Frida & Benny: It will be an oldfashioned wedding with a party that goes on all night

Here's an article from abbamikory.blog that I decided to post here because it's been 33 years! since it was published and because it is one of my favourites! that magazine cover is priceless and it's interesting as we know how their wedding plans change totally at that time!

Published in VeckoRevyn #26, 29 June 1977. It talks about Frida's and Benny's wedding plans.

Anni-Frid's wedding dress has been hanging in her closet for five years. And now it finally looks as if she is going to use it. The rumours about Benny and Frida getting married this summer are getting more intense.

- And you can count on that it will be a party to remember, they say.This summer it will happen! The rumours are more intense than ever. Not that either of them think thatgetting married is very important, more because it's a great excuse to have fun. And one thing is for sure: It's going to be a hell of a party. On that Anni-Frid and Benny totally agree and they have spoken about it to VeckoRevyn's reporter many times.
- The day we get married it will not go unnoticed, you can bet on that.
- The guests will not only gather for the ceremony and dinner. We don't want people to leave us alone on the wedding night. No, we shall be together. We will be dancing and singing and playing together the whole night. Wake up together the following morning, eat good food and then spend some more time together.
- Preferrably it will be an old fashioned wedding.

THE WEDDING DRESS IS READY

And already five years ago Anni-Frid sewed what she planned to be her wedding dress. It was a beautiful dress in champagne coloured crèpe material. A long dress, a high neck line and long, wide arms, exquisitely manufactured.
- I made it at Tillskärarakademien and it will hang in my closet until the day we get married, she told VeckoRevyn.
A marriage between her and Benny will mean a slight change in the in the internal ABBA-image. Björn and Agnetha has always been portrayed as the secure, petty bourgeois stay-at-home couple. They have a four year old daughter, Linda and a second child arriving in November. They spend most of their free time at home.
Frida and Benny on the other hand are both parents of two children from previous relationships. Both of them started families at a very early age. It's probably safe to assume that they both were "burned" by their previous relationships and that is why they have been hesitant to sign a marriage license again.
Benny and Frida has also been the part of ABBA that have embraced the "star roles", the celebrities that were always seen at the hip restaurants and the gala night openings.
They met briefly in Malmö. At that time they didn't connect. That happened a little later when they both were on the Flip or Flop panel judging newly released pop songs onÅke Strömmer's radio show on P3 "Midnight Hour" and after that they wanted to see more of each other.

GOT MARRIED AT THE AGE OF 16

At that time they had both been in serious relationships for a long time. Frida had children and got married at the age of 16. It happened in her home town Eskilstuna and her husband was the band leader of the dance orchestra in which Fridawas the vocalist. He was a carpet dealer and his name was Ragnar Fredriksson. Her son Hans is now 15 and his sister, Lise-Lotte is 13.
Benny was already a star in his old band Hep Stars when he got engaged and had his children Peter, now 13 and Helene 11. He was only 19 when he left his children's motherChristina Grönwall.
- It was the success of Hep Stars that opened a completely new world for me, he has said. It was a huge world. I can't defend my actions, the only reason I can give is that I was so young.
An often spread "fact" in the matter has to be denied - it wasn't the attraction betweenBenny and Frida that broke up their respective relationships. They had both left their families before they even met. And they have the most agreeable relations to their ex-partners and children nowadays. Frida's son Hans lives with her and Benny in the castle like villa on Lidingö because he has a better opportunity to get the education he wants there. Their three other children each have their own rooms in the Lidingö villa and often come and stay with Frida and Benny. The main part of their school holidays during the summer they spend together with Frida and Benny at Viggsö, ABBA's secret secluded island in the Stockholm archipelago.

CHILDREN TOGETHER?

Any children of their own haven't Frida and Benny wanted to get.
- Well, we have thought about it, we have wanted to have children together, Benny said already five years ago.
- But we simply haven't been blessed with any, yet. And for the time being maybe it's for the best. A child doesn't solve any problems between a couple. On the contrary. And that wouldn't be fair on the child.
Frida has often testified how much Benny has meant to her, both as a woman and an artist.
- Benny is the best thing that has happened to me, better than ABBA, she has said.
For one thing it was Benny that made her appreciate pop music, something she earlier frowned upon. She just to be mainly a jazz singer before that. Competent and talented, but not very commercially successfull.
Once he had gotten her into pop music he persuaded her to - together with Agnetha Fältskog - to sing background vocals on his and Björn's album. And after that we know what happened...

