage actress. She is the eldest child of Björn Ulvaeus and Agnetha Fältskog, former members of the Swedish pop group ABBA....

, was born on 23 February 1973, and their son Peter Christian Ulvaeus on 4 December 1977. The couple decided to separate in late 1978, and Fältskog moved out of their home on Christmas night, 25 December 1978. In January 1979, the couple filed for divorce, which was finalised in June 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 Winner Takes It All
The Winner Takes It All
"The Winner Takes It All" is a song recorded by Swedish pop group ABBA. Released as the first single from the group's Super Trouper album on July 21, 1980, it is a ballad in the key of F-sharp major, reflecting the end of a romance...

", one of ABBA's greatest hits.

In 1975, during the same period as her bandmate Anni-Frid Lyngstad
Anni-Frid Lyngstad
Anni-Frid Prinzessin Reuss von Plauen , is a Norwegian-born Swedish pop singer...

 recorded her Swedish number one album Frida ensam
Frida ensam
Frida ensam is a solo album by ABBA singer Anni-Frid Lyngstad. The album was produced by her fiancé, ABBA member Benny Andersson and was first released by Polar Music in 1975. It has since been re-released several times, most significantly in remastered form in 2005 with bonus tracks...

, Fältskog recorded and produced her solo album Elva kvinnor i ett hus
Elva kvinnor i ett hus
Elva kvinnor i ett hus , released on December 1, 1975, was the 5th and last full-length solo album in the Swedish language by Swedish pop singer and ABBA member Agnetha Fältskog.-Album Information:...

. These albums were both recorded between sessions and promotion for the ABBA albums Waterloo
Waterloo (album)
* 1974 Polar Music International AB, Stockholm, Sweden.* The original album release of Waterloo in 1974 with Polar.-CD re-issues, bonus tracks:...

 and ABBA
ABBA (album)
1975 Polar Music international AB, Stockholm, Sweden.Stig Anderson helped us with the lyrics on "Mamma Mia", "Tropical Loveland", "SOS", "Bang-A-Boomerang", "I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do" and "I've Been Waiting for You".-CD re-issues, bonus tracks:...

. Even though ABBA was already a number one act in Sweden by 1975, Fältskog's album failed to reach the Top 10 on the Swedish album charts, peaking at number 11. However, Elva Kvinnor I Ett Hus did spend 53 weeks on the chart, even longer than any of ABBA's albums, and it also contained three further Svensktoppen
Svensktoppen
Svensktoppen is a record chart at Sveriges Radio. Until January 2003, the songs had to be in the Swedish language. Svensktoppen has aired since 1962, except for the years 1982-1985. Svensktoppen airs once a week...

 entries for Fältskog: her Swedish language version of ABBA's "SOS" (also number 4 on the single sales chart); "Tack För En Underbar Vanlig Dag"; and "Doktorn!". Except for the version of "SOS", all the songs had lyrics by Bosse Carlgren and music by Fältskog herself. The album had been underway since 1972, when Agnetha started writing the songs, but it was delayed because of the work with ABBA and her pregnancy. In 1974, she and Carlgren agreed on a concept for the album; it should consist of 12 songs, sung by 12 different women living in the same apartment building, each having a distinct name, identity, etc. In the end, only 11 songs were put onto the album, and the concept was never fully developed.

Between the years 1968 and 1980, Fältskog had a total of 18 entries on the Svensktoppen radio chart, starting with debut single "Jag Var Så Kär" in January 1968 (peak position number 1) and ending with "När Du Tar Mig I Din Famn" from the compilation Tio år med Agnetha
Tio år med Agnetha
Tio år med Agnetha is a 1979 compilation album from Swedish pop singer Agnetha Fältskog, one of the members of ABBA...

 twelve years later, in January 1980 (peak position number 1). The 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 1, 15 weeks). Fältskog also recorded the Swedish Christmas album Nu tändas tusen juleljus
Nu tändas tusen juleljus (album)
-Personell:The following musicians contributed to the recording of Nu tändas tusen juleljus:*Agnetha Fältskog: vocals, producer*Linda Ulvaeus: vocals*Michael B...

 with daughter Linda Ulvaeus
Linda Ulvaeus
Linda Elin Ulvaeus is a Swedish singer-songwriter, screen and stage actress. She is the eldest child of Björn Ulvaeus and Agnetha Fältskog, former members of the Swedish pop group ABBA....

 which peaked at number 6 on the Swedish album sales chart in December 1981. Chartwise Fältskog was, therefore, by far the most successful solo artist of the four ABBA members, both before and during the band's international career.

