Barbro Margareta Svensson (9 March 1938 – 3 April 2018), known by her stage name Lill-Babs, was a Swedish singer, actress and television host. From the early 1950s until her death in 2018, she was one of Sweden's best-known and popular singers. She represented Sweden in the 1961 Eurovision Song Contest in

Cannes Cannes ( , , ; oc, Canas) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. The ci ...

with the song " April, april". She was also well known for the song " Är du kär i mej ännu Klas-Göran?" ("Are You Still in Love with Me, Klas-Göran?").

Early life and career

Lill-Babs was born Barbro Svensson in Järvsö, north of Stockholm. She lived with her parents, Ragnar and Britta Svensson, for nine years in a small cottage without running water. She first sang in a church at age 11. Her first public appearance was with a colleague of her father accompanying her on the accordion. Svensson's first public performance was at Barnens dag in Järvsö 1953. Soon after, she started singing with Lasse Schönning's orchestra. She was "discovered" when she sang on the radio program ''Morgonkvisten'' ("Early Morning") in 1954. Simon Brehm, a musician and record producer, liked her and took her to Stockholm where she made her professional singing debut at the Bal Palais restaurant. Brehm was Svensson's manager until his death in 1967. He gave Svensson her stage name "Lill-Babs", a play on words as a connection to the older, and at that time better known, singer Alice Babs. She released her first music album in 1954, a gramophone record with two songs: "Min mammas boogie" ("My Mamma's Boogie") and "Svar till 'Ung och kär'" ("Answer to 'Young And In Love'"). Soon afterwards, finding herself pregnant, she returned to Järvsö and gave birth to a daughter Monica. The Beatles and Lill-Babs 1963

Lill-Babs made her television debut in 1957 and her first folkpark show using her birth name in 1958. She visited every folk park in Sweden during her long career In 1959, Lill-Babs performed

Stikkan Anderson Stig Erik Leopold Anderson (25 January 1931 – 12 September 1997), better known as Stikkan Anderson, was a Swedish music manager, lyricist and music publisher. He was the co-founder of Polar Music, and is best known for managing the Swe ...

's song " Är du kär i mej ännu Klas-Göran?" ("Are You Still in Love with Me, Klas-Göran?"); her recording of it became a major hit. She made her theater debut in 1958 in the play ''Fly mig en greve'' ("Fly Me a Count") at Nöjeskatten theater. She also appeared in the films ''Svenska Floyd'' and ''En nolla för mycket'' ("One Zero Too Many").

Eurovision and later career

Lill-Babs represented Sweden in the 1961 Eurovision Song Contest with the song " April, april". It had been performed by Siw Malmkvist in the national final, but Lill-Babs was selected to perform the song in

. She participated in

Melodifestivalen Melodifestivalen (; literally "the Melody Festival") 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 Son ...

three times in 1960, 1961 (her own two songs did not win) and in 1973 without winning. In 1969, she participated in the Norwegian Melodi Grand Prix without winning. Soon after Eurovision, she launched a career in West Germany, where she acted in several films. She also released two English-language solo singles for the United States market. Lill-Babs met

The Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developm ...

in 1963 when she was the main guest star on the teen music show ''Drop-In'' broadcast on

Sveriges Television Sveriges Television AB ("Sweden's Television Stock Company"), shortened to SVT (), is the Swedish national public television broadcaster, funded by a public service tax on personal income set by the Riksdag (national parliament). Prior to 2019 ...

(SVT). The then-unknown band asked for her autograph. Lill-Babs performed several shows in bars at Berns in Stockholm, Trädgår'n in Gothenburg and Kronprinsen in

Malmö Malmö (, ; da, Malmø ) is the largest city in the Swedish county (län) of Scania (Skåne). It is the third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the sixth-largest city in the Nordic region, with a municipal popula ...

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

and

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

ABBA ABBA ( , , formerly named Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Anni-Frid or Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Frida) are a Swedish supergroup formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. The grou ...

wrote and produced her 1971 hit song "Welcome to the World". The four future members of ABBA sang on it. Also in the 1970s she played in a

Kar de Mumma Erik Harald Zetterström (14 August 1904 – 7 July 1997), better known by his screen name Kar de Mumma, was a Swedish humorous writer and playwright. His pen name can be read as Car da Mon in Swedish. In the 1920s and 1930s, he wrote many ...

revue at Folkan, and played Annie Oakley in the musical '' Annie Get Your Gun'' at

Scandinavium Scandinavium () is an indoor arena located in Gothenburg, Sweden. Construction on Scandinavium began in 1969 after decades of setbacks, and was inaugurated on 18 May 1971. Scandinavium has been selected as a championship arena at least fifty t ...

arena in Gothenburg.