FIGHT SOMETIMES

Benny and Frida have made no secret of the fact that their relationship has been far from free of conflicts, even though the conflicts don't happen as often nowadays. They are both persons with very strong wills. But their friends think that their strength as a couple is thanks to their strong personalities.
- Yes, sometimes we have a lot of difficulties together, Benny said when they had been a couple for two years.
- Our dilemma is that we love each other and want to be together, but we don't really work very well as a couple. Maybe it's because we are so different, that it sometimes felt like we spoke different languages.
- But when we are good together - it's like Heaven. And we wouldn't be that happy if we didn't experience the opposite sometimes.
And Frida felt that Benny gave her a sense of security that she never had experienced before. Also as an artist - in the 1972 interview she told us that she seriously had thought of not ever going back on stage again.
Now it seems that they have decided that their "test period" is over. When the weddingbells will chime for them, it's up to finding the time - ABBA's busy schedule mustn't be disturbed.
And one thing is for sure - they can afford to have a BIG, sensational wedding party.

Magazine Girl

Here we go again with magazine covers of this great woman. She managed to appear on a magazine cover until 1997 (that's the latest I know), she has appeared on newspapers then but that's not the same. Covers from the 90's...

Anni frid Lyngstad - Mersmak

1992

"Frida on her new life after ABBA: I felt that I must do something for the environment"

Anni frid Lyngstad - Kvinna nu (woman now)

1993

"Anni frid Reuss: Enviromental awareness begins at school"

Anni frid Lyngstad - Se & Hör (see and hear)

(pic) 1992 magazine 1995? (not sure)

"ABBA-Frida life has changed: Now her title is of princess!"

Anni frid Lyngstad - Månads Journalen (monthly journal)

1996

"Frida regrets Nothing"*

Anni frid Lyngstad - TV Expressen

1996

"My new life"

Anni frid Lyngstad - Röda korsets tidning (Red cross Journal)

1997 ?

"The new welfare state, Sweden is never the same again: Anni frid Lyngstad Reuss on voluntary"

* Inside the magazine...

Frida 1971 Album

Today 39 years have passed since the release of the first studio album released by Frida.

The first Frida solo album was released in March 1971. It contained 11 strong compositions - one of them "Lycka" (Happiness) written by Benny and Björn.

Frida's first LP was described in Dagens Nyheter as:

"Proffessional, sure and certain LP debut... low-key but self-sure personality with sprinkles of both temperament, humor and tenderness. And she sings in this way that you understand that she's got something between her ears - she sings with other words in a very intelligent way."

Track List

Side A

1. "Tre Kvart Från Nu" (Arthur Rubinstein, Peter Himmelstrand) - 3:14
2. "Jag Blir Galen När Jag Tänker På Dej" ("Goin' Out of My Head") (Teddy Randazzo, Robert Weinstein, Stikkan Anderson) - 3:27
3. "Lycka" (Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, Stikkan Andersson) - 2:59
4. "Sen Dess Har Jag Inte Sett 'En" (Trad. arr. Claes Rosendahl, Lars Berghagen) - 2:10
5. "En Ton Av Tystnad" ("The Sound of Silence") (Paul Simon, Owe Junsjö) - 3:58
6. "Suzanne" (Leonard Cohen, Owe Junsjö) - 4:07
7. 
   

Side B

1. "Allting Skall Bli Bra" / "Vad Gör Jag Med Min Kärlek?" ("Everything's Alright"/"I Don't Know How to Love Him" fromJesus Christ Superstar) (Tim Rice, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Owe Junsjö) - 6:14
2. "Jag Är Beredd" ("And I'll Be There") (Paul Leka, Denise Gross, Stikkan Anderson) - 2:38
3. "En Liten Sång Om Kärlek" ("Five Pennies Saints") (Sylvia Fine, Lars Berghagen) - 2:25
4. "Telegram Till Fullmånen" (Cornelis Vreeswijk, Georg Riedel) - 1:59
5. "Barnen Sover" (Peter Himmelstrand) - 3:35

Listen to the whole album!

Wanna dress like Frida?

