Frida interview in february, 12 of 1977, during the 1977 European Tour - Hamburg, Germany
Aftonbladet 1977-02-12
SATURDAY NIGHT
Caption on Frida’s picture
Frida's path to ABBA and world success has been tough, she says. At the age of 13, she started as a vocalist in a small band in Eskilstuna.
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Frida in a candid interview with Aftonbladet:
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“I don't think there's anything wrong with earning a lot of money. It's just sad that more people don't do it"
Image: STIG-GÖRAN NILSSON
Frida is the sex symbol in ABBA.
Tough, fast, quite undressed on stage.
We sat down with Frida privately - an unmade-up Annifrid Lyngstad in a hotel room in Hamburg this week.
WE asked her about sex, politics, success, money, children and Benny.
Here is the interview:
How do you perceive working with ABBA? ABBA as a type of group, the dependency on your part, the feeling of always being one of four?
It's nice to work in such a small group with Stikkan and the office. It's fairly easy to handle.
Yes, it's all good. It's much more difficult to be a solo artist. It's getting tougher. I don't think there's anything negative about working the way we do in ABBA. Everything is easier when there are more people who think more or less the same way.
Most pop groups break up after a while. The Beatles broke up despite great success and fame. When will ABBA break up?
It just depends on what happens. We are developing, moving forward. Now we are all keen to put our music into context. I think it will be very fun and exciting.
Have you never thought about becoming an actor?
-Well, I don't know, I probably liked what I'm doing best. But the older you get, the more fun it is to try something else.
You are a star, a lot of people are impressed by you, they think it's remarkable to see you and nice to talk to you. How do you take it? What is it like to go through a big success?
- It's nice as long as it's a nice and calm audience. But that someone is impressed, I don't think so
Can you help but think that way, for example when you meet fans on a tour like this?
- Yes, you can. And if you want to keep your feet on the ground, it's not difficult. Not at all.
But on the other hand, you don't go through a success like this unmoved. It broadens your horizons in many ways.
In what ways?
You get into situations you wouldn't have gotten into otherwise. You meet an incredible number of people.
Caption on Frida’s Picture on 1^(st) column
"What you once dreamed of is actually quite unimportant. This success thing isn't that remarkable."
Isn't it a rather closed world after all? - It depends on what you compare it to. If I compare it to someone who is at home and goes to the same job with the same people every day. I think I get a deeper insight into what life is all about. That it's not so damn remarkable with success. What you once dreamed of, exactly what I've just been through, on the surface of it is actually quite unimportant. Success, money, it's actually unimportant.
What is essential then?
-The kids are really important. Benny is really important. And all our friends. That's what it's all about.
Now you have a lot of money. What do you use it for?
-You have to plan it in different ways. It's a nice word, Beijer... Beijer-Invest or whatever it's called.
-So it doesn't just run out and you're left there.
Some celebrities give away funds, use the money for other purposes. Haven't you thought of that?
-No, I don't know, we have a company. Benny and I actually have one of those things - the godchildren you pay for. There's one in the office too
How come you and Agnetha haven't been in Björa and Benny's company until now?
-It's been going on all along. It's just that there's so much stuff to fix and that it takes so long. But Björn and Benny had it before we were even in it. Before ABBA existed.
On stage, both you and Agnetha have typical female roles (there's a lot of ass-wagging and stuff).
Annifrid interrupts:
-We're women, what the hell are we going to do about it. That we have breasts and butts and stuff? -Besides, I think it's really fun to dress up. Wearing jeans and a shirt on stage, that's nothing on (Nothing on means roughly worthless. Something on means the opposite.)
What do you say about women's struggles and the fight for gender equality otherwise?
Very important. Within the family, it's very important. And that's where it has to start. And I'll keep telling my daughter that she should get a job.
But if you look at how women's liberation is developing in Sweden?
-Within our circle of friends, it's developing very well. But we're all ambitious and professionally active. I don't know what it's like in the working class. Among those who are worse off and have more children.
I don't really know if they understand yet, if they are aware at all. They may not follow along like we do. I can imagine that some people say that girls should be girls, and what are we supposed to argue about.
How did you raised yourself in terms of such things?
-I raised myself and I left home when I was 13. My parents died when I was two, I lived with my grandmother and things didn't go so well.
-So, it's been tough many times. I was 13 and went to secondary school and sang a couple of nights a week in Eskilstuna and Torshälla, it was a band with an accordion, vibraphone, clarinet and a single microphone. for the vocalist then.
How did it happen that you got to start as a vocalist when you were 13?
- I was very ambitious, I had decided to become a singer when I was seven, and then I took part in all the amateur competitions and talent shows and happened to win most of them. Then there was a guy who was in a band and discovered me. Then when I was 13, I started in a big band. Singing jazz and evergreens.
Captipn on Frida’s Picture on 3rd column
"We are women, Agnetha and I. What are we going to do about the fact that we have breasts and asses and stuff?"
Captipn on Frida’s Picture on 4^(th) column
"I hope ABBA influences the audience in a positive direction. At least we don't spit or are hysterical or anything".
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That's when I was saved by jazz. I barely knew who the Beatles were when they started to become very popular.
What ideas do you have about what kind of society we should have?
- The distribution should be a little better. Actually, everyone should have the same things. But I hold strongly to individualism. The freedom of the individual is the most important thing. Everyone should have the right to decide over their own life.
You're not a socialist?
-No, but I agree with many of the basic ideas. I don't think there's anything wrong with earning a lot of money. It's just a shame that more people don't do it.
-If you work and you're doing well, I don't see why you shouldn't be doing well. You can't forget that Benny and I have worked very hard and been very poor. But if people are ambitious, lucky and have the means, there's nothing wrong with them earning money.
-But what I'm really working for is the kids. That the kids get a good start. I don't want them to get into the same difficulties that I did as a child.
I want them to be more secure and have a better foundation. I don't care about this success thing at all. Not for myself. I work for the kids.
Do you think you guys in ABBA have any influence? - Yes, if it's something I like and show it on stage, I might have an impact. But I don't know in what way. I have no idea. I hope it's positive in that case. We're not spitting on the ground or being hysterical and stuff like that.
You in ABBA are famous now, you make a lot of money and you're admired by a very malleable group of people. Do you think you're apolitical?
-No, there's nothing that's apolitical these days. You can't be left out of that. We're in ABBA too.
Maria Schottenius
Tomorrow:
Interview with Björn and Benny
Posted May 11, 2025, 4:53 PM UTC