Television

Lill-Babs was the main guest on ''Här är ditt liv'' (Swedish version of "This Is Your Life") on 26 December 1983 when the host

Lasse Holmqvist Lasse is a common masculine given name in Nordic countries. It is also often a nickname for people named Lars or Lauri. People Notable people named Lasse include: *Lasse Aasland (1926–2001), Norwegian politician *Lasse Åberg (born 1940), Swe ...

surprised her in the studio with a long line of ex-boyfriends. She was the presenter on several TV shows like ''Hemma hos Lill-Babs'' (1987) ("At Home with Lill-Babs"), ''Morgonlust'' (1988) ("Morning Desire"), ''Vem tar vem'' (1990) ("Who Takes Whom"), and ''Cocktail'' (1991) all on SVT. In 2010, she participated in the television show '' Så mycket bättre'' ("That Much Better"), broadcast on TV4. In 2012, Lill-Babs appeared on ''

Stjärnorna på slottet ''Stjärnorna på slottet'' (English: ''Stars at the Castle'') is a Swedish show featuring five film or music stars which is usually broadcast during the Christmas and New Year Eve weekend and a bit into January each year. The show was broadcast ...

'' ("Stars at the Palace"), broadcast on SVT, where she spoke about her career. In 2017 and 2018, she acted as a lesbian character Gugge in two seasons of the SVT series ''

Bonusfamiljen Bonus Family ( sv, Bonusfamiljen) is a Swedish drama series created by Felix Herngren, Moa Herngren, Clara Herngren, and Calle Marthin for Sveriges Television, SVT. The series debuted in 2017, with a second season in 2018. A third season of the ...

''; the series' script had to be changed following her death. A two-part documentary was broadcast on TV4 in 2017 called ''Lill-Babs, Leva livet'' ("Lill-Babs, to Live Life"), which presented her life and career.

Death and tributes

Lill-Babs died on 3 April 2018, following

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal bl ...

and heart failure. On the day of her death, both SVT and TV4 changed their programming so that programs about Lill-Babs could air. SVT broadcast the 2004 biographical documentary ''Lill-Babs i 50 år'' ("Lill-Babs for 50 Years"), including the TV4 documentary from 2017. Her funeral was at

Järvsö Church Järvsö (), locally known as ''Jarse'' (), is a locality and a parish situated in Ljusdal Municipality, Gävleborg County, Sweden with 1,407 inhabitants in 2010. From Järvsö, people commute to Ljusdal, Färila, Bollnäs, and Gävle. The Järv pa ...

on 28 May the same year and she was buried in the churchyard there.

Personal life

Lill-Babs was married to the singer Lasse Berghagen 1965–1968. She was then married to Norwegian footballer

Kjell Kaspersen Kjell Kaspersen (born 7 April 1939) is a former footballer from Norway. For many years he was goalkeeper for Skeid and the Norwegian national team. He was league champion in 1966, and was elected Player of the Year by ''Verdens Gang'' in 1964. K ...

1969–1973. She had three daughters: Monica Svensson (born 1955),

Malin Berghagen Malin Birgitta Berghagen (born 11 May 1966; called Berghagen Nilsson when she was married to Tommy Nilsson) is a Swedish actress and singer. She is daughter of Lasse Berghagen and Lill-Babs and half-sister to the TV host Kristin Kaspersen. ...

(born 1966), and Kristin Kaspersen (born 1969). Her younger brother Lasse Svensson used to be the drummer for rock group Tages (and subsequently Blond) 1967–1969. She released her autobiography ''Hon är jag'' ("She Is I") in 1996. In 2017, she was inducted into the Swedish Music Hall of Fame. Lill-Babs was a known supporter of AIK.

Discography

Albums

(Source: Discogs artist page) * 1962: ''Splorr'' * 1964: ''Svensson hyllar Alpertsson'' * 1967: ''Lill-Babs'' * 1968: ''Lill-Babs'' * 1971: ''Välkommen till världen'' * 1972: ''Jag ska sjunga för dig'' * 1973: ''Hurra hurra'' * 1975: ''Det våras för Barbro'' * 1976: ''Lev mänska lev'' * 1977: ''På scen'' * 1979: ''Till mina vänner'' * 1982: ''Lill-Babs i en show av Lars Forssell'' * 1982: ''Det är ju min show! (på cd 1998)'' * 1984: ''Barbro'' * 1998: ''Who's Sorry Now'' * 2005: ''Här är jag''

Filmography

(Source: Swedish Film Database) * 1956: ''Suss gott'' * 1959: ''Fly mej en greve'' * 1961: ''Svenska Floyd'' * ''

The Turkish Cucumbers ''The Turkish Cucumbers'' (German: ''Die türkischen Gurken'') is a 1962 West German comedy film directed by Rolf Olsen and starring Gunther Philipp, Oskar Sima and Susi Nicoletti.Ingraham p.149 The film's sets were designed by the art directors ...

'' (1962) * 1962: ''En nolla för mycket'' * 1965: ''Pang i bygget'' * 1965: ''Calle P'' * 1989: ''Imorron och imorron och imorron'' * 1990: ''Vem tar vem'' (TV show) * 1998: ''Mulan'' (Swedish voice and singing as Grandmother Fa) * 2002: '' Rederiet'' (guest role) * 2012: ''Den sista dokusåpan'' * 2017: ''

'' (TV series)

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lill-Babs 1938 births 2018 deaths People from Ljusdal Municipality Swedish film actresses Eurovision Song Contest entrants for Sweden Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 1961 Melodifestivalen contestants Melodifestivalen winners Melodi Grand Prix contestants Deaths from cancer in Sweden Swedish autobiographers Women autobiographers 20th-century Swedish women singers