Frida's clothes. The pics show clothes used by Frida during ABBA, I think all of them are well known. Hope they were in the exhibition... are they?

Frida's Visitors boots

1981

From the last ABBA photo session arranged by Heilemann for "Bravo"

1980

From their last tv appearnce

1982

ABBA in West germany

1982

"When all is said and done" costume

1981

Magazine Couple

As the last post had Frida in the magazine cover with a "stranger" now it was the turn to present her with the biggest love of her life: Benny.

Benny and Frida appeared in three magazine covers. At least that's the number I know they appeared on.

Veckorevyn 1972

Benny and Frida: "We are struggling to put up with each other"

Svensk Damtidning - swedish weekly 1973

Benny and frida: "You win at swedish damtidning"

Veckorevyn 1977

Benny and frida: "Our wedding will be a giant party"

Magazine Girl

Frida appeared in several magazine covers since 1971! At least that's the earliest magazine cover that I know of her.

Here I present her two earliest magazine covers. Although, she didn't appear alone on them ...

Veckorevyn Magazine 1971

Anni frid Lyngstad and Lasse Berghagen

In my opinion, she looks terribly beautiful! despite that isn't my favourite hair style of her :)

Allers Swedish Weekly 1973

Anni frid Lyngstad and Lill Lindfors

She posed as a model for this magazine and also did a year before in 1972 for Veckorevyn magazine, but I don't know if she appeared in the magazine cover.

Model photos of the magazine

Frida Singles 1970-1972

Here we continue with the covers from the singles, this time from 1970 to 1972. I like specially the cover of the second single. Frida looks beautiful!

Där du går lämnar kärleken spår/ Du var främling här igår 1970

En liten sång om kärlek/ Tre kvar från nu

1971

En kväll om sommarn/ Vi vet allt och nästan inget (With Lasse Bergaghen) 1971

Min egen stad/ En gång är ingen gång

1971

Man vill ju leva liten dessemellan/ Ska man skratta eller gråta

1972

Frida Recording again

That is the latest news we have concerning Frida's musical projects. It can be almost confirmed because it's been said by Frida herself to the Swedish newspaper "Aftonbladet". What she said was the following:

"- I'm singing together with a musician on a new album that will be released eventually."

All fans after reading this went crazy by the news and rumours began to spread, but we can say it's almost a fact that Frida is singing again as she said so. What we don't know is about the "recording", if it's just a song in an album of this "musician" or if it's a whole album she will record.

However she mentions the "musician" with whom she "would record" as she did once with Jon Lord in 2004.

Listen carefully to this interview from minute 4:00, when a journalist asks Frida if she had the chance to meet an artist (whom I couldn't guess his name because of the sound quality) and Frida said he was a very good friend and then there's a mention of the recording of some demos?

Listen for yourself:

Most probably the "musician" she talks about is the ex Deep Purple Jon Lord with whom she agreed to be a patron of the "Zermatt Unplugged"- the biggest festival in Europe for acoustic pop and rock music - hold every year between the 13th to the 17th of April. In an interview made almost two months ago she said she was very motivated and :

"...also as a musician, I hope that I can give something to the Zermatt Unplugged."

This doesn't mean she will sing in the "Zermatt Unplugged" festival with Jon Lord, but... who knows?

This is the last song Frida recorded and performed live on stage:

The Sun Will Shine Again

Will we see this repeated? Hope so ...

Frida Singles 1967-1969

Here I want to present the covers of the Frida singles from 1967-1969. Many pictures are known because they are from very well known photo sessions, but it's good to post them :)

Singles

En ledig dag/Peter kom tillbaka

1967

Din/Du är så underbart rar

1967

Simsalabim/Vi möts igen

1968

Mycket kär/När du blir min

1968

Härlig är vår jord/Räkna de lyckliga stunderna blott

1969

Så synd du måste gå/Försök och sov på saken

1969

Peter Pan/Du betonar kärlek lite fel

A-side written by Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson

1969

Anni frid Lyngstad Why a blog to her?

Anni frid Lyngstad has been and still is a great inspiration to me. She is a great person who has suffered many tragedies along her life but she always knew how to keep going and that's remarkable. She fought bravely to get what she alwayas wanted... to be a succesful singer. That's why I think she deserves a place (even if it's one more among many) where to have photos and videos telling about her achievements! :) You may agree or disagree with what I say, but this is only my opinion about, what I consider, an example.

