Bjorn Ulvaeus

At 79 years old, Bjorn Ulvaeus has this physical status:

Björn Kristian Ulvaeus (born 25 April 1945) is a Swedish songwriter, producer, a member of the Swedish musical group ABBA, and co-composer of the musicals Chess, Kristina från Duvemåla, and Mamma Mia!.

He co-produced the film Mamma Mia! with fellow ABBA member and close friend Benny Andersson.

Early life

Björn Kristian Ulvaeus was born in Gothenburg on 25 April 1945. In 1951, he moved with his family to Västervik, Kalmar County. His parents were Aina Eliza Viktoria (née Bengtsson; 1909–2005) and Erik Gunnar Ulvaeus (1912–1999). Ulvaeus has one sister, Eva Margareta (born 1948). Ulvaeus studied business and law at Lund University after undertaking his military service, alongside comedian Magnus Holmström.

Personal life

On 6 July 1971, Ulvaeus married Agnetha Fältskog. They had two children: Linda Elin Ulvaeus (born 23 February 1973), and Peter Christian Ulvaeus (born 4 December 1977). The couple separated in early 1979, and their divorce was finalised in July 1980.

Ulvaeus married music journalist Lena Källersjö on 6 January 1981. They have two daughters: Emma Eleonora (born 3 January 1982) and Anna Linnea (born 29 April 1986). Ulvaeus and Källersjö live on a private island in Djursholm, an upscale area in Danderyd municipality north of Stockholm. From 1984 to 1990 they lived in the United Kingdom, where Ulvaeus founded an IT business with his brother. In February 2022, Ulvaeus and Källersjö announced their separation.

Ulvaeus is one of the four owners (along with Per Gessle) of NoteHeads, a Swedish company which publishes the music notation program Igor Engraver.

Ulvaeus is a member of the International Humanist and Ethical Union's Swedish member organisation Humanisterna, and was awarded their annual prize, Hedenius-priset, in 2006. Ulvaeus describes himself as an atheist. He has appeared on several shows discussing his views about religion.

Ulvaeus suffered from severe long-term memory loss. However, in a 2009 interview, he stated that reports of his memory loss were "hugely exaggerated". In a TV interview with Fredrik Skavlan, Ulvaeus said the memory loss pertained to episodic memory. He said that, for instance, he was not nostalgic for his days with ABBA: "It was good while it lasted."

The Guardian called him Sweden's "highest-profile cash-free campaigner", explaining that "after his son was robbed several years ago, Ulvaeus became an evangelist for the electronic payment movement, claiming that cash was the primary cause of crime and that 'all activity in the black economy requires cash'". He has reportedly been living cash-free for more than a year, and ABBA The Museum has operated cash-free since it opened in May 2013.

The Swedish Tax Agency accused Björn Ulvaeus of failing to pay 90 million kronor (US$12.8 million) in back taxes for eight years ending in 2005. The agency claimed that he "laundered" his music royalty income through institutions in several foreign countries. Ulvaeus paid the taxes as a precautionary measure during the 2½-year dispute. In October 2008, the county administrative court decided the case in Ulvaeus' favour, ruling that he never owed any of the 90 million kronor.

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Career

Ulvaeus, who was known as the "West Bay Singers" in Sweden before being recognized internationally with ABBA, had a huge fan base in Scandinavia. They encountered the Hep Stars while on the road in southern Sweden in 1966, and Ulvaeus quickly became friends with the group's keyboard player, Benny Andersson. Both musicians expressed a passion for songwriting, and each found a composing partner in the other. They wrote their first song together this summer, "Isn't It Simple To Say," a song that will soon be released by Andersson's band. Both the two bands are now playing together, assisting each other in the recording studio and adding guitar or keyboards to the tracks. They wrote lyrics for their first true hit, "A Flower in My Garden," recorded by Hep Stars and "Ljuva Sextiotal," recorded by Hep Stars. The former, a cabarét-style humourous song from the 1960s, was rejected by the 1970 Swedish heats for the Eurovision Song Contest, but it was later discovered by diva Brita Borg; "Speleman," also recorded by Hep Stars, was another hit in 1969.

Björn met eighteen-year-old future wife and singer-songwriter Agnetha Fältskog while filming a nostalgic schlager special for television in March 1969.

While working as an in-house producer at Polar Record Company (headed by future manager Stig Anderson), with Benny as his new partner, Björn Ulvaeus continued recording and touring with Hootenanny Singers to great success. Both bands released albums by other artists and began writing songs together. "A Flower in My Garden" by Arne Lambert (Fröken Blklint) was one of Björn & Benny's first in-house creations. They recorded the new song "She's My Kind of Girl" in December 1969, their first single as a pair. It was released in March 1970 in Sweden, giving them a minor hit and a top-ten hit in Japan two years later.

The Hootenanny Singers debuted on "Omkring Tiggarn Luossa," a cover of an old folk-schlager film. It stayed on the charts for 52 weeks in a row, beating 1990; Björn and Benny produced the album; Ulvaeus' solo vocal and Benny's piano; and Benny's piano.

Ulvaeus and Andersson produced the musicals Chess, a tribute to Swedish writer Vilhelm Moberg's book The Emigrants, a sequel to ABBA's, which was based on Swedish writer Vilhelm Moberg's The Emigrants books. (Based on ABBA songs).

Ulvaeus was nominated for the Drama Desk Award for the musical Chess and in a category "Best Orchestrations" (for the musical Mamma Mia!). Both musicals' original cast recordings have been nominated for a Grammy Award.

Ulvaeus appeared in a special comedy video made for the interval act in Istanbul, thirty years since ABBA had dominated the 1974 competition in Brighton, UK. Each of the four members of the company appeared briefly in cameo roles, as did some like Cher and Rik Mayall. The video was not included in the official DVD release of the Eurovision Contest, but it was issued as a separate DVD product. It was the first time the four members had collaborated together since the company's separation. In fact, they each shot their appearances separately.

Ulvaeus also received the "Independence Award" from the Swedish Ministry of Industry and Trade (2008), as well as "The Lifetime Achievement Award" from the Swedish Music Publishers Association, which was shared with Andersson.

Ulvaeus and Andersson, with the late Swedish DJ and record producer Avicii, had composed the anthem for the 2013 Eurovision Song Contest on April 15, 2013, according to the EBU and the SVT. On May 18, the artist appeared in the Final for the first time.

In 2018, Ulvaeus was reunited with ABBA.

Ulvaeus partnered with Swedish singer Andreas Carlsson to produce an English dub of Tomas Ledin's jukebox musical film En del a Piece of My Heart) directed by Edward af Sillén in 2019. Ulvaeus was asked to write English lyrics for Ledin's songs because they are long-time friends.

Björn Ulvaeus has been elected President of CISAC, the International Confederation of Authors and Composers, in 2020.

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