Introduction
Anni-Frid Lyngstad, widely known as Frida, was one of the two lead vocalists of the legendary group ABBA. When the band disbanded in the early 1980s, fans around the world were eager to know what path each member would take. While Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus continued their careers in songwriting, and Agnetha Fältskog occasionally returned with solo projects, Frida’s journey went in a completely unexpected and deeply personal direction, far removed from the spotlight.
Born in 1945 in Norway during World War II, Frida was the daughter of a German soldier and a Norwegian mother. That background cast a shadow over her childhood, marked by stigma and hardship. Her family moved to Sweden soon after the war, where she was raised by her grandmother and began singing publicly as a teenager. By the time ABBA officially formed in 1972, she had already built a steady solo career. Yet after the group’s dazzling run ended in 1982, Frida quickly chose an independent path.
Her first English-language album, Something’s Going On (1982), produced by Phil Collins, gave her a strong solo breakthrough. The single I Know There’s Something Going On topped charts in several countries, proving she could stand on her own beyond ABBA. But just two years later, her follow-up album Shine did not reach the same success, and Frida gradually stepped back from the stage. Many believed she was weary of fame and yearned for a private life.
In the early 1990s, Frida married Prince Heinrich Ruzzo Reuss von Plauen, becoming a princess. This marriage took her far from the entertainment world, into a quiet life in Switzerland dedicated to charity and environmental work. Yet tragedy struck: in 1998 her daughter was killed in a car accident, and just a year later her husband passed away from cancer. These devastating losses deepened her retreat from public life.
Today, Frida rarely appears, and when she does, it is mostly in connection with ABBA-related events, such as the ABBA Museum in Stockholm or the ABBA Voyage project. She never pursued a long-term solo career, never chased fame, and never wrote a tell-all autobiography. Instead, Frida chose silence—a rare decision in the entertainment world. By stepping away from the peak of fame to live life on her own terms, her post-ABBA story remains one of the most surprising and admirable chapters in music history.