page_title: Ted Gärdestad
section_title: Legacy
hierarchical_section_title: Ted Gärdestad / Legacy
context_page_description: Ted Arnbjörn Gärdestad was a Swedish singer, songwriter, musician and actor known internationally as Ted. Gärdestad began his acting career in 1966 and began playing music in 1971, signing with Polar Music. Assigned with in-house producers Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, Gärdestad released his first single, "Hela världen runt," in late 1971 and worked closely with the four members of ABBA to create his debut album Undringar. As Polar Music's best-selling solo artist, he continued to work with the group members throughout the 1970s, releasing three more albums Ted, Upptåg and Franska Kort, which were moderately successful. In 1978, Gärdestad released his first English-language album, Blue Virgin Isles, which did not have success internationally, as his predecessor albums had in his home country.
  In 1979, Ted and his brother Kenneth Gärdestad played at Melodifestivalen, the competition to select Sweden's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest, with the song "Satellit." They won the competition which allowed them to represent Sweden at Eurovision held in Jerusalem. Gärdestad attempted once more to enter a song at Melodifestivalen but was unsuccessful.
context_section_description: A scholarship was set up in Gärdestad's name in 1997 to promote unsigned singer-songwriters and is awarded annually along with a tribute concert.
  In 2005, a musical based around Gärdestad's songs called Sol, vind och vatten opened in Stockholm. Also in 2005, Gärdestad's brother Kenneth wrote a biography about Ted's life called Jag vill ha en egen måne, named after his breakthrough single. It includes extensive interviews with Gärdestad's family and close friends, including tennis player Björn Borg, actor Per Ragnar, guitarist Staffan Astner, pianist Robert Wells, sound engineer Lennart Östlund, photographer Barry B. Levine, hockey player Mats Ulander, and his former girlfriend actress Ann Zacharias.
  In 2006, British bassist Andy Bell, noted founding member of Ride and former Oasis member, at the time living in Sweden and a great admirer of Ted's work, took part in the annual tribute concert held in Stockholm.
  On 16 October 2006, Kenneth received a special award from SKAP, The Swedish Society of Popular Music Composers, for his "outstanding contributions to Swedish performing arts as a lyricist," in memory of his brother Ted.
caption: Cover of the 2014 tribute album För kärlekens skull – Svenska artister hyllar Ted Gärdestad