0:00:02 > 0:00:05Hello, I'm Agnetha. I know it's very hard for you to pronounce,
0:00:05 > 0:00:09but you can say Agn-etha, or you can say Anna.
0:00:09 > 0:00:11ABBA's Agnetha Faltskog is back,
0:00:11 > 0:00:15after years out of the public eye, with a new album.
0:00:15 > 0:00:21# Sense of expectation hanging in the air... #
0:00:21 > 0:00:25This is her first new material in 25 years.
0:00:25 > 0:00:28# Everything I ever had
0:00:28 > 0:00:30# I let it slip away... #
0:00:30 > 0:00:35It was great to hear that she was emerging from exile.
0:00:35 > 0:00:39But where has she been and why is she back now?
0:00:39 > 0:00:41It's good for her. It's good for us all.
0:00:44 > 0:00:46Agnetha's extraordinary singing career began
0:00:46 > 0:00:48when she was just 15 years old.
0:00:48 > 0:00:54Just an ordinary sweet girl, who happens to have this talent.
0:00:54 > 0:00:57She can write music, and she can sing.
0:00:57 > 0:01:00Within two years, she was a singing sensation,
0:01:00 > 0:01:03at the top of the charts in Sweden.
0:01:04 > 0:01:06Then along came Bjorn and ABBA...
0:01:06 > 0:01:09# Anybody could be that guy... #
0:01:09 > 0:01:13..the phenomenal group and living soap opera
0:01:13 > 0:01:17that has sold 375 million albums globally.
0:01:17 > 0:01:20# Let me tell you now My love is strong enough... #
0:01:20 > 0:01:22She had the voice...
0:01:22 > 0:01:23That's the sound of ABBA.
0:01:23 > 0:01:27I mean, that's it. Her voice is IT.
0:01:27 > 0:01:28..and the looks...
0:01:28 > 0:01:30# I'm sexy and I know it... #
0:01:32 > 0:01:36As far as I know, she was never really trying to be sexy.
0:01:36 > 0:01:37She was just sexy.
0:01:37 > 0:01:38# So when you're near me
0:01:38 > 0:01:42# Darling, can't you hear me? SOS... #
0:01:42 > 0:01:45..but what was life like in ABBA
0:01:45 > 0:01:49for the girl thrust from rural Sweden to worldwide fame
0:01:49 > 0:01:51and a very public divorce?
0:01:51 > 0:01:53That was some hard times, really.
0:01:55 > 0:01:57She went solo in the '80s,
0:01:57 > 0:02:01but retreated from view in the '90s, exhausted by stardom.
0:02:01 > 0:02:06It's always like a shock when you see your name in the tabloids.
0:02:06 > 0:02:09Yet now this most private of singers is back,
0:02:09 > 0:02:14and on the new album is a duet with Take That frontman Gary Barlow.
0:02:14 > 0:02:19In this film, we have exclusive access to their very first meeting.
0:02:19 > 0:02:22I would love, love the opportunity
0:02:22 > 0:02:26- to try and do this track live somewhere.- Oh!
0:02:26 > 0:02:31This is the complete story of one of pop's brightest, most loved,
0:02:31 > 0:02:33but reluctant of stars.
0:02:33 > 0:02:38# ..I missed you for a long while. #
0:02:45 > 0:02:49Agnetha was born on the 5th of April 1950,
0:02:49 > 0:02:50the first of two daughters
0:02:50 > 0:02:53to power company administrator Ingvar