The name Benny Andersson is inextricably linked with the team ABBA. He realized himself as a producer, musician, co-composer of the world-famous musicals "Chess", "Christina of Duvemol" and "Mamma Mia!". Since the beginning of the XNUMXs, he has been heading his own musical project Benny Anderssons orkester.
In 2021, there was one more reason to remember Benny's talent. The fact is that in 2021, ABBA presented several tracks for the first time in 40 years. In addition, the musicians announced the start of the tour in 2022.
“We understand that each subsequent year may be our last. I really want to surprise the fans with something new…”, says Benny Andersson.
Benny Andersson's childhood and youth
The artist's date of birth is December 16, 1946. He was born in colorful Stockholm. It is known that the parents raised not only Benny, but also the younger sister, with whom the artist had an incredibly warm relationship.
He was lucky to be brought up in a primordially intelligent and creative family. Benny's father and grandfather played several musical instruments skillfully. At the age of six, the boy actively began to be interested in music. Then he was presented with the first musical instrument. He mastered playing the harmonica without much difficulty.
When his parents saw that Benny was drawn to music, they sent him to a music school. Of the instruments presented, he preferred the piano. As a teenager, the young man finally abandoned school and began performing in clubs.
He was brought up on folk music and popular hits. He collected records of popular artists, listening to his favorite pieces of music to the "holes".
Parents did not insist that Benny delve into science. They were always sympathetic to their son's hobby, but they could not even imagine how far Andersson Jr. would go.
The creative path of Benny Andersson
His creative path started in the mid-60s of the last century. During this period of time, he joined the "People's Ensemble of the Electric Shield". The band members tried to "mix" together the classic sound of folklore and electronic instruments. Basically, the group's repertoire consisted of instrumental music.
Some time later, he became a member of Hep Stars. By that time, the group was famous for the fact that its members "made" cool covers of rock and roll classics. A year will pass after Benny joins the team, and the team's repertoire has replenished with the first author's song. It's about the Cadillac track.
To the surprise of the group members, the composition "shot" as hard as it could. Hep Stars - were in the spotlight. Benny wrote new tracks for the band, such as Sunny Girl, No Response, Wedding, Consolation - the compositions became real hits in their homeland.
Acquaintance of Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus
In 1966, Benny was lucky enough to meet Bjorn Ulvaeus, who today is called the "pulsating heart" of the ABBA group. The guys realized that they were on the same musical wavelength. After several rehearsals, they wrote Isn't It Easy To Say.
Another important event not to be missed. At that time, Benny struck up a friendship with Lasse Berghagen. The musicians presented to the fans the track Hej, Clown, which eventually took the second position at the Melodifestivalen competition. By the way, it was there that he met Anni-Frid Lingstad (a future member of the ABBA group). At the time of our acquaintance, there was still no talk of establishing our own project.
Ulvaeus and Benny continued their collaboration. They constantly experimented, composed new tracks, thought of "putting together" a team that would become famous all over the world. In '72, they asked their girlfriends to sing People Need Love.
They were pleased with the result, and in the same year another group appeared on the starry sky - Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Frida. They recorded the featured track as a single. The musicians woke up famous, and later renamed the brainchild to ABBA.
In the mid-70s, the musicians became the winners of the international Eurovision Song Contest. The guys were moving in the right direction. For a short creative journey, the ABBA team has enriched the discography with 8 studio members.
After the collapse of the group, Andersson and Ulvaeus continued to work closely together, although both went their own ways. The musicians wrote the music for the musical "Chess" about the duel between Russian and American chess players.
The guys responsibly approached the creation of musical material. To imbue the Soviet mood, they even went to the territory of the Soviet Union. By the way, in Russia, the musicians met Alla Pugacheva.
Solo career artist Benny Andersson
At the end of the 80s, he took up the promotion of his solo career. Around the same period of time, the premiere of the artist's debut album took place. The record was called Klinga Mina Klockor. It is noteworthy that he wrote the music himself and performed it on the accordion.
In the early 90s, he worked closely with other bands. For example, for the group Ainbusk, Benny wrote several tracks that eventually became real hits. Benny composed the musical accompaniment for the European Football Championship, which was then held on the territory of his native country.
Benny Andersson had a burning desire to create a musical in Swedish. From childhood, Benny had a love for everything folk, and he poured it out in the production of Kristina från Duvemåla. The premiere of the musical took place in the mid-90s.
Based on the musical works of the ABBA band, the musical Mamma Mia! successfully went around the world. The popularity of the artist grew exponentially.
Benny went further and even with the advent of the new millennium was not going to leave the stage. So, in 2017, the premiere of the Piano record took place. The collection was headed by tracks that the artist wrote throughout his creative career.
Benny Andersson: details of his personal life
Benny, by virtue of his beauty and talent, has always been in the center of female attention. Serious relationships happened to him in his youth. His chosen one was a girl named Christina Grönwall. They were united first by love for creativity, and then for each other. The guys worked together in the team "People's Ensemble of the Electric Shield".
In 62, the couple had a son, and three years later, a daughter. Benny, for some reason, did not give the children his last name. The birth of children and Christina's desire to be with Benny - the man's decision did not change. He announced that he was leaving the mother of his children.
Further, Anni-Frid Lingstad appeared in his life. They literally “breathed” each other, and after a long civil union, they legalized their relationship officially. Their couple was openly envied, so the fact that they are getting divorced a few years after the wedding shocked the fans.
In the same year, to the surprise of his ex-wife, who thought that Benny would grieve for her, he married Mona Norkleet. As it turned out, he legalized relations with a woman, since she was expecting a child from him. A year later, the musician had an heir. By the way, almost all the artist's children followed in the footsteps of the famous father.
Benny Andersson: interesting facts
- He suffered from alcohol addiction. Interestingly, he managed to hide this information from fans and journalists for many years.
- Benny has composed music for several films. His songs are heard in the films The Seduction Of Inga, Mio in the Land of Faraway, Songs from the Second Floor.
- The youngest son of Benny is the frontman of the Ella Rouge band.
- Suzy-Hang-Around is the only ABBA track in which the artist sings.
- The beard is Andersson's calling card.
Benny Andersson: Our Days
In 2021, it became known that ABBA will play a concert tour. It is noteworthy that the artists will not personally perform on stage - they will be replaced by holographic images. The tour is scheduled for 2022.
September 2021 also started with good news. The ABBA team presented several new songs to fans of their work. We are talking about the works I Still Have Faith in You and Don't Shut Me Down. After 40 years of hiatus, the tracks still sound in the best "Abbawa traditions".
Around the same period of time, Benny and the musicians announced the release of a new studio album. The artists said that the collection will be called Voyage. It also became known that the album will lead 10 songs.
