Annie-Fried Lingstad (also known by the stage name Frida) is a Swedish singer from Norway. Soloist of the legendary quartet ABBA. She is currently involved in environmental protection and charity work. In 2005, the singer announced that she was not interested in the resumption of musical activity.
Biography
Annie Fried was born in the Norwegian commune of Ballangen in 1945, on November 15. Sunni Lingstad became her mother, Alfred Haase, a soldier of the German occupation forces, became her father. At that time, the man was married. After a year and a half, the girl's grandmother Arntina Lingstad took her to a safer place, namely to the Swedish city of Torschella. The reason for the move was also the probability of withdrawal of children who were born from the occupiers. At the first opportunity, Sunni returned to her daughter.
The mother of the future singer died at the age of 21 from kidney failure. As for her father, for a long time it was believed that he died during the flooding of naval transport. In 1977, the German edition of Bravo assisted Fried in the search for A. Haase. Then the father and daughter met several times, but basically did not maintain a relationship. Alfred died in 2009.
Music career
Lingstad first performed at the age of 11 at a charity event of the Red Cross. Initially, she sang songs in the style of "dance band". Then Annie-Frid joined the jazz band. A cover band performed with Duke Ellington, Glenn Miller and County Basie. At that time, the singer was a fan of Peggy Lee and Ella Fitzgerald. In 1963, Lingstad founded her own team.
The appearance of the group pushed the singer to in-depth vocals. For a long time she was a student of the opera artist Folk Andersson. In parallel, Frida took part in various music competitions, in one of which she won. This happened in 1969. A couple of years before, she officially began to cooperate with the Swedish branch of the British company EMI. In 1971, the premiere of her debut album Frida.
At the Melodifestivalen contest, Anna-Fried, whose photo is located above, met Benny Andersson, who in the future will become her husband and producer.
In 1973, a little-known group ABBA released the song Waterloo. It included members of the quartet Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Frida. At the same time, the group began to prepare for the Swedish selection for the Eurovision Song Contest 1974. Among several songs, including the ballad Hasta Mañana, the choice fell on Waterloo. In the end, ABBA took first place.
To date, the creative biography of Annie-Frid Lingstad has five solo studio albums, four prefabricated CDs and one record.
Singer style
Throughout her career, Frida constantly changed her hair color, which became her peculiar feature. Initially, she was a brown-haired woman, but for the filming of a music video for the song Knowing Me in 1976, she was repainted in fiery red. In the video, Chiquitita Lingstad appeared with dark red hair. In the SOS video, the singer again returned to a red tint. For the filming of the video for the song Dancing Queen, Annie-Frid became a brunette.
The last two years of the existence of the ABBA quartet, the soloist performed with short-cut pink hair. In the 90s, Lingstad again became red, but this time her hair was already decorated with highlighting. The last few years, the singer prefers to remain blonde.
Personal life
In the spring of 1963, Frida became the wife of the musician and seller Ragnar Fredriksson. At that time she was 17 years old. In January of the same year, the singer gave birth to the future wife of her son Hans. In February 1967, the couple had a daughter, Ann Lisa-Lotte. Unfortunately, she died in a car accident that happened in the United States near Detroit. The divorce of Lingstad and Fredriksson occurred in 1970, May 19. That day, her grandmother died on the mother's side of Arntin, who raised the singer.
In 1969, Lingstad met Benny Andersson. After a couple of years, the musicians began to live under one roof. Their wedding happened in October 1978, but three years later they divorced. In 1982, the singer moved to the British capital. Since 1986, she has been living in Switzerland.
In August 1992, Frida married Prince Heinrich Reiss von Plauen. On the day of their marriage, the singer became Princess Annie-Fried Reiss von Plauen. Her husband passed away in 1999 from cancer. Thanks to Prince Henry, who studied at the same school with Charles XVI Gustav, Frida is a close friend of the family of the current Swedish king.