Beloved ’70s Singer Leaves Singing Behind Following Daughter’s Devastating Death – Her Story
This musician left the entertainment industry after the death of her daughter but eventually found her way back. She has since received a special accolade for her stellar work.
Before losing a child, this singer experienced several marriages but appears to have finally settled with a British man. She is now performing again with her famous band while also focusing on a business venture. Here’s what we know about her life and past marriages.
The ABBA pop group member posing in May 1975, in Copenhagen, Denmark | Source: Getty Images
The Singer’s Marriages
This songstress was born on November 15, 1945, in Ballangen, outside of Narvik, Norway. According to ABBA’s website, Alfred Haase, her father, was a German soldier, while her mother, Synni Lyngstad, was a Norwegian teenage girl.
Her father left Norway before she was born and believed to have vanished when his ship sank on his way back to Germany. Her life was shaped by early loss and fierce determination.
The pop star posing in May 1975, in Copenhagen, Denmark | Source: Getty Images
After her mother’s death, she was raised by her grandmother in Torshälla. The star found her voice on stage at 11 and soon began performing with local bands. In 1964, she married Ragnar Fredriksson, a salesman and fellow musician, and they had two children, Hans Ragnar and Ann Lise-Lotte.
She won a major talent contest in 1967, but she and her husband divorced in 1970. The star then signed with EMI and later helped form ABBA alongside Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus, and Agnetha Fältskog.
During the band’s golden years, she released her solo album “Frida ensam” or “Frida Alone” and reunited with her long-lost father. In 1978, she briefly married her fellow ABBA member, Andersson, but things were too complicated between them.
By 1981, they had separated but remained in the band. In the early ’80s, she recorded “Something’s Going On” with Phil Collins and “Shine” before stepping back to focus on environmental work. In 1992, she appeared to find lasting happiness when she married Prince Heinrich Ruzzo Reuss of Plauen.
The star performs with ABBA on September 19, 1979, in Concord, California | Source: Getty Images
The Prince, from the formerly sovereign House of Reuss, was a Swiss-born Swedish landscape architect with two children. Marrying him gave the singer the title of Princess Reuss and Countess of Plauen.
Sadly, after months of battling cancer, her second husband died at age 49 of lymphoma on October 29, 1999, in Stockholm, Sweden. This tragedy compounded the loss of her daughter a year earlier.
The singer at the premiere of “Mama Mia!” on February 13, 2003, in Las Vegas, Nevada | Source: Getty Images
On January 13, 1998, Ann Lise-Lotte Fredriksson Casper passed away at 30. She died after sustaining injuries in a tragic car accident in Livonia, New York. The singer, who had initially returned to music quietly in 1996 with “Djupa andetag” or “Deep Breaths,” later opened up about her struggles with the loss.
The former ABBA singer at the Mandalay Bay Resort | Source: Getty Images
Opening an Old Wound
In 2014, she confessed to a Norwegian journalist, “What I experienced might make that experience a great loneliness which gradually become natural to me. [sic]” In the documentary “ABBA: The Missing 40 Years,” she further opened up about losing her child.
She explained, “It took a very long time. It took many years. It is an incomprehensible sadness. You feel like you can barely survive.” Speaking about the star’s daughter’s death, Ann’s stepbrother, Peter Grönvall, said, “We were like siblings. I miss her.”
Swedish pop group One More Time’s members: Peter and Nanne Grönvall with Maria Rĺdsten and Therese Löf on November 11, 1992 | Source: Getty Images
At the time of her daughter’s death, Görel Hanser, ABBA’s longtime employee, revealed that the singer did not want to talk about it. Although she rarely gave interviews, the ABBA star once opened up about the warm relationship within her family.
The vocalist said, “There is a lot of love between me and my children, I appreciate them enormously. The only thing I wish is that I had given my children more closeness. I am not a particularly physical person.”
The singer at the Royal Charity Gala Performance for the musical “Mamma Mia” on June 10, 2004, in London | Source: Getty Images
Having grown up with the musician’s daughter, Grönvall said their relationship was strong despite them having no blood ties. Ann became his stepsister when the star married his father, Andersson.
Besides her late child and stepson, the artist also welcomed a son, Hans, Ann’s brother. In a 2014 interview, the singer spoke about returning to singing after leaving the industry following her daughter’s death.
