Monica Emma Josefin Nilsson, registered as ''Monica Emma Josefina Nilsson'' (22 March 1969 – 29 February 2016) was a Swedish

singer Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define singi ...

and

actress An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

Biography

Born in När,

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 ...

, Josefin Nilsson was the daughter of

revue A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatre, theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance, and sketch comedy, sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural pre ...

artist and songwriter Allan Nilsson. She founded the Ainbusk group with her sister Marie Nilsson (1961-2024) and two friends Annelie Roswall and Birgitta "Bittis" Jakobsson. They were noticed by

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 ...

who wrote them two songs that were successful in Sweden. They released their first EP in 1990. In 1992, she received the Ulla Billquist scholarship, an award that encourages young artists. The following year, her first solo album, ''Shapes'' was written and produced by

Björn Ulvaeus Björn Kristian Ulvaeus (; born 25 April 1945) is a Swedish musician, singer, songwriter, and producer best known as a member of the musical group ABBA. He is also the co-composer of the musicals ''Chess (musical), Chess'', ''Kristina från Duve ...

and Benny Andersson of the

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 ...

group and ranked 14th in Swedish sales. She played the role of Svetlana in the Swedish version of ''Chess'' in 2002 and participated in the

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 ...

(Swedish national selections for the

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 ...

) solo in 2005 and with her group Ainbusk in 2008. She released several albums with her band from 1993 to 2008 and was noticed in a few movies but had to take a break due to health problems. An Estonian-language cover version of Josefin Nilsson's "Surprise, Surprise" was made in 1995. It was named "Sa muutsid kõik" and performed by Estonian pop singer Nancy. In 2015, Benny Andersson wrote a new track that she recorded with Marie Nilsson but it was not released in digital version until four years later. In 2016, she gave a few concerts in Gotland with her sister Marie. Shortly after undergoing hip surgery, Josefin died in her home in Gotland, on 29 February 2016, at age 46. In 2019, a documentary on the singer's life was broadcast on SVT and revealed the violence she had suffered from her former partner, who was not mentioned by name but soon revealed to be Örjan Ramberg,https://www.svt.se/kultur/svt-anmals-till-granskningsnamnden-for-josefin-nilsson-dokumentar (Swedish) 27 June 2019 the latter being the main cause of her state of health. The documentary revived the debate on

domestic violence Domestic violence is violence that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes r ...

in Sweden.

Discography

Albums

*''Shapes'' (1993) #14 SWE

Singles

*"Heaven and Hell" (1993) #28 SWE *"High Hopes and Heartaches" *"Where the Whales Have Ceased to Sing" *"Surprise, Surprise" *"Med hjärtats egna ord" (2005) *"Jag saknar dig ibland" (2008)

Filmography

References

External links

Official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nilsson, Josefin 1969 births 2016 deaths People from Gotland County Swedish women singer-songwriters Swedish singer-songwriters 20th-century Swedish women singers 21st-century Swedish women singers