Frida is a Scandinavian vocalist best known as a member of the massively successful Swedish pop outfit
ABBA. With her warm mezzo-soprano vocal range and striking auburn hair,
Frida often worked in beautiful counterpoint to her blonde soprano
ABBA bandmate
Agnetha Faltskog. Though she began her career as a traditional folk-inflected singer in the 1960s, by the 1980s she had matured into a sophisticated and environmentally conscious pop icon. Though she has kept a discreet public profile since the late '90s, with her legendary status as a member of
ABBA firmly intact,
Frida remains an influential presence on the international music scene.
Born
Anni-Frid Synni Lyngstad in Bjørkåsen, Ballangen, Norway in 1945, "
Frida," as she was known, was the daughter of a German soldier father and Norwegian civilian mother. Fearing retribution by Norwegian locals for her father's association with the German army during WWII,
Lyngstad's grandmother took her to Sweden, where she would remain for the rest of her childhood. Although
Lyngstad's mother eventually reunited with her daughter in Sweden, she died at age 21 from kidney failure, leaving young
Frida in the care of her grandmother.
Growing up,
Frida gained a love of singing from her grandmother, who purportedly sang traditional Norwegian folk songs to her. By her teens,
Lyngstad was performing regularly, dancing and singing popular American standards and "schlager" tunes with the Evald Eks Orchestra. It was also around this time that she began taking vocal lessons and in 1963 she formed her first band, the Anni-Frid Four.
In 1967,
Frida won the Swedish national talent competition, an accolade that garnered her a recording contract with EMI Sweden and a widely viewed spot singing on the television show Hylands Hörna. She then toured and recorded several singles before releasing her full-length debut album, 1971's Frida. Featuring production from her then fiancé (and future
ABBA bandmate)
Benny Andersson, the album sold well and earned
Frida her first number one hit with "Min Egen Stad" (My Own Town), a song that also happened to feature backup singing by all three of the other future
ABBA members:
Andersson,
Björn Ulvaeus, and
Ulvaeus' then wife,
Agnetha Fältskog.
Although reluctant at first to form a group with her husband,
Frida eventually joined
Andersson,
Ulvaeus, and
Fältskog to form the group Festfolk. Somewhat ill-fated, the group failed to make an impact and
Frida briefly returned to solo work. However, by 1972, she had rejoined the group, this time performing under the moniker
ABBA, an acronym of the first letters of each member's first name. From 1972 to 1982,
ABBA would become one of the most successful pop groups in history, scoring multiple chart-topping hits with songs like "Dancing Queen," "Mamma Mia," "Waterloo," "Super Trouper," and more, selling well over 300 million albums worldwide.
During her time with
ABBA,
Frida released her sophomore solo album with 1975's
Frida Ensam (Frida Alone). Produced by
Andersson,
Frida Ensam featured a solo version of the
ABBA song "Fernando," and sold well, staying on top of the Swedish album charts for six weeks. However, despite their musical partnership and
ABBA's success,
Frida and
Andersson ultimately divorced in 1981, with
ABBA disbanding the following year.
With
ABBA set aside,
Frida returned to her solo work, releasing the
Phil Collins-produced
Something's Going On in 1982. Showcasing a more rock-oriented approach than her work with
ABBA, the album was also her first sung completely in English. The album performed well, with the
Russ Ballard-composed title track, "I Know There's Something Going On," receiving heavy rotation on MTV and peaking at number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.
In 1984,
Frida delivered her fourth solo album, the
Steve Lillywhite-produced
Shine. Also sung in English, the album revealed a more experimental approach from
Lyngstad and included several co-writing contributions from British chanteuse
Kirsty MacColl, as well as longtime
Alison Moyet collaborator
Pete Glenister and
Climie Fisher's
Simon Climie. Aside from her solo work at this time,
Frida also duetted with singer
Mauro Scocco and his group
Ratatat on the single "Så Länge Vi Har Varann" (As Long as We Have Each Other) in 1987.
Beginning in the '90s,
Lyngstad became increasingly interested in environmental issues, a passion that found her working with several environmental groups such as Det Naturliga Steget-Artister För Miljön" (the Natural Step-Artists for the Environment), and saw the release of her 1992 charity single cover of
Julian Lennon's "Saltwater." It was while in this more serious mindset that she recorded her fifth studio album, 1996's
Djupa Andetag. Produced by
Anders Glenmark, the album also marked
Frida's return to singing entirely in Swedish.
A third solo album was planned, but in the the wake of the tragic death of her daughter in a car accident in 1998, the album never materialized. Since that time,
Frida has appeared on several one-off singles, including the
Kirsty MacColl co-penned song "Chemistry Tonight," which she dedicated to her daughter in 2000. In 2002, she duetted with opera singer
Filippa Giordano on Jacques Offenbach's "Barcarolle" for
Giordano's album
Il Rosso Amore. Two years later,
Frida sang on "The Sun Will Shine Again," a track on former
Deep Purple keyboardist
Jon Lord's album Beyond the Notes. Though she has remained an elusive presence both on album and as a live performer,
Frida still makes occasional public appearances along with other members of
ABBA at various events. ~ Matt Collar