The musician at The Prince of Wales Theatre | Source: Getty Images
Returning to Music in Public and Talking About Being a Grandma
When asked if she would return to making music, the star once responded, “I’ve reached an age when you start taking it easier. But I enjoy singing. I still sing – at home.” She revealed that in 2015, she participated in an event at Zermatt, a mountaineering and ski resort in the Swiss Alps.
The event celebrated the 150th anniversary of the first ascent of the pyramid-shaped Matterhorn peak. The singer broke her musical break by performing “1865,” a song about the first ascent.
The musician at the opening of the ABBA Museum on May 6, 2013, in Stockholm, Sweden | Source: Getty Images
During her interview, the musician also confessed to being a grandmother. When asked if she resembled her own grandmother, she recalled, “She was a very strict, pedantic, and industrious woman.”
The artist believed she inherited some of those traits, adding, “Pedantry can be both good and bad. I have that.” Having been raised by her grandmother, the star credited her with shaping who she became.
Björn Ulvaeus and his bandmate at the ABBA: The International Anniversary party on April 7, 2014, in London, England | Source: Getty Images
When asked if she is strict, she said no, but sometimes the artist can be “exacting,” depending on the situation. After Prince Ruzzo’s death, she retained the title of Dowager Princess and Countess until she remarried.
Her British husband, Henry Smith, is the fifth Viscount Hambleden, and the two have been together since 2007. The couple now lives in Genolier VD, Switzerland. Smith came up during her 2014 interview, during which his wife revealed he is her opposite.
The singer and a guest at the opening of “Mamma Mia! The party” on January 20, 2016, in Stockholm | Source: Getty Images
She revealed that when dealing with him, she sometimes corrects him, although always in a friendly manner. At that point, besides singing, the musician also wrote songs and designed clothes. The singer explained the transition.
She shared, “A couple of years ago, when I realized I was quite done with singing, I thought, ‘What would I like to replace it with?'” The star knew that whatever she chose had to be creative.
Having always liked design and spending a lot of time skiing in nature, she realized that the clothes available for the sport were boring. This realization led to the birth of her brand. Since then, she has made more music with ABBA and has made public appearances in her later years.
The singer at the Abba Voyage digital concert launch on May 26, 2022, in London | Source: Getty Images
What the Singer Has Been up to in Recent Years
When ABBA reunited for its “concert residency,” Abba Voyage, which began in May 2022 at the Abba Arena in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, London, Anni-Frid “Frida” Synni Lyngstad was involved. Their album “Voyage” was released on November 5, 2021, via Polydor.
About her forever role as an ABBA member, Andersson once told her, “You never really left us. You just learned to sing in different ways,” to which she replied, “Maybe that’s what life is—one long, beautiful song, with verses we haven’t heard yet.”
Anni-Frid Lyngstad at the first performance of ABBA’s “Voyage” on May 26, 2022, in London, England | Source: Getty Images
On February 7, 2024, Frida was seen at the ABBA Arena, attending for the fifth time to perform. She wore a white turtleneck sweater, yellowish sunglasses, and carried a bag, waving to the crowd while holding two skiing poles as she walked.
The musician explained how she always found, experienced, or saw something new at her shows. The experience excited her but was also “always overwhelming,” as attendees clapped and sang along while love pouring in from everywhere.
In June that year, she appeared holding a cane to help her walk and balance while she and her bandmates received the Royal Order of the Knights Award. The quartet received the honors for their “very prominent contributions within Swedish and international music life.”
Speaking about the accolades, Frida said, “Well, I can only speak for myself but we are very moved, all four of us, and I think this is absolutely incredible.” She continued, “It is a good, one shouldn’t say closure, but in any case it feels like we have been honored.”
Fans who saw footage of the 79-year-old star had much to say. One person commented, “AnniFrid [sic] is so beautiful. Those eyes crush my heart.” Echoing similar sentiments, another wrote, “Her eyes are breathtakingly beautiful. She is my favourite. I just love her so much!”
Focusing on the same thing, another fan said, “I love this woman! Her eyes are the two most precious thing in the world.” Watching the songstress receive her award in 2024, a fan remarked, “She looks great,” while another noted, “What a great lady she is.”
The singer has gracefully embraced new chapters in her life while cherishing the legacy she built. Her journey shows resilience, passion, and an enduring love for her craft.