Fältskog is also the only member of ABBA to have participated in Melodifestivalen
Melodifestivalen
Melodifestivalen is an annual music competition organised by Swedish public broadcasters Sveriges Television and Sveriges Radio . It determines the country's representative for the Eurovision Song Contest, and has been staged almost every year since 1959...

 again after having won Eurovision with "Waterloo" in 1974, albeit only as a composer. In 1981, she wrote the ballad "Men Natten Är Vår" ("But the Night Is Ours") with lyrics by Ingela Forsman
Ingela Forsman
Ingela Birgitta "Pling" Forsman is a Swedish lyricist in popular music. 1981–2009, 33 of her songs have competed in the Swedish Melodifestivalen, three of them winners: Bra vibrationer , Se på mej and Kärleken är...

, but instead of performing the song in the contest herself, she chose new talent Kicki Moberg. 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 sung on ABBA's 1979 world tour. Moberg's recording of the song remains the only version to have been officially released to date.

International solo career development (1982–1990)

In the 1980s, Fältskog released three English-language solo albums. The records did well in Europe and Scandinavia.

At the end of 1982, she duetted with Swedish singer (and former ABBA backing vocalist) Tomas Ledin
Tomas Ledin
Tomas Folke Jonas Ledin is a Swedish singer, songwriter, guitarist, and producer. He grew up in the town of Sandviken.Tomas Ledin started his career in 1972 when his first single, Då ska jag spela, was a big hit...

 on a song called "Never Again
Never Again (Agnetha song)
"Never Again" was written by Swedish singer and songwriter Tomas Ledin. He was already familiar with ABBA because both recorded for the same label and on top of that Tomas toured together with ABBA as a backing-singer in 1979 and 1980....

", which became a Top Five hit in Sweden, Norway, Belgium, and South America. The song was also released in a Spanish language version, entitled "Ya Nunca Más". In the summer of the same year, Fältskog starred in the hit Swedish movie Raskenstam, and received positive reviews for her film début. The film was also a blockbuster hit in Sweden.

In May 1983, Fältskog released her first post-ABBA solo album, Wrap Your Arms Around Me. The album became a moderate hit in North America and Australia, and reached the higher regions of the charts across Europe, including number 1 in Sweden, Norway, Finland, Belgium and Denmark (where it became the biggest-selling album of the year), and number 18 in the UK. Agnetha sold 1.2 million records of her first solo album after ABBA. Two singles from the album became hits in continental Europe. "The Heat Is On
The Heat Is On (Agnetha song)
"The Heat Is On" was recorded by former ABBA member Agnetha Fältskog in 1983 as part of her first English solo-album, Wrap Your Arms Around Me....

" became a number 1 hit in Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland and the Netherlands, but only just scraped into the UK Top 40. The title track also peaked at number 1 in Belgium as well as the Top Five in the Netherlands, Germany and South Africa. In North America, the album track "Can't Shake Loose
Can't Shake Loose
Can't Shake Loose is the name of a 1983 song from former ABBA star Agnetha Fältskog's solo album, Wrap Your Arms Around Me. It was the third single release in Europe and the first to be issued in the United States....

" was released as the lead-off single, reaching No. 29 on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

 chart, and number 23 on the RPM Top 50 singles chart in Canada.

The same year, Fältskog was voted by the readers of Aftonbladet
Aftonbladet
Aftonbladet is a Swedish tabloid founded by Lars Johan Hierta in 1830 during the modernization of Sweden. It is one of the larger daily newspapers in the Nordic countries. Aftonbladet is owned by the Swedish Trade Union Confederation and Norwegian media group Schibsted, and its editorial page...

 as Best Female Artist of the Year, and received the Music Award Price Rockbjörnen
Rockbjörnen
Rockbjörnen is a Swedish popular music award established by the Stockholm evening newspaper Aftonbladet in 1979. The award, which is awarded annually, is divided into several categories and is mostly concentrated around the genres Pop and Rock. The first award was however given to the Swedish...

