Age, Biography, and Wiki
Anni-Frid Lyngstad was born on November 15, 1945, in Bjørkåsen, Ballangen, Norway. She is the daughter of a Norwegian mother, Synni, and a German father, Alfred. After her mother's death, Lyngstad was raised by her grandmother in Sweden. She began her music career early, becoming locally known for her talent and eventually joining various bands and participating in talent competitions.
| Occupation | Jazz Singer |
|---|---|
| Date of Birth | 15 November 1945 |
| Age | 79 Years |
| Birth Place | Bjørkåsen, Norway |
| Horoscope | Scorpio |
| Country | Norway |
Height, Weight & Measurements
Specific details about Anni-Frid Lyngstad's height and weight are not widely documented in public sources. However, she is known for her striking stage presence and distinctive voice.
Lyngstad's next album was Shine (1984). This album was recorded at Studios De La Grande Armée in Paris and produced by Steve Lillywhite. Lillywhite was only 29 when this album was recorded; he gave Lyngstad a very experimental sound and managed to create a relaxed atmosphere in the studio. The album had much less success than hoped, though it reached the Top 20 in many European countries, No. 6 in Sweden being its highest position.
In 1969, Lyngstad met Benny Andersson. They were living together by 1971 and married on 6 October 1978, during the height of ABBA's success. They separated in November 1980 and divorced in 1981.
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Dating & Relationship Status
Anni-Frid Lyngstad has been married three times. Her first marriage was to Ragnar Fredriksson, with whom she had two children, Hans and Ann Lise-Lotte. Her second marriage was to Benny Andersson, a fellow ABBA member, and in 1992, she married Prince Heinrich Ruzzo Reuss von Plauen, becoming Princess Reuss and Countess of Plauen.
Anni-Frid Synni Lyngstad (born 15 November 1945), also known simply as Frida, is a Swedish singer who is best known as one of the founding members and lead singers of the pop band ABBA. Courtesy titles Princess Reuss and Countess of Plauen are also in use because of her third marriage. Born in Bjørkåsen (in Ballangen Municipality), Norway, to a Norwegian mother and a German 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. She then had moderate success in Sweden, as she was a contestant for Melodifestivalen 1969 with her song "Härlig är vår jord". Lyngstad did not find international fame, however, until she joined ABBA, who have sold over 150 million albums and singles worldwide, making the group, which included her second husband Benny Andersson, one of the best-selling music acts in history.
Fearing reprisal for conceiving a child with a German during Norway's wartime occupation, Synni left Bjørkåsen in 1947 with her mother Arntine and the infant Anni-Frid. Anni-Frid was taken by her grandmother to Sweden, where they settled in the region of Härjedalen. Arntine took any available job while living there, whereas Synni remained in Norway and worked for a time in the south of the country. Synni joined her mother and daughter in Sweden, and the three moved to Malmköping (72 km from Stockholm). Synni died of kidney failure soon afterward, aged 21 years, leaving Anni-Frid to be raised solely by her grandmother Arntine. Anni-Frid would grow up believing her father had died during World War II, as his ship had been reported to have sunk on its return to Germany.
In 1977, the German teen magazine Bravo published a poster and a complete biography with details of Anni-Frid's background, including the names of her mother and father. It was seen by Anni-Frid's half-brother, Peter Haase, who went to his father and asked him if he had been in Ballangen during the war. A few months later, at the instigation of Benny Andersson, Anni-Frid met Haase in Stockholm for the first time.
At the age of 13, Lyngstad gained her first job as a dance band and schlager singer in 1958, with the Evald Ek's Orchestra. Evald Ek himself remembers: "It was hard to believe, such a young person could sing that well. She was so easy to rehearse with and she was never shy onstage. The only thing I taught her was to sing out. In those days, she had a tendency of holding back her voice a little." With the Evald Eks Orchestra, the 13-year-old Lyngstad, performed every weekend in front of a dancing audience. The sets often lasted up to five hours. The songs she liked most to sing were standards such as "All of Me", "Night and Day" and "Begin the Beguine". To advance and develop, she also started to take singing lessons with opera tenor Folke Andersson. Later, she teamed up with the 15-piece Bengt Sandlunds Bigband, who performed a jazz repertoire covering Glenn Miller, Duke Ellington and Count Basie, her vocal idols being Ella Fitzgerald and Peggy Lee. In 1963, she was the vocalist with the Gunnar Sandevarn Trio before forming her own band, the Anni-Frid Four. These groups all contained her husband, Ragnar Fredriksson.
In 1969, she participated in Melodifestivalen, the Swedish heats for the Eurovision Song Contest, with the song "Härlig är vår jord" ("Our Earth Is Wonderful"), and finished in fourth place. Backstage she met her future second husband and ABBA bandmate Benny Andersson.
Frida continued to play in cabarets, and tour and regularly perform on TV and radio. Subsequently, her relationship with Andersson, and friendship with Björn Ulvaeus and Agnetha Fältskog led to the formation of ABBA. In 1972, after five years with EMI Sweden, Lyngstad changed record companies and moved to the Polar Music label. She recorded the single "Man vill ju leva lite dessemellan" ("One wants to live a little from time to time"), which became her second No. 1 hit in the Swedish charts.
