ABBA star Anni-Frid Lyngstad leads quiet life after daughter’s tragic death

• Anni-Frid Lyngstad is one of the stars of the legendary pop supergroup ABBA.
• Lyngstad went through a difficult time when she lost her daughter in a tragic accident.
• The singer now lives a quiet life with her partner, Henry Smith, singing occasionally and engaging in charitable and environmental work.

Anni-Frid Synni Lyngstad is a member of ABBA, a Swedish pop supergroup formed in Stockholm in 1972. The group’s founders are Anni-Frid Lyngstad, Agnetha FältskogBjörn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson.

The name “ABBA” is a palindrome created from the first letters of the band members’ names. Lyngstad is honored to be part of one of the most renowned and successful musical groups in history. However, she had her share of misfortunes.

Born on November 15, 1945, in Ballangen, near Narvik, Norway, Lyngstad was raised by her grandmother, Agny. Lyngstad’s father, Alfred Haase, left Norway before his birth and is believed to have disappeared when his sunken ship on the return trip to Germany.

Lyngstad moved to Sweden when she was 18 months old to stay with her grandmother. Less than two years after the singer’s birth, her mother, Synni Lyngstad, died. Lyngstad and his grandmother lived in Torshälla, just outside the town of Eskilstuna.

Years later, the singer describe her grandmother as a “strict, pedantic and hardworking” woman, attributes which she inherited. Lyngstad is also a kind and firm person, depending on the circumstances. She added“She raised me, of course, I copied her and I was shaped by her way of being, towards herself and towards me too.”

Lyngstad did it debut on stage at the age of 11 during a Red Cross charity event. By the age of 13, she had already started her career as a minor singer in a dance group. In 1961, Lyngstad met her first husband, Ragnar Fredriksson. They became the parents of two children: Hans Ragnar, born in 1963, and Ann Lise-Lotte, born in 1967. Fredriksson and Lyngstad divorced in 1970.

The singer won a talent competition on September 3, 1967 in Stockholm and was featured on national television singing her winning song. Soon she was signed by EMI. Lyngstad remained a well-known performing artist. From 1972 and for the next decade, she focused on her work with ABBA. During these ABBA years, the singer reunited with his father through the German pop magazine Bravo.

Unfortunately, ABBA broke up in 1982. Andersson recalled how they thought the group was done in the 1980s when they stopped recording. All four members owned a business, so what they earned went there. When the the group broke upthey split the money four ways and promised each other that if they wanted to revive ABBA in the years to come, they would.

After the separation, Lyngstad recorded it first solo English-language album, “Something’s Going On” in 1982. The album was followed by “Shine” in 1984. These albums joined Lyngstad’s Swedish-language solo album “Frida ensam” (“Frida Alone”), released in 1975. After the release of “Brille”, the singer withdrew from the public.

However, Lyngstad recently realized a return to the music industry with ABBA to begin their travel tour around the world. However, as the group prepares to release their good music and joy, the singer is no longer the same, having endured heartbreaking heartbreak in her life.

After Lyngstad and Fredriksson divorced, the singer was briefly married to fellow band member Andersson from 1978 to 1981. In 1992, Lyngstad entered another marriage, marrying Prince Heinrich Ruzzo Reuss of Plauen. This union with the prince of the formerly sovereign house of Reuss gave the singer the titles of Princess Reuss and Countess of Plauen.

Sadly, on October 29, 1999, the prince died of lymphoma in Stockholm, Sweden. Lyngstad describe her late husband as an “amazing, wonderful, witty” and “funny human being” whom she “loved more than anything.” The prince, diagnosed with cancer at 49, changed the singer’s life by becoming the stepmother of his two daughters.

Losing her husband was difficult for Lyngstad, considering that a year earlier she had lost her daughter in a terrible and unexpected way. Lise-Lotte died at just 30 years old on January 13, 1998, in a car accident in Livonia, New York, a town located just 20 miles south of Rochester.

Lyngstad spoke about the loss of her daughter, say that the mourning lasted for many years as she went through “incomprehensible sadness”. “You may feel like you can barely survive,” she added.

Today, the singer leads a discreet life, engaging in charitable and environmental works. During the celebration in Zermatt of the 150th anniversary of the first ascent of the Matterhorn, Lyngstad contributed to a tribute song called “1865”.

She has also made appearances on albums by artists like Jon Lord in “The Sun Will Shine Again”, Filippa Giordano in “La Bacarolle” and Ratata in “Så länge vi har varan”. In 2018, Lyngstad released his latest recording, a new spanish version from “Andante, Andante” with Arturo Sandoval, featured on his album “Ultimate Duets”.

After her husband’s death, Lyngstad assumed the titles of Dowager Princess and Countess. She now lives with her British partner Henry Smith, fifth Viscount Hambleden, at Genolier VD, Switzerland. The two have been together since 2007 and Lyngstad said they are a good combination, as is he. The opposite of her.