.

Her next studio album, Eyes of a Woman
Eyes of a Woman
Eyes of a Woman is the second of Agnetha Fältskog's 1980s post-ABBA solo albums. Eric Stewart produced. It was Fältskog's second album to reach the UK Top 40, reaching No.38. In Sweden, the album peaked at No. 2. It also reached the Top 20 in Norway, the Netherlands and Belgium.The album was...

, produced by Eric Stewart
Eric Stewart
Eric Stewart is an English musician, songwriter and record producer most known for his tenure with The Mindbenders in the 1960s, and 10cc from 1972 to 1995....

 of 10cc
10cc
10cc are an English art rock band who achieved their greatest commercial success in the 1970s. The band initially consisted of four musicians -- Graham Gouldman, Eric Stewart, Kevin Godley, and Lol Creme -- who had written and recorded together for some three years, before assuming the "10cc" name...

, 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
Melody Maker
Melody Maker, published in the United Kingdom, was, according to its publisher IPC Media, the world's oldest weekly music newspaper. It was founded in 1926 as a magazine targeted at musicians; in 2000 it was merged into "long-standing rival" New Musical Express.-1950s–1960s:Originally the Melody...

. The album sold well in parts of Europe, peaking at number 2 in Sweden and the Top 20 in Norway and Belgium, but failed to match the success of Wrap Your Arms Around Me. Lead single "I Won't Let You Go
I Won't Let You Go
"I Won't Let You Go" is the first single from Agnetha Fältskog's second English solo-album Eyes of a Woman. The song was composed by Fältskog with lyrics by producer Eric Stewart, formerly of the group 10cc....

", composed by Fältskog herself, however, enjoyed considerable chart success in both Continental Europe and Scandinavia.

In 1986, Fältskog recorded another duet, "The Way You Are
The Way You Are
"The Way You Are" is a pop song that was recorded by Agnetha Fältskog and Ola Håkansson of the band Secret Service in 1986. The song was used to promote Falun, Sweden as a candidate for hosting the 1992 Olympic Winter Games...

", with Swedish singer Ola Håkansson
Ola Håkansson
Ola Håkansson is a Swedish singer, composer and producer.Ola Håkansson was born in Stockholm. He was the singer of the band Ola and the Janglers and later Secret Service. In 1986 he recorded the duet "The Way You Are" with Agnetha Fältskog.He was part of the songwriting trio Norell Oson Bard...

, which became another number 1 hit in Sweden. In mid-1987, Fältskog travelled to Malibu, California to record the album I Stand Alone, produced by Peter Cetera
Peter Cetera
Peter Paul Cetera is an American singer, songwriter, bassist and producer best known for being an original member of the rock band Chicago, before launching a successful solo career...

 and Bruce Gaitsch
Bruce Gaitsch
Bruce R. Gaitsch is an American guitarist, composer, and producer. He is best known for working with notable musicians such as Richard Marx, Chicago, Peter Cetera, Madonna, Agnetha Fältskog and many others as a session musician and songwriter...

 (fresh off Madonna
Madonna (entertainer)
Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...

's La Isla Bonita
La Isla Bonita
"La Isla Bonita" is a song by American singer-songwriter Madonna. It was released as the fifth and final single from her third studio album, True Blue, on February 25, 1987, by Sire Records. Originally written as a lament, the song was first offered to Michael Jackson before Madonna accepted it...

 collaboration). Released in November of that year, it was a minor hit in Europe, except for Sweden where it spent eight weeks at number 1 and became the best-selling album of 1988 and entering the Top 15 in Norway. The single from the album, "I Wasn't the One (Who Said Goodbye)", 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
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

, peaking at number 93. It was also a Top 20 Billboard Adult Contemporary hit. Two tracks were also recorded in Spanish for the Latin American market; "La Ultima Véz" ("The Last Time") and "Yo No Fui Quién Dijo Adiós" ("I Wasn't the One (Who Said Goodbye)").