This is her Story...

Anni-Frid Lyngstad – Norway’s gift to Sweden – was born in Narvik, a town just outside the Arctic Circle in Norway, in 1945. She was born out of wedlock, her father, a German soldier named Alfred Haase, having returned to Germany at the end of the Second World War unaware that his love affair with a young Norwegian girl was to produce one of the biggest pop icons of the 70s.

Later in 1977, when Anni-Frid was at the height of her success with ABBA, an article about ABBA appeared in the German pop magazine Bravo listing the biographical details of each member. It happened to catch the eye of one Andrea Buchinger. She noticed that her uncle had exactly the same name as the supposedly disappeared father of Frida. When asked if he had known a girl called Synni Lyngstad while he was in Norway in 1945, Alfred Haase admitted that this was so.Anni-Frid’s mother Synni was shunned by the people of Narvik who strongly disapproved of a Norwegian girl producing a child by an enemy soldier.

Anni-Frid's grandmother decided to take the child with her and move to Sweden. The two of them ended up in Torshälla, just outside of Eskilstuna. Synni soon joined them, but weary of life, died less than 2 years after Frida was born.Anni-Frid made her stage debut at a Red Cross charity event in 1957. Two years later, she started working with the Ewald Eks kvintett dance orchestra.In 1961 while singing in Bengt Sandlund's big band she met Ragnar Fredrikssonwho would become her first husband. Together they would have two children; Hansand Lise-Lotte. In 1964 Frida and Ragnar formed their own group, Anni-Frid Four.On Sunday, September 3, 1967 Sweden went from driving on the left side of the road to the right. It was also the day on which the finals of the talent competition Nya Ansikten (New Faces) took place. The organisers had agreed with Swedish Television that the winner would appear live on television that same night on the special live show celebrating Sweden's major traffic change. The winner was 21 year old Anni-Frid with a song called En ledig dag.Anni-Frid had been on stage singing with various dancehall bands since she was 13 but it was not until this breakthrough with all the excitement and media attention around her TV debut that she landed herself a record contract. She signed with EMI records and released En ledig dag/Peter, kom tillbaka as her first single.None of her singles during the first three years with EMI were successful although press reviews and airplay were good. She continued to be popular as a stage artist, however, and toured the Folkparks with famous Swedish singer Lasse Lönndahl in 1968.

In the summer of 1968, and throughout 1969 and 1970 she worked with Swedish singer/pianist Charlie Norman in cabaret shows and toured the Folkparks.In March 1969 she entered Melodifestivalen (the Swedish selections for the Eurovision Song Contest) with Härlig är vår jord. She only came fourth but Härlig är vår jord would become her first record to hit the top 10 of the Svensktoppen chart.It was in the spring of 1969, when she was working with Norman in Malmö that Anni-Frid met Benny Andersson for the first time. Not long after this first meeting they became a couple, and from the recording of her seventh single Peter Pan in September 1969, Benny Andersson produced the remainder of her recordings for EMI.Peter Pan is particularly interesting, since the song was written by Benny together with Björn Ulvaeus, and therefore it was the first record to bring together the talents of three future ABBA members. The single wasn't a commercial success though.In May 1970, Frida made her second appearance in the Svensktoppen chart, spending two weeks and reaching Number Eight with Där du går lämnar kärleken spår, her eighth single.Although the big hits continued to elude her, EMI still wanted her to record a debut album, so the Lyngstad-Andersson team started working on it. The album Frida was released in the spring of 1971.

The first single released from the project, En liten sång om kärlek, didn't become a hit.At the same time as sessions for the album started, Anni-Frid and Benny teamed up with another engaged couple, Björn Ulvaeus and Agnetha Fältskog and started working on their very first project together; the cabaret show called Festfolket, which opened in Gothenburg on 1 November 1970. The premiere of the show was preceded by their very first performance together on the Swedish Radio show Våra favoriter on October 3, 1970.Although it toured Sweden until February 1971, Festfolket was not a very successful venture. The plans for a permanent group were shelved and while Agnetha, Björn and Benny toured together in the summer of 1971, Anni-Frid went on the road with popular Swedish singer Lars Berghagen with whom she also recorded a duet single, En kväll om sommarn/Vi vet allt, men nästan inget.The two couples may have temporarily abandoned their plans to continue as a permanent foursome but kept in touch over the coming year.

