Agnetha Åse Fältskog was born on April 5th, 1950, in the southern Swedish town of Jonkoping . Not even her parents, Ingvar and Birgit, could have predicted the fame their daughter would eventually achieve. Agnetha's father opened a door that would eventually lead to stardom. Ingvar Fältskog loved the local amateur dramatic society and often put together shows for the local community. In 1956, he organized a Christmas show that was Agnetha's stage debut. During her singing of the song, Billy Boy , an unfortunate but hilarious incident happened to Agnetha, her pants fell down! This did not discourage Agnetha at all, she had been taking piano lessons and was becoming quite good. She started to compose songs at an early age. She also played at a local church. At the age of thirteen, Agnetha with two of her friends, Lena Johansson and Elisabeth Strub, began singing and performing locally. They were called The Cambers . Agnetha idolized American singer, Connie Francis , and loved her style of music. At age 15, Agnetha decided to leave school and pursue a career. In 1970, Benny and Björn were working together as a duo. During this time both couples were living with their respective partners. The girls were both pursuing individual careers. In 1970, Agnetha put out her third album, Som Jag ar . The first occasion that all four performed together was when Benny and Björn were scheduled to appear in a restaurant in Goteborg, Sweden. Agnetha and Anni-frid decided to help out their boyfriends. They came up with the name Festfolk, which can mean party people or engaged couples. This performance was a total disaster. None of the performers were very interested in the songs they were performing and the audience noticed
Agnetha - After ABBA
After ABBA's "break" both Agnetha and Frida embarked upon solo careers. Neither was particulary succesfull in the UK. Agnetha's first album, produced by Mike Chapman of the songwriting/producing partnership Chinnichap, reached a respectable number 18. The singles however were less succesfull. The first from the album; "The Heat Is On" charted at number 36 it was backed by the self-composed "Man". The second single; "Wrap Your Arms Around Me" charted at number 44. The last single "Can't Shake Loose" hit number 63.
The album was number 1 in Sweden as wa sthe single "The Heat Is On".
Agnetha's second solo album received a very posotive responce from critics. It featured lots of strong tracks written by such well-known's as Geoff Lynn (ELO) and Justin Hayward, it also featured the self-composed "I Wont Let You Go" with lyrics by Eric Stewart who produced the album, they used the same formulae for the B-side "You're There". The single charted at a dissapointing 84. Some critics suggested that had the album been released 10 years earlier it would have been a success, such was the flavour of the tracks. The album peaked at number 38.
Agnetha's last album of the 1980's was produced by Peter Cetera of Chicago fame. She was persuaded to fly over to L.A. to record it. The tracks had been decided by Peter. The single "The Last Time" peaked at number 77 in the UK and the album at number 72.
In 2004 Agnetha announced that she had signed to Warner music to release a brand new solo album. The album was a selection of cover songs by Agnetha. The first single "If I Thought You'd Ever Change Your Mind" created a massive hype all over the world. It smashed it's way through to make a record on it's first day for becoming the number 1 played record on Swedish airwaves in under 24 hours, a feat never before achieved. It reached number 2 in Sweden and number 11 in the UK, making it Agnetha's highest ever solo entry on UK charts.
The album, "My Colouring Book" followed and shot straight to number 1 in Sweden and number 12 in UK, again Agnetha's highest album position. In Germany, despite the lack of a single the album went all the way to number 6.
In June a second single, "When You Walk In The Room" was released. It faired less well reaching number 11 in Sweden and number 34 in the UK.