After the release of I Stand Alone in mid-1988, Fältskog went on hiatus from her musical career and completely withdrew from public life.

Second marriage, Gert van der Graaf and As I Am (1990–2004)

In 1990, Fältskog married Swedish surgeon Tomas Sonnenfeld. They divorced in 1993. She also had a two year relationship with Dutchman Gert van der Graaf at the end of the 1990s during which time she invited him to live with her. After Fältskog had decided to finish the relationship, he stalked her at her mansion, resulting in a court issuing Van der Graaf with a restraining order. He was arrested in 2003 and banned from entry into Sweden. In 2005, the deportation order from Sweden ran out, and within months Van der Graaf was again sighted near Fältskog's estate in Ekerö
Ekerö
Ekerö is a locality and the seat of Ekerö Municipality in Stockholm County, Sweden, with 10,322 inhabitants in 2005.Agnetha Fältskog of ABBA fame lives on the island ....

.

In 1996, her autobiography Som jag är was published in Swedish (in English the following year as As I Am), followed by several compilation CDs of her Swedish and English recordings, including one called My Love, My Life for which Agnetha picked out the music herself. Hardcore fans welcomed the autobiography, but critics panned it.

Return to music and ABBA reunion (2004–present)

In April 2004, Fältskog released a new single, "If I Thought You'd Ever Change Your Mind
If I Thought You'd Ever Change Your Mind
"If I Thought You'd Ever Change Your Mind" is a song that was originally performed by Cilla Black, written by John Cameron, produced by George Martin. It reached number 20 in the UK charts in 1969. In 1970, Sammy Babitzin recorded a cover version in Finnish...

" (a cover of the song originally recorded by Cilla Black
Cilla Black
Cilla Black OBE is an English singer, actress, entertainer and media personality, who has been consistently popular as a light entertainment figure since 1963. She is most famous for her singles Anyone Who Had A Heart, You're My World, and Alfie...

). It peaked at number 2 in Sweden, number 11 in the UK, and became a sizable hit throughout Europe. "It is exciting to hear her voice, utterly undimmed, delivering a tellingly-titled song," commented London's Music Week
Music Week
Music Week is a trade paper for the UK record industry.Founded in 1959 as Record Retailer, it was relaunched on 18 March 1972 as Music Week . On 17 January 1981 the title was again changed, owing to the increasing importance of sell-through videos, to Music & Video Week...

. A few weeks later, the album My Colouring Book
My Colouring Book
My Colouring Book is the name of a 2004 album by Swedish singer Agnetha Fältskog. It was her first album release for 17 years and was well received by ABBA fans, as well as the general music press, with renditions of songs which she had listened to during her teenage years in the 1960s.Hit singles...

, a collection of Fältskog's covers of 1960s classic oldies
Oldies
Oldies is a term commonly used to describe a radio format that concentrates on music from a period of about 15 to 55 years before the present day....

, was released, topping the charts in Sweden, hitting the Top Five in Finland and Denmark, number 6 in Germany and peaking at number 12 in the United Kingdom. The title song "My Colouring Book" is a cover of the song originally recorded by Dusty Springfield
Dusty Springfield
Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O'BrienSources use both Isabel and Isobel as the spelling of her second name. OBE , known professionally as Dusty Springfield and dubbed The White Queen of Soul, was a British pop singer whose career extended from the late 1950s to the 1990s...

. "I love this record," enthused Pete Clark in London's Evening Standard
Evening Standard
The Evening Standard, now styled the London Evening Standard, is a free local daily newspaper, published Monday–Friday in tabloid format in London. It is the dominant regional evening paper for London and the surrounding area, with coverage of national and international news and City of London...

, while Daily Mail
Daily Mail
The Daily Mail is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper owned by the Daily Mail and General Trust. First published in 1896 by Lord Northcliffe, it is the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling daily newspaper after The Sun. Its sister paper The Mail on Sunday was launched in 1982...

 pointed out that "it reveals a genuine affection for the era's forgotten pop tunes." The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...

 reviewer noted that "her voice is still an impressive pop instrument," and The Observer
The Observer
The Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...

 shared the same sentiment suggesting that "time hasn't diminished her perfect voice." Reviewing the release in The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...