The first time that they all appeared together on a recording was when the girls did back-up vocals for Björn & Benny's Hej gamle man. In the autumn of 1971 Anni-Frid landed her first Svensktoppen Number One with Min egen stad, the Swedish version of Benny's It's Nice To Be Back which he had written for his group the Hep Stars. Björn, Benny and Agnetha provided background vocals and Benny played the keyboards. Encouraged by the success of the song, EMI addedMin egen stad to the Frida album.In October 1971, Frida went on stage in the variety show Mina favoriter which continued to take up most of her time during the spring of 1972. The collaboration between Björn, Benny, Agnetha and Anni-Frid became more active and in January 1972 Anni-Frid recorded her last single for EMI; Vi är alla barn i början/Kom och sjung en sång. Soon, Anni-Frid as a recording artist would start calling herself Frida.

The next time she released a solo single it was on the Polar label; Man vill ju leva lite dessemellan which reached Number One on Svensktoppen in the autumn of 1972.Before that, however, the first ABBA single, People Need Love, had been recorded and released. As the ABBA phenomenon exploded onto the world in 1974 and 1975, Frida recorded her last Swedish-language solo album. Frida ensam was produced by Benny, and was released in November 1975. It was a huge success selling well over 130,000 copies.

With ABBA Frida would go on to become part of pop history in a career that spanned from 1972 to 1982. She would sing the lead on pop classics like Fernando, Money, money, money, Knowing me, knowing you, Super Trouper and I have a dreamThe success story of ABBA is well documented elsewhere and need not be further explored within the limits of these pages.Benny's and Frida's marriage in October 1978 was followed by divorce in early 1981.

In February 1982 Frida started recording her first English language solo albumSomething's going on, produced by Phil Collins. The album went on to sell close to 1 million copies worldwide.In 1983 she participated in the musical project Abbacadabra - a fantasy musical featuring ABBA songs set to new lyrics - and recorded French and English language versions of ABBA's Arrival under the titles Belle (a duet with Daniel Balavoine) andTime (a duet with B.A. Robertson).

Her next solo album Shine recorded in 1984 and produced by Steve Lillywhitewasn't a success. It was to be her last album for twelve years. In 1987, she guested on the hit single Så länge vi har varann by the Swedish group Ratata, but except for her contribution to the all-star female choir on the title track of Benny's Klinga mina klockor album the same year, her voice was not to grace any recordings for the next five years.

Over the next years, Frida - a grandmother now - would become a staunch ecological campaigner devoting most of her public activities to her commitment to environment issues, and especially the Swedish organisation Det naturliga steget (The Natural Step) and its offshoot Artister för miljö (Artists For The Environment). It was as part of this latter group that she returned to the recording studio in 1992 and recorded a version of Swedish composer Evert Taube's classic Änglamark. For the B-side of this single release, she recorded a solo version of Julian Lennon's Saltwater.

In 1992 Frida married German Prince Ruzzo Reuss von Plauen in Denmark. The couple lived with Ruzzo's twin daughters Henriette and Pauline from his first marriage to a Norwegian ship-owner's daughter at Ruzzo's castle in Switzerland.She performed a version of ABBA's Dancing Queen with the Swedish vocal groupThe Real Group at Sweden's Queen Silvia's 50th birthday gala in December 1993. The arrangement of the song was released on a 1994 Real Group album.In 1996 Frida finally stepped back into the recording studio to record the Swedish language album Djupa andetag. The album was a major hit reaching Number One in the Swedish charts, and sold more than 100,000 copies. Singles included Även en blomma, Ögonen, and Alla mina bästa år, a duet with Marie Fredriksson of Roxette.

In November 1999 Frida's husband Ruzzo died of cancer aged 49 with 53-year-old Frida at his side. It wasn't the first time that Frida's life had been touched by tragedy. Two years earlier her daughter Lise-Lotte was killed in a traffic accident in the US aged 30. Frida was reported to be too busy nursing Ruzzo for the opening night of the ABBAmusical Mamma Mia! when it opened in April 1999 at London's Prince Edward Theatre.