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.
In 1987, Lyngstad was in the choir for the recording of her former husband Benny Andersson's song "Klinga Mina Klockor". Also in 1987, Lyngstad recorded the single "Så Länge Vi Har Varann" ("As Long As We Have Each Other") with the Swedish pop group Ratata, one of Lyngstad's favourites. She was contacted by singer Mauro Scocco, who mentioned that he had a song suitable for a duet. After hearing it, Lyngstad accepted immediately. The song achieved great success in Sweden, and was also recorded in English under the title of "As long as I have you". An English-language video of the song was produced, although an Australian release of this song on Festival Records in January 1998 was eventually shelved.
On 16 February 2011, BBC Radio 4 broadcast a 45-minute play featuring Lyngstad and the play's writer, long-term fan and performer Christopher Green. The play, Like an Angel Passing Through My Room, was billed as "a story about love. The unconditional love of a devoted fan ... about a real and an imagined intimacy." It was a project several years in the making; what started as an upbeat reflection on fame and being a fan developed into a meditation on the communication between two people and coping with the blows life deals. In an interview, she and Green talked about her long recovery following the death of her husband in 1999. The play is reflective but with a comic sensibility. Lyngstad stated in 2004 that she never intended to return to the music industry, although this was short-lived, and future studio albums were discussed in 2010. In 2013, she helped organise the opening of ABBA The Museum in Stockholm stating she wanted to "let ABBA rest". The long-awaited ABBA reunion was expected to happen in 2014 to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the group's win at the Eurovision Song Contest. However, this did not happen. In 2015, Lyngstad, along with Dan Daniell, released the single "1865" about the Matterhorn in Switzerland.
In 1982, Lyngstad left Sweden and moved to London. In 1986, she relocated to Switzerland, and lived with her boyfriend, landscape architect Heinrich Ruzzo Prinz Reuss von Plauen (1950–1999), member of an ancient German House of Reuss, in his family castle in Fribourg. The couple married on 26 August 1992. He died from lymphoma in 1999.
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| Husband | Ragnar Fredriksson (m. 1964-1970) Benny Andersson (m. 1978-1981) Heinrich Ruzzo Prinz Reuss von Plauen (m. 1992-1999) |
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Net Worth and Salary
As of 2025, Anni-Frid Lyngstad's net worth is estimated to be approximately $300 million. Her wealth primarily comes from her successful career with ABBA, her solo music endeavors, and an inheritance from her late husband, Prince Heinrich Ruzzo Reuss von Plauen.
On 15 November 2005, to celebrate Lyngstad's 60th birthday, Universal Records released the box set Frida: 4×CD 1×DVD, consisting of all the solo albums she recorded for Polar Music and Anderson Records, including a set of bonus tracks. Also included was Frida: The DVD, a 3.5-hour documentary where Lyngstad talks about her entire career in the music business. Filmed in the Swiss Alps, she talks about her singing technique and about her career both before and after ABBA, and explains how songs were performed and recorded. In collaboration with Swedish TV, SVT, the film included many clips from her early television performances, such as her first TV performance with "En ledig dag" ("A Day Off"). Also included are TV documentaries about the making and recordings of Something's Going On and Djupa andetag ("Deep Breaths").
Career, Business, and Investments
Lyngstad's career began in the 1960s with her involvement in various Swedish bands. She gained fame after joining ABBA in 1972, contributing to the group's global success until they disbanded in 1982. Post-ABBA, she released several solo albums, including the platinum-selling "Something's Going On" in 1982. Her solo career has been marked by hits like the title song from "Something's Going On," which reached No. 13 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart. Additionally, she has benefited financially from her marriage into royalty and her late husband's inheritance.
After the break-up of ABBA, she continued an international solo singing career with mixed success, releasing the albums Something's Going On (1982) and Shine (1984); the latter being her last international album. In 1996, Lyngstad recorded her final album in Swedish, Djupa andetag (Deep Breaths), released by Anderson Records, before retiring from music.
On 3 September 1967, Lyngstad won the Swedish national talent competition "New Faces", arranged by record company EMI Svenska, and held at Skansen, Stockholm. The song she chose to sing was "En ledig dag" ("A Day Off"; original title "Week-End in Portofino"). The first prize in this contest was a recording contract with EMI's Swedish subsidiary. Unbeknownst to Lyngstad, the winner of the contest was also expected to appear the same evening in the country's most popular TV show at that time, Hylands Hörna. This happened on the same day Sweden switched from driving on the left-hand side of the road to the right-hand side. Driving on that day was discouraged, so most of the nation was watching TV that night. Lyngstad performed her winning song live. The performance can be seen on Frida – The DVD.
On 11 September 1967, Lyngstad recorded the vocals for "En ledig dag", which was to become her first single for EMI, under the company's British His Master's Voice label. Professional and self-assured on this first day in the studio, she recorded the vocals in just one take. The early songs she recorded for EMI are included in the compilation album Frida 1967–1972, released by EMI Sweden in 1997.
