Biography for
Benny Andersson More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

16 December 1946, Stockholm, Stockholms län, Sweden

Birth Name

Benny Bror Göran Andersson

Height

5' 9½" (1.77 m)

Mini Biography

Benny Andersson was born in 1946 outside of Stockholm, Sweden. His father and grandfather both being musicians, Benny was introduced to the accordian at an early age. With little patience for conventional music lessons, Benny is known to pick up just about any instrument and play it with ease. After he left high school he was invited to become a part of the popular Swedish beat group "The Hep Stars," with whom he played for several successful years until the band disbanded in the late 1960s. While touring with the band he met another young songwriter named Björn Ulvaeus, and the two released their own LP after the breakup of the Hep Stars. They were soon joined by their girlfriends Anni-Frid Lyngstad and Agnetha Fältskog in a touring act "Festfolket," which was not much of a success. This foursome would, however, find international stardom and astounding success under the moniker ABBA. During his years with ABBA Benny co-wrote and co-produced the bands entire output as well as touring the world. After the band split he, along with Björn, wrote the music for Tim Rice's "Chess," which was a huge success. In recent years Benny has devided his time between producing (for such successful Swedish performers as Josefin Nilsson) and his love for birds. More success followed with the premiere of he and Björn's latest musical "Kristina från Duvemåla." Several concerts celebrating the contribution he and Bjorn have made to the music industry in Sweden have been stage in 1998.

IMDb Mini Biography By: Jonathan Ruskin

Spouse

Mona Nörklit	(3 December 1981 - present) 1 child
Anni-Frid Lyngstad	(6 October 1978 - 26 November 1981) (divorced)

Trivia

In 2002 he was appointed Professor by the Swedish government.

6th April 1974: As a member of ABBA he won the Eurovision Song Contest in Brighton, England, in 1974 with the song "Waterloo".

Son Ludvig Andersson with Mona Nörklit and son Peter Grönvall and daughter Helena Grönvall with former girlfriend Christina Grönvall.

He was nominated for a Laurence Olivier Theatre Award in 2000 (1999 season) for Best New Musical for Mamma Mia based on the music of Abba.

The name ABBA was comprised of the first letters of the first names of the group's members: Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad.

In 1998 he was awarded Sweden's Royal Order of the Seraphim by Konung Carl XVI Gustaf

Was nominated with collaborators Björn Ulvaeus and Martin Koch for Broadway's 2002 Tony Award for Best Orchestrations for "Mamma Mia!"

Benny Andersson has a fortune worth at least US$ 130 million.

He and his wife Mona were marriage witnesses when Tommy Körberg was secretly married to Ann-Charlotte Nilsson in a church in Trosa on 14 June 2007.

Personal Quotes

"I don't get it... did we look like transvestites or something?" - On drag queens performing ABBA songs

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