, Caroline Sullivan wrote: "Agnetha Fältskog has a vulnerability that gets under the skin of a song. She may be cheating a trifle by including no original material on this collection of 1960s covers, but if anyone can do justice to the likes of "Sealed with a Kiss
Sealed with a Kiss
"Sealed with a Kiss" is the title of a song written by Peter Udell and Gary Geld. It was first recorded by The Four Voices in 1960 as a single, but their recording was not a hit....

", it's her. The soaring sentimentality evokes Cilla Black
Cilla Black
Cilla Black OBE is an English singer, actress, entertainer and media personality, who has been consistently popular as a light entertainment figure since 1963. She is most famous for her singles Anyone Who Had A Heart, You're My World, and Alfie...

 and Sandie Shaw
Sandie Shaw
Sandie Shaw is an English pop singer, who was one of the most successful British female singers of the 1960s. In 1967 she was the first UK act to win the Eurovision Song Contest...

 in their mini-skirted pomp, and I don't say that lightly." The release attracted media attention across Europe, but Fältskog staunchly refused to be involved in any extensive promotion of the album (including personal appearances), and thus limited her public exposure to several short newspaper interviews, a few videos and a Swedish-language low-key TV special. Yet, the album managed to sell more than 500,000 copies worldwide, 50,000 of those in the United Kingdom alone. A second single release from the album, "When You Walk in the Room
When You Walk In The Room
"When You Walk in the Room" is a song written and recorded by Jackie DeShannon, first released by her in 1963 but covered by many artists. The lyrics of the song attempt to detail the singer's emotions when in the presence of the person he or she loves...

", peaked at number 11 in Sweden and also entered the UK Top 40.
"Sometimes When I'm Dreaming
Sometimes When I'm Dreaming
"Sometimes When I'm Dreaming" is a song from Agnetha Fältskog's 2004 comeback album, My Colouring Book. The song was written by Mike Batt, once famous as the writer of songs for The Wombles and was originally recorded by Art Garfunkel...

", originally recorded by Art Garfunkel
Art Garfunkel
Arthur Ira "Art" Garfunkel is an American singer-songwriter, poet, and actor, best known as being a member of the folk duo Simon & Garfunkel...

, failed to be released as the third single from the album.

Shortly after this release, for the 2004 semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest
Eurovision Song Contest
The Eurovision Song Contest is an annual competition held among active member countries of the European Broadcasting Union .Each member country submits a song to be performed on live television and then casts votes for the other countries' songs to determine the most popular song in the competition...

, staged in Istanbul 30 years after ABBA had won the contest in Brighton, Fältskog appeared briefly in a special comedy video made for the interval act, entitled "Our Last Video." Each of the four members of the group appeared briefly in cameo roles, as did others such as Cher
Cher
Cher is an American recording artist, television personality, actress, director, record producer and philanthropist. Referred to as the Goddess of Pop, she has won an Academy Award, a Grammy Award, an Emmy Award, three Golden Globes and a Cannes Film Festival Award among others for her work in...

 and Rik Mayall
Rik Mayall
Richard Michael "Rik" Mayall is an English comedian, writer, and actor. He is known for his comedy partnership with Ade Edmondson, his over-the-top, energetic portrayal of characters, and as a pioneer of alternative comedy in the early 1980s...

. It was billed as the first time the four had worked together since the group split. In fact, while Bjorn and Benny filmed their more extensive parts together, Frida and Agnetha were filmed for a very short appearance separately and edited to appear together.

In 2004, Fältskog was nominated for Best Nordic Artist at the Nordic Music Awards, and at Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...

 of that year (for the first time in almost 20 years), she gave an extensive interview which was filmed by Swedish TV. Around the same time, Sony Music released a lavishly produced 6 CD boxed set
Boxed set
A box set is a compilation of various musical recordings, films, television programs, or other collection of related items that are contained in a box.-Music box sets:...

 comprising Fältskog's Swedish solo career before ABBA (five original solo albums - 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1975 - and an additional compilation disc with bonus tracks).