In 1964, Lyngstad won a national singing contest Flugan (The Fly) and was awarded "Vocalist of the Year". In September 1967, Lyngstad won the Barnens Dag contest held at Skansen, Stockholm. This led to her TV debut and a recording contract with EMI. In 1982, Lyngstad won the Swedish music prize Rockbjörnen for "Best Female Artist". She was inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of ABBA in 2010, and she represented the group in their acceptance speech, along with Benny Andersson. In 2014, she was awarded with the Eskilstuna Music Prize for her "pioneering career" and significant contribution to popular music as an "icon" who had "left an indelible imprint in musical history".
Social Network
Anni-Frid Lyngstad maintains a quiet public presence, rarely engaging on major social media platforms. Her personal life and career are primarily documented through media and official ABBA-related channels.
Possessing a wide mezzo-soprano vocal range, that covers C#3 to Eb6, Lyngstad sang solo parts in the following ABBA songs: "Andante, Andante", "Bumblebee", "Cassandra", "Fernando", "Get on the Carousel", "Gonna Sing You My Lovesong", "I Am the City", "I Have a Dream", "I Let the Music Speak", "On Top of Old Smokey", "I Still Have Faith in You", "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", "No Doubt About It", "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".
In 1982, during ABBA's last year as a working band, Frida recorded and released her first post-ABBA solo album. This was also her first solo album in English. The Phil Collins-produced album called Something's Going On became a big success for Frida worldwide. A much rockier sound was found on many of the songs and Phil Collins' drum sound had a major contribution, particularly on the lead single, "I Know There's Something Going On", which topped the charts in Belgium and Switzerland, and was a top 5 hit in Australia, Austria, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, South Africa and Sweden among others. With the song and video being heavily promoted and played on MTV, the single also proved successful in the United States, reaching No. 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 (and No. 9 on Radio & Records) in March 1983, and was the 20th-biggest-selling single in the US that year. In the UK, the track was not a big hit, only reaching No. 43.
A few low key and one-off recordings followed, including a 2002 duet with opera singer Filippa Giordano of the "Barcarolle" from Jacques Offenbach's Les contes d'Hoffman as well as the song "The Sun Will Shine Again", written by former Deep Purple member Jon Lord, and recorded in 2004. "Barcarolle" is only available on the Japanese edition of Giordano's album Rosso Amore and "The Sun Will Shine Again" can be found on Jon Lord's album Beyond The Notes (although a limited-promotional single had been made available). Lord and Lyngstad made several TV appearances in Germany performing the song, on shows like The Sunday Night Classics and The Golden Henne Gala. Lyngstad also joined Lord on stage singing the song during his European autumn tour in 2004. During this tour, she also performed "In the Bleak Midwinter", a performance of which can be found on social media.
On 2 September 2021, via YouTube livestream, ABBA announced their upcoming virtual concert residency "ABBA Voyage", as well as the imminent release of an eponymous album, recorded between 2017 and 2021. The new record, their first studio album in 40 years, features ten tracks, including "I Still Have Faith In You" and "Don't Shut Me Down", which also were first shown in the aforementioned livestream event and released as a double A-side single. On 5 November 2021, the Voyage album was released worldwide. On 27 May 2022, ABBA Voyage opened in a purpose-built venue named the ABBA Arena at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London.
Education
While specific details about Anni-Frid Lyngstad's formal education are not well-documented, she showed a keen interest in music from an early age and received singing lessons with opera tenor Folke Andersson.
In June 1949, Arntine and Anni-Frid relocated to Torshälla, outside Eskilstuna, where Arntine worked as a seamstress. Anni-Frid grew up in Torshälla and began to attend school in August 1952. During her childhood, Anni-Frid had close contact with her family, particularly her uncle and four aunts, at her birthplace during the summer holidays. She was close to her aunt, Olive, who once stated that she saw how lonely and subdued Anni-Frid was, and who consequently always did her best to make her feel loved and welcomed during her visits.
Lyngstad stated in several interviews that her grandmother frequently sang songs to her (such as old Norwegian songs), which resulted in her love for music. She showed musical talent at a very early age from her earliest school years. On Fridays, she was often asked by her teacher to sing in front of the class and soon became known in school and in the neighbourhood for her beautiful voice. Although her grandmother encouraged her to sing (according to Lyngstad herself), she never attended any of her performances. Her grandmother died shortly before ABBA formed, so she never witnessed the success of the group.
Through her marriage to Reuss von Plauen, who had been a student at the same boarding school as Crown Prince Carl Gustaf (later King of Sweden), Lyngstad became acquainted with the Swedish royal family and eventually became close friends with Sweden's Queen Silvia.
On 21 March 2024, all four members of ABBA were appointed Commander, First Class, of the Royal Order of Vasa by King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden. This was the first time that the Swedish Royal Orders of Knighthood had been bestowed after almost 50 years of dormancy. It was also the 50th anniversary of ABBA winning the Eurovision Song Contest. The group members shared the honour with nine other people.