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He
was born in Stockholm, Sweden. When he was six he was given an
accordion and played Swedish folksongs with his father and
grandfather. He took
piano lessons when he was ten but said he found them boring. He left school at 15 and worked at
his father's factory, performing in youth clubs in the evening. He and his girlfriend, who never
married, had two children, Peter and Helen. In 1964 he joined the group Hep Stars and wrote
their no. 1 hit Sunny Girl. He
was a member of ABBA as well as the joint composer of the group with Bjorn
Ulvaeus who he had already been working with previously. He met Anna-Frid Lyngstad, who was
also an ABBA member, in 1969 and after a 9-year engagement they married in
1978, divorcing in 1981. One
week after their divorce in November 1981 he married Mona Norklit who was a
Swedish TV presenter. Their
son Ludvig was born in January 1982. He has created the musicals Chess, Kristina fran Duvemala and Mamma
Mia with Bjorn Ulvaeus. He
was nominated for a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Music, for Chess, and a Tony for Best
Orchestration for Mamma Mia. He has been nominated for six
Grammy awards, winning four.
Together with Bjorn Ulvaeus he was awarded the Ivor Novello
Prize. He has also been given
an honorary professorship by the Swedish government. He is an advocate of the
Swedish traditional folk music and still plays the accordion. Now he mostly plays with his band
Benny Andersson's Orkester.
Abba
recordings
Elaine
(Bjorn Ulvaeus/Benny Andersson)
I'm
A Marionette (Bjorn Ulvaeus/Benny Andersson)
Take
A Chance on Me (Bjorn Ulvaeus/Benny Andersson)
The
Winner Takes It All (Bjorn Ulvaeus/Benny Andersson)
Debby Boone
recordings
Hasta Manana (Benny
Andersson/Bjorn Ulvaeus/Stig Andersson)
Anne Sofie von Otter recordings
After the Rain (Benny Andersson/Mat Norklit)
Day before You Came, The (Bjorn Ulvaeus/Benny
Andersson)
Heaven Help My Heart (from ''Chess'') (Benny
Andersson/Bjorn Ulvaeus/Tim Rice)
Sources:
1.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benny_Andersson
2.
www.setasign.net/bennyen.html
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