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Sweden in 1974
ABBA
Song
Waterloo
Stig Anderson
Composer(s)
Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvæus
More information
Biography
ABBA consisted of Benny Andersson, Agnetha Fältskog, Frida Lyngstad and Björn Ulvaeus.Before coming together as a recording unit all four members of the group had their own careers, that sometimes led them together. Benny Andersson (born Göran Bror Benny Andersson 16/12/46 in Stockholm) was a keyboardist with the popular band The Hep Stars. A group that had European hits with Sunny Girl and Music Box. Björn Ulvaeus (born Björn Christian Ulvaeus 25/04/45 in Göteborg) was part of the equally successful Swedish group Hootenanny Singers. Benny and Björn met in 1966 and they decided to write songs together. Björn even joined The Hep Stars for a short period. Meanwhile Frida (born Anni-Frid Lyngstad 15/11/45 in Narvik, Norway) and Agnetha Fältskog (born Anna Fältskog 05/04/50 in Jonköping) had their own solo careers at the end of the 60's, both mixing original songs with Swedish cover versions of hits like Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes) and I Don't Know How To Love Him.Having met each other several times at the end of the 60's, it would not be until 1970 they actually performed together for the first time. First providing backing vocals for Benny and Björn's Japanese hit single She's My Kind Of Girl, soon the girls were singing the lead vocals of the song People Need Love as Svenska & Flicka. Prior to their 1974 win in the Eurovision Song Contest they tried to enter the contest in 1972 and 1973 with Better To Have Loved and Ring Ring respectively. To no avail however. Benny, Björn, Agnetha and Frida entered the 1974 contest under their then-monicker Björn, Benny, Anna and Frida. But when they hit big on 6 April 1974 the name was for convenience's sake abbreviated to merely ABBA. Meanwhile Björn and Agnetha and Frida and Benny were married (and later on divorced again). ABBA continued to have hits like Dancing Queen, Thank You For The Music and The Day Before You Came until the start of 1983, the year they decided to call it a day. The first member who decided to start a solo career was Frida, who collaborated with Phil Collins on her first album Something's Going On in 1982. Other albums were Shine (1984), Djupa Andetag (1996) and the EP The Mixes (1998). Soon afterwards Agnetha Fältskog released her solo album, the 1983 Wrap Your Arms Around Me, followed in 1985 by Eyes Of A Woman and in 1988 by I Stand Alone. Of the two girls the latter one was the most successful, although she is reluctant to release new material in recent years. More success however there was for the boys Benny and Björn. Taking material that was left over from the planned Opus 10 project they made the hugely successful musical Chess. A musical that initially starred Murray Head, Barbara Dickson, Elaine Paige and ESC stars Björn Skifs (Sweden 1978 and 1981) and Tommy Körberg (Sweden 1969 and 1988). Another musical, the 1995 Kristina Fran Duvemala fared less, only being a hit musical in their native Sweden.
Stig or Stikkan Anderson wrote some of the ABBA lyrics in the early-70's in collaboration with Benny and Björn. He also produced most of the ABBA songs. Stig Anderson died in 1997.
Country profile
Do you want to learn more about Sweden ? At worldatlas.com you can read a detailed country profile, including maps, flags and you can even listen to the national anthem!
History
We are currently updating our country history pages and therefore, they are temporarily unavailable! How many times they won? Who represented the country in 1960? This and a lot more is available in the history section soon!
All Participations for Sweden
| Year | Artist | Song | Points | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 0 | 17 | ||
| 2008 | Charlotte Perrelli | Hero | 0 | 13 |
| 2008 | 0 | 4 | ||
| 2007 | The Ark | The worrying kind | 51 | 18 |
| 2006 | Carola | Invincible | 214 | 4 |
| 2006 | Carola | Invincible | 170 | 5 |
| 2005 | Martin Stenmarck | Las Vegas | 30 | 20 |
| 2004 | Lena Philipsson | It hurts (Det gör ont) | 170 | 6 |
| 2003 | Fame | Give me your love | 107 | 5 |
| 2002 | Afro-dite | Never let it go | 72 | 9 |
| 2001 | Friends | Listen to your heartbeat | 100 | 5 |
| 2000 | Roger Pontare | When spirits are calling my name | 88 | 7 |
| 1999 | Charlotte Nilsson | Take me to your heaven | 155 | 1 |
| 1998 | Jill Johnson | Kärleken är | 53 | 10 |
| 1997 | Blond | Bara hon älskar mig | 36 | 14 |
| 1996 | One More Time | Den vilda | 100 | 3 |
| 1995 | Jan Johansen | Se på mej | 100 | 3 |
| 1994 | Marie Bergman and Roger Pontare | Stjärnorna | 48 | 13 |
| 1993 | Arvingarna | Eloïse | 89 | 7 |
| 1992 | Christer Björkmann | I morgon är en annan dag | 9 | 21 |
| 1991 | Carola | Fångad av en stormvind | 146 | 1 |
| 1990 | Edin-Ådahl | Som en vind | 24 | 16 |
| 1989 | Tommy Nilsson | En dag | 110 | 4 |
| 1988 | Tommy Körberg | Stad i ljus | 52 | 12 |
| 1987 | Lotta Engberg | Boogaloo | 50 | 12 |
| 1986 | Lasse Holm and Monica Törnell | E' de' det här du kallar kärlek | 78 | 5 |
| 1985 | Kikki Danielsson | Bra vibrationer | 103 | 3 |
| 1984 | Herrey's | Diggi-loo diggy-ley | 145 | 1 |
| 1983 | Carola Häggkvist | Främling | 126 | 3 |
| 1982 | Chips | Dag efter dag | 67 | 8 |
| 1981 | Björn Skifs | Fångad i en dröm | 50 | 10 |
| 1980 | Tomas Ledin | Just nu! | 47 | 10 |
| 1979 | Ted Gärdestad | Satellit | 8 | 17 |
| 1978 | Björn Skifs | Det blir alltid värre framåt natten | 26 | 14 |
| 1977 | Forbes | Beatles | 2 | 18 |
| 1975 | Lars Berghagen and the Dolls | Jennie, Jennie | 72 | 8 |
| 1974 | ABBA | Waterloo | 24 | 1 |
| 1973 | The Nova and The Dolls | You're summer | 94 | 5 |
| 1972 | Family Four | Härliga sommardag | 75 | 13 |
| 1971 | Family Four | Vita vidder | 85 | 6 |
| 1969 | Tommy Körberg | Judy, min vän | 8 | 9 |
| 1968 | Claes-Göran Hederström | Det börjar verka kärlek, banne mej | 15 | 5 |
| 1967 | Östen Warnebring | Som en dröm | 7 | 10 |
| 1966 | Lill Lindfors and Svante Thuresson | Nygammal vals eller hip man svinaherde | 16 | 2 |
| 1965 | Ingvar Wixell | Absent friend | 6 | 10 |
| 1963 | Monica Zetterlund | En gång i Stockholm | 0 | 13 |
| 1962 | Inger Berggren | Sol och vår | 4 | 7 |
| 1961 | Lill-Babs | April, April | 2 | 14 |
| 1960 | Siw Malmkvist | Alla andra får varann | 4 | 10 |
| 1959 | Brita Borg | Augustin | 4 | 9 |
| 1958 | Alice Babs | Lilla stjärna | 10 | 4 |
