1 hit, and Murray Head's " One Night in Bangkok" gave Andersson/Ulvaeus a US No. The Paige/Dickson duet " I Know Him So Well" became a major UK No. The Chess concept album – with vocals by Elaine Paige, Barbara Dickson, Murray Head and Swedes Tommy Körberg and Björn Skifs – was released in October 1984, selling two million copies worldwide. Their first project was the stage musical Chess, written with Tim Rice. After ABBA: Chess, Kristina and Mamma Mia! (1983–present) Īfter ABBA, Andersson continued writing music with Ulvaeus. With ABBA, Benny sang lead vocal on only one song - "Suzy-Hang-Around", from the Waterloo album. The group achieved great success globally and scored a chain of No. During the next eight years, Andersson (together with Ulvaeus) wrote music for and produced eight studio albums with ABBA. The group's breakthrough came with winning the Eurovision Song Contest for Sweden with " Waterloo" on 6 April 1974. As the two couples began supporting each other during recording sessions, the sound of the women's voices convinced the songwriters to model their 'group' on various MOR acts such as Blue Mink, Middle of the Road and Sweet. Benny and Björn scored their first hits as songwriters in the spring of 1969: " Ljuva sextital" (a hit with Brita Borg) and "Speleman" (a hit for the Hep Stars). The personal relationships and Andersson and Ulvaeus' songwriting collaboration has led quite naturally to the very close co-operation which the four friends had during the following years. Around the same time, his songwriting companion Ulvaeus met vocalist Agnetha Fältskog. During this contest, he met vocalist Anni-Frid Lyngstad, and they soon became a couple. He also had a fruitful songwriting collaboration with Lasse Berghagen, with whom he wrote several songs and submitted "Hej, Clown" for the 1969 Melodifestivalen – the Swedish Eurovision Song Festival finals. The band performed mostly covers of international hits, but Andersson soon started writing his own material, and gave the band the classic hits " No Response", " Sunny Girl", " Wedding", " Consolation", "It's Nice To Be Back" and "She Will Love You" amongst others.Īndersson met Björn Ulvaeus in June 1966, and the two men started writing songs together, their first being "Isn't It Easy To Say", eventually recorded by the Hep Stars. Andersson consolidated his place as the band's keyboardist and musical driving force as well as a teen idol. In October 1964 he joined the Hep Stars as keyboardist and they made a breakthrough in March 1965 with their hit " Cadillac", eventually becoming the most celebrated of the Swedish 1960s pop bands. Their repertoire consisted mainly of instrumentals, including " Baby Elephant Walk" he also wrote his first songs.Ĭareer Hep Stars (1964–1969) In early 1964, Benny and Christina joined "Elverkets Spelmanslag" ("The Electricity Board Folk Music Group") the name was a punning reference to their electric instruments. This is when he met his first girlfriend Christina Grönvall, with whom he had two children: Peter (born 1963) and Heléne (born 1965). He left school at 15 and began to perform at youth clubs. This variety of different kinds of music influenced him through the years.Īt ten, Andersson gained his own piano and taught himself to play. He was especially impressed by the flip side, "Treat Me Nice", as this featured a piano.
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The first records Benny bought were "Du Bist Musik" by Italian schlager singer Caterina Valente and Elvis Presley's " Jailhouse Rock".
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His father and grandfather taught him Swedish folk music, traditional music, and schlager. Andersson's musical background comes from his father and grandfather (Efraim) they both enjoyed playing the accordion, and at six, Benny got his own. His sister Eva-Lis Andersson followed in 1948. Göran Bror Benny Andersson was born 16 December 1946 in the Vasastan district of Stockholm to civil engineer Gösta Andersson (1912–1973) and his wife Laila (1920–1971). 2.5 Benny Anderssons Orkester (2001–present).2.4 After ABBA: Chess, Kristina and Mamma Mia! (1983–present).