Anni-Frid Synni Lyngstad (born November 15, 1945), also known simply as Frida, is a Norwegian and Swedish singer who is best known as one of the founding members and lead singers of the pop band ABBA.
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, that covers C#3 to E♭6, Lyngstad sang solo parts in the ABBA songs. She clearly enjoyed the spotlight more than the other three members of ABBA. Lyngstad 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. After the members of ABBA went their separate ways, Lyngstad was the only one who openly regretted there had never been a reunion, until ABBA got back together in 2017.
Her next solo album, in Swedish, was Frida ensam (“Frida Alone”), released in 1975 during the ABBA years, and produced by 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. Because of 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 such as 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 eventually went platinum.
Below is a selection of 30 fascinating vintage photos of a beautiful Anni-Frid Lyngstad during the 1970s:
She was my favorite actress
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