In January 2007, Fältskog appeared at the final performance of Mamma Mia! in Stockholm (as she had at its opening in 2005). Together with ex-husband and former colleague Björn Ulvaeus, she appeared on stage at the after show party held at Stockholm's Grand Hotel. She also sang a duet, "True Love", with Tommy Körberg
Tommy Körberg
Bert Gustav Tommy Körberg is a Swedish singer, actor, and musician. In 1969, he won Swedish Recording Industry Award Grammis in a category Best Debut Performance. English-speaking audiences know him best for his role in the Benny Andersson–Björn Ulvaeus–Tim Rice musical Chess...

 of Chess.

In October 2008, a new compilation album, My Very Best
My Very Best
My Very Best is a compilation album by Agnetha Fältskog which was released on October 8, 2008. The album was released as a celebration of the 40 years anniversary of Agnethas first hit single "Jag var så kär"....

, was released in Sweden. The double CD contains both Swedish (CD 1) and English-language hits (CD 2) from her whole solo career, from 1967 to 2004. It successfully entered as number 4 on the Swedish albums chart and was certified gold within the first week of its release.
On 4 July 2008, Fältskog joined former colleagues Anni-Frid Lyngstad, Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson at the Swedish premiere of the film version of Mamma Mia!
Mamma Mia! (film)
Mamma Mia! is a 2008 musical/romantic comedy film adapted from the 1999 West End/2001 Broadway musical of the same name, based on the songs of successful pop group ABBA, with additional music composed by ABBA member Benny Andersson...

, held at the Rival Theatre (owned by Andersson) in Mariatorget
Mariatorget
Mariatorget is a square and a city park in Södermalm, Stockholm, constructed at the end of the 1760s. Its original name was Adolf Fredriks torg , but it was renamed "Mariatorget" in 1959 to avoid confusion with the church and parish of Adolf Fredrikskyrkan in Norrmalm...

, Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...

. Fältskog arrived with Lyngstad and movie star Meryl Streep
Meryl Streep
Mary Louise "Meryl" Streep is an American actress who has worked in theatre, television and film.Streep made her professional stage debut in 1971's The Playboy of Seville, before her screen debut in the television movie The Deadliest Season in 1977. In that same year, she made her film debut with...

, the three dancing in front of thousands of fans before joining the film's other stars and Andersson and Ulvaeus on the hotel balcony for the first photograph of all four ABBA members together in 22 years.

In February 2010, ABBA World, an extensive multi-million pound exhibition, debuted at London's Earls Court and included an extensive interview with Agnetha filmed in Sweden the previous summer. For the exhibition's Melbourne launch, she recorded a light-hearted opening film together with former ABBA colleague Benny Andersson, shot in Stockholm in June 2010.

In October 2010, Fältskog was at the opening of Mamma Mia! the musical in Denmark with former husband Ulvaeus.

Filmography

Year Title Role Notes
1977 ABBA: The Movie
ABBA: The Movie
ABBA: The Movie is a 1977 film about the pop group ABBA's Australian tour. It was directed by Lasse Hallström, who directed most of the group's videos. The film has become a cult film among ABBA fans...

Herself
1982 Nöjesmaskinen Herself (Guest appearance)
1983 Casanova of Sweden also known as Raskenstam Lisa Mattson

Further reading

  • Wille Wendt: Topplistan - The Official Swedish Single & Album Charts, Premium Förlag, ISBN 91-971894-2-1
  • 1998 — Guinness Book of British Hit Singles
    Guinness Book of British Hit Singles
    British Hit Singles & Albums was a music reference book published in the United Kingdom by HiT Entertainment's "Guinness World Records". It listed all the singles and albums featured in the Top 75 Charts in UK, as compiled by the editors of British Hit Singles & Albums...

     7th Edition

External links

  • Official Website of ABBA
    ABBA
    ABBA was a Swedish pop group formed in Stockholm in 1970 which consisted of Anni-Frid Lyngstad, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Agnetha Fältskog...

  • Agnetha Fältskog at the Internet Movie Database
    Internet Movie Database
    Internet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...


The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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