Benny Andersson was born in Stockholm on the 16th of December 1946. His interest in music started very early. When he was 18 years old (1964) he joined the band the Hep Stars and they became famous with their song A tribute to Buddy Holly. He wrote the music and Björn Ulvaeus, who he met 1966, wrote the lyrics. They sold a lot of records and earned some money. Benny left the band 1969 and he and Björn continued to write and perform songs together during the years 1969-1972. In April 1974 he and Björn togheter with Agnetha Fältskog and Anni-Frid "Frida" Lyngstad i.e. ABBA won Eurovision song contest and became famous all over the world. After the ABBA time, in 1982, Tim Rice, who had split with Andrew Lloyd Webber 1978, contacted Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus. He wanted to write a musical - a love story set against the background of international chess and Cold War politics. Two years later the famous musical Chess was complete. They released the album before they put the show on stage and two songs became hits I knew him so well and One night in Bangkok and reached number one and number three respectively in UK. The show run in London between 1986-90 but on Broadway the rewritten musical became a disaster. After Chess Benny Andersson has helped other singer with their songs but in October 1995 the curtain of Kristina från Duvemåla rose, where for which Benny had written the music.
Björn Ulvaeus was born in Gothenburg on the 25th of April 1945. He learned to play the guitar at the age of 11. In school he and three friends started a band, which they called West Bay Singers and toured in Europe. When they came back they got a record contract from Polar Music and they changed the name of the band to Hootenanny Singers. Björn studied law at Stockholm's university but when he met Benny Andersson in 1966 he took a break from the studies. He wrote the lyrics to the songs Benny wrote for his band the Hep Stars. After Benny Andersson had left his band 1969 Björn Ulvaeus and he continued to write music and perform together for three years. In 1982, after the ABBA period, Tim Rice contacted them and wanted to write a the musical Chess. Two years later an album was released and three songs were released as singles. The musical was a success in London and a fiasco on Broadway. Björn Ulvaeus felt satisfied with the lyrics to his and Benny's new musical Kristina från Duvemåla and felt relieved when the reviewer showered them with positive words. Björn has made an English version of the lyrics to Kristina and he and Benny will probably put up the show in Minneapolis. Björn then wrote a new musical, Mamma Mia, made of ABBA-songs. It opened in London on the 6th of April 1999, 25 years after ABBA won Eurovision song contest.
|