Childhood & Early Life
Born in J�nk�ping, Sm�land, Sweden, Agnetha F�ltskog was the daughter of Knut Ingvar, a department store manager and Birgit Margareta Johansson.
Her first song ‘Tv� sm� troll’ (‘Two Little Trolls’), she composed when she was just six. In 1958, she started learning piano and also joined a local church choir.
In 1960, Agnetha with her friends made a band ‘The Cambers’, which started performing at community events. However, the band didn’t survive long and she left school to devote herself completely to music.
Continue Reading Below
Career
Starting her musical career, Agnetha F�ltskog performed with a dance band, headed by Bernt Enghardt. Her breakup with her boyfriend inspired her to write a song, ‘Jag var s� k�r’, which catapulted her to fame.
Enghardt approached Karl Gerhard Lundkvist, a record producer at ‘Cupol Records’, and sent him a demo recording of the band, but Lundkvist was impressed by only F�ltskog’s performance. Eventually, she signed a recording contract with CBS Records.
Between 1967 and 1968, she came out with three singles— her debut single, ‘Jag var s� k�r’, topped the Swedish Chart. Of other two singles, ‘F�rsonade’ did not make to the Eurovision final and ‘Zigenarv�n’ became entangled in a controversy.
In 1970, she came out with, ‘Om t�rar vore guld’, her most successful song pre-ABBA. A Danish composer alleged her of copying certain sections from his composition and a court settlement was reached seven years later.
Between 1968 and 1980, 18 of her songs featured on the ‘Svensktopp’, a radio chart including singles like, ‘Jag Var S� K�r’ and ‘N�r Du Tar Mig I Din Famn’.
F�ltskog met Bj�rn Ulvaeus, who had written songs with Benny Andersson whose girlfriend Anni-Frid Lyngstad was a good friend of Faltskog. These links eventually led to the formation of ‘ABBA’.
Some of her popular songs in association with ‘ABBA’ are ‘Hasta Ma�ana’, ‘SOS’, ‘You for the Music’, ‘Chiquitita’, ‘Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!’, ‘The Winner Takes It All’ and ‘Lay All Your Love on Me’.
In 1982, she recorded a duet, ‘Never Again’ with Swedish singer Tomas Ledin which peaked at the pop charts across several countries.
In 1983, after her association with ABBA ended she released a solo album, ‘Wrap Your Arms Around Me’, featuring singles such as, ‘The Heat Is On’ and ‘Can’t Shake Loose’. Though the album failed gain recognition in America and Australia, it reached no.1 position on pop charts in Europe.
Continue Reading Below
Between 1985 and 1987, her album, ‘Eyes of a Woman’, her duet, ‘The Way You Are’, with Ola H�kansson, and ‘Come Ride with Me on My Carousel’ with her son Christian tasted great success in Sweden.
She released her album, ‘I Stand Alone’, in 1988 occupied the no. 1 spot in Sweden for eight weeks. The duet with Peter Cetera, ‘I Wasn't the One’, peaked at No. 93 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Returning after a hiatus, she released in 2004, a new single, ‘If I Thought You'd Ever Change Your Mind’ which reached the no. 2 spot in Sweden and peaked at no. 11 in the UK.
She released the album, ‘My Colouring Book’ in 2004, which featured her covers of 60s classic oldies. The album peaked at no. 1 in Sweden and topped the charts in other European countries as well.
In 2007, she was seen in the performance of ‘Mamma Mia!’ in Stockholm with ex-husband Bj�rn Ulvaeus.
She appeared alongside he colleagues Anni-Frid Lyngstad, Bj�rn Ulvaeus, and Benny Andersson at the Swedish premiere of the film version of ‘Mamma Mia!’. The event was organized at the Rival Theatre in Stockholm.
