The name of the group ABBA was created by Stig Anderson, ABBA's producer. It is
made up of the initial of the first names of the members;
Agnetha Faltskog
Bjorn Ulvaeus
Benny Andersson
Anni-frid (Frida) Lyngstad
Before ABBA became a group each member had established a name for themselves,
individually, in Swedish music;
Bjorn was a guitarist in the Hootenanny Singers in the late 1960's.
Benny was the pianist in a goup called The Hep Cats.
Frida had moved to Sweden from Norway three years before ABBA started.
Agnetha married Bjorn at the age of 17 and was the lead singer in a small Swedish
group.
Benny and Bjorn were both bored with what they were doing because of the lack of
fame. Benny and Bjorn were good friends and got together now and then. They got
the idea of making their own band, they would write the songs, Bjorn would play
lead guitar, Benny would play the piano, but who would sing? Bjorn thought of his
wife Agnetha, and Benny thought of his girlfriend Frida.
ABBA started like a bomb out of a cannon.
In October 1978 Frida and Benny got married, making ABBA a group of two married
couples. But this did not last long. Agnetha and Bjorn seperated in the December
of the same year. This was thought to be because of the stress of fame on the
marriage.
But ABBA kept on topping the charts all over the world.
In 1981 Benny and Frida got devorced.
ABBA kept going with Bjorn marrying again that year, and Benny married again
before the end of the year.
In 1982 the members started considering future projects outside of ABBA.
Both Agnetha and Frida went on to solo careers, both enjoying success of their
own.
Bjorn and Benny, as songwriters, had success along with Tim Rice (recently
a songwriter for a Walt Disney Cartoon Movie success 'Aladdin' ) with 'Chess' an
English musical.
To know more about ABBA, follow the following links;
Links to other sites on the Web
Agnetha Faltskog
Frida Lyngstad
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