Introduction
ABBA’s Frida Lyngstad Opens Up About Her Painful Past and Hidden Family History
As one of the iconic voices behind the global phenomenon ABBA, Anni-Frid “Frida” Lyngstad captivated the world with her music, glamour, and magnetic presence. Yet behind the spotlight, Frida has quietly carried the weight of a painful and deeply personal past—one shaped by war, stigma, and long-buried truths.
Born in Norway in 1945, Frida was the daughter of a young Norwegian woman and a German soldier, Alfred Haase, who was part of Hitler’s occupying forces during World War II. Her mother, Synni, was just 19 when she fell in love with Haase, unaware that he had a wife and child waiting for him in Germany. What started as a romance during troubled times quickly turned into a source of lifelong pain.
After the war, women who had relationships with German soldiers were scorned, and their children often suffered even more. Branded as “Nazi spawn” by locals, Frida and her mother became targets of cruelty and public shame. Synni was spat on in the street and ostracized by her community—labeled a “horizontal collaborator.”
In a desperate attempt to protect her granddaughter, Frida’s grandmother smuggled the child to Sweden, hoping for a safer life. Tragically, Synni died of kidney failure in 1947, before Frida’s second birthday. Raised in Sweden by her grandmother, Frida experienced a cold, affectionless upbringing. “We were two lonely people together,” she once said, recalling a childhood devoid of hugs and warmth.
For most of her life, Frida believed her father had died in the war. But in 1977, during the peak of ABBA’s global fame, she learned he was still alive. The revelation stirred emotions she had buried for decades, adding a complex chapter to an already heartbreaking personal journey.
Though her music brought joy to millions, Frida’s story is also a testament to the quiet strength she carried. Behind the disco lights and pop anthems stood a woman shaped by history, loss, and survival.