Ainbusk are a

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop! (British group), a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Album ...

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk horror ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Fo ...

vocal group from

Gotland Gotland (; ; ''Gutland'' in Gutnish), also historically spelled Gottland or Gothland (), is Sweden's largest island. It is also a Provinces of Sweden, province/Counties of Sweden, county (Swedish län), Municipalities of Sweden, municipality, a ...

, Sweden. Formed in 1983, Ainbusk are best known for their single "Jag mötte Lassie" ("I Met

Lassie Lassie is a fictional female Rough Collie dog and is featured in a 1938 short story by Eric Knight that was later expanded to a 1940 full-length novel, '' Lassie Come-Home''. Knight's portrayal of Lassie bears some features in common with anot ...

") – frequently referred to simply as "Lassie" – which was the Christmas chart-topper in Sweden in 1990. They have released four studio albums, one live album and one compilation. Their music mixes pop with traditional Swedish influences; they have also recorded Swedish versions of English-language songs. In 2008, they participated unsuccessfully in the Swedish

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international Music competition, song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster ...

selection,

Melodifestivalen Melodifestivalen (; ) is an annual song competition organised by Swedish public broadcasters Sveriges Television (SVT) and Sveriges Radio (SR). It determines the country's representative for the Eurovision Song Contest, and has been staged almo ...

Early career and "Lassie"

Formed on the island of Gotland, Ainbusk first attracted attention in 1984 when they won a talent show, ''Talang-84'', in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

. They spent the remainder of the 1980s touring and establishing their reputation. Their breakthrough came in 1990 when band member Marie Nilsson Lind collaborated with former

ABBA ABBA ( ) were a Swedish pop group formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. They are one of the most popular and successful musical groups of all time, and are one of the List ...

member

Benny Andersson Göran Bror Benny Andersson (; born 16 December 1946) is a Swedish musician, composer and producer best known as a member of the pop group ABBA and co-composer of the musicals ''Chess (musical), Chess'', ''Kristina från Duvemåla'', and ''Mamm ...

to write several songs, with Andersson providing the music for Lind's lyrics. The first single issued, "Jag mötte Lassie", with its touching lyrics about a lonely little girl, struck a chord with record buyers and became the Christmas/New Year #1 on the Swedish singles chart. The follow-up, "Älska mej", also sold well and both tracks remain popular.

Later career

Ainbusk spent the early 1990s honing their stage act – they became known for injecting elements of humour into their performances – and the result was a 1993 live album ''Från när till fjärran'' (''From Near and Far''), including ''Varje steg du tar'' (a version of Sting's "

Every Breath You Take "Every Breath You Take" is a song by the English rock band the Police from their album ''Synchronicity'' (1983). Written by Sting, the single was the biggest US and Canadian hit of 1983, topping the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 singles chart for ei ...

"). The group's first studio album, the self-titled ''Ainbusk'', was released in 1998, followed by ''Stolt'' (''Proud'') in 2000. A Christmas album, ''I midvintertid: En jul på Gotland'' came out in 2001 and included versions of "

Fairytale of New York "Fairytale of New York" is a song written by Jem Finer and Shane MacGowan and recorded by their London-based band the Pogues, featuring English singer-songwriter Kirsty MacColl on vocals. The song is an Irish folk-style ballad and was writ ...

", " Fields of Gold" and " Forever Young". The group's fourth album, ''Skynda att älska'' (''Rush to Love'') appeared in 2002 and Ainbusk celebrated their 20th anniversary in 2003 with the release of ''En samling'', a career retrospective also featuring three new tracks. Josefin Nilsson died in 2016. Her sister Marie died on 4 January 2024, at the age of 62.

Melodifestivalen

In 2008, Ainbusk were announced as one of the participants in Melodifestivalen with the song "

Jag saknar dig ibland ''Jag saknar dig ibland'' is a song written by Bobby Ljunggren and Henrik Wikström, and with lyrics by Ingela "Pling" Forsman, and originally performed by Ainbusk at Melodifestivalen 2008, where it ended up 6th in the semifinal in Linköping o ...

" ("I Miss You Sometimes"). They participated in the third semifinal, held in

Linköping Linköping ( , ) is a city in southern Sweden, with around 167,000 inhabitants as of 2024. It is the seat of Linköping Municipality and the capital of Östergötland County. Linköping is also the episcopal see of the Diocese of Linköping (Chu ...

on 23 February 2008, but a sixth-place finish meant they were eliminated from the competition.Eurovision Song Contest National Finals database – 2008
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Discography

Albums

* 1998: ''Ainbusk'' - SWE #21 * 2000: ''Stolt'' * 2001: ''

I midvintertid, en jul på Gotland I, or i, is the ninth letter and the third vowel letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''i'' (pronounced ), plur ...

'' * 2002: ''Skynda att älska''

Live albums

* 1993: ''Från när till fjärran''

Compilations

* 2003: ''En samling'' (reissued in 2008 with additional track)

Singles

* 1998: "Min gud" - SWE #56 * 2008: "Jag saknar dig ibland" - SWE #36 * 2008: "Skynda att älska" - SWE #13

References

External links

Official website
(Swedish) * * * {{Authority control Swedish pop music groups Swedish folk music groups Musical groups established in 1983 Folk-pop music groups 1983 establishments in Sweden Musical groups from Gotland County 20th-century establishments in Gotland County