page_title: Anni-Frid Lyngstad
section_title: 1972–1981: ABBA and Frida ensam
hierarchical_section_title: Anni-Frid Lyngstad / Career / 1972–1981: ABBA and Frida ensam
caption_attribution_description: English: Anni-Frid Lyngstad and Agnetha Fältskog at The Eddy Go Round Show, 1974
context_page_description: Princess Anni-Frid, Countess of Plauen, better known by her nickname Frida, is a Norwegian-Swedish singer, songwriter, and environmentalist. She is best known as one of the founding members and lead singers of the Swedish pop band ABBA.
  Born in Bjørkåsen to a Norwegian mother and a German soldier father, she grew up in Torshälla, Sweden, and started her first solo career there, as a jazz singer in 1967, through a talent competition called New Faces. She won the competition with her song, "En ledig dag", leading to a television appearance on Hylands Hörna on Dagen H; as a result, she was signed by EMI, and in turn was signed by Stig Anderson's record label, Polar Music, after years of releasing several singles and an album, Frida under the earlier record label. Although she had moderate success in Sweden, as she was a contestant for Melodifestivalen 1969 with her song "Härlig är vår jord", she did not reach international fame until she joined ABBA, which has sold over 350 million albums and singles worldwide, making them one of the best-selling music acts in history.
context_section_description: At first, Lyngstad was hesitant to perform with her boyfriend Benny Andersson, his best friend Björn Ulvaeus and his wife, Agnetha Fältskog. Their first project together in the winter of 1970–1971 was the cabaret act Festfolket, which was not a success. The following year, Lyngstad toured with Lasse Berghagen, while the other three future ABBA members started performing together on a regular basis. Eventually, she rejoined the ensemble. Andersson and Ulvaeus were busy producing other artists, but soon discovered the qualities of Lyngstad's and Fältskog's voices combined; thus, the band was formed initially as Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Anni-Frid, later renamed ABBA.
  Possessing a wide mezzo-soprano vocal range, according to both Ulvaeus and herself, Lyngstad sang solo parts in the following ABBA songs: "Andante, Andante", "Cassandra", "Fernando", "Gonna Sing You My Lovesong", "I Am the City", "I Have a Dream", "I Let The Music Speak", "On Top of Old Smokey", "I Wonder (Departure)", "The King Has Lost His Crown", "Knowing Me, Knowing You", "Like an Angel Passing Through My Room", "Lovers (Live a Little Longer)", "Me and Bobby and Bobby's Brother", "Me and I", "Money, Money, Money", "The Name Of The Game", "One Man, One Woman", "Our Last Summer", "Put On Your White Sombrero", "Should I Laugh or Cry", "Super Trouper", "Tropical Loveland",  "The Visitors", "The Way Old Friends Do" and "When All Is Said And Done".
  Lyngstad clearly enjoyed the spotlight more than the other three members of ABBA. She liked to tour and to meet audience members one-to-one. She took an active part in co-designing the famed ABBA costumes for their tours and TV performances. Since the members of ABBA went their separate ways, Lyngstad has been the only one who openly regrets there has never been a reunion to date.
  Her next solo album, in Swedish, was Frida ensam (Frida Alone), released in 1975 during the ABBA years, and produced by Benny Andersson. This album includes her successful Swedish version of "Fernando", which stayed at the No. 1 spot in the Svensktoppen radio charts for 9 weeks, but was never released as a single. The album was recorded between sessions of the ABBA albums Waterloo and ABBA. Due to the activities of the group, the album took 18 months to record. Frida ensam became an enormous commercial and critical success in Sweden, topping the Swedish album charts for six weeks and remaining in the charts for 38. The album was mostly a collection of covers of songs by artists like the Beach Boys ("Skulle de' va' skönt"), 10cc ("Guld och gröna ängar") and David Bowie ("Liv på Mars?"), receiving positive reviews from Melody Maker: "The album portrays Frida as a very strong and emotive singer and shows the true value of the music, that if sung properly and with enough feeling it transcends all language barriers". This album was such a big success, it eventually went platinum.
caption: Lyngstad (left) and Fältskog (right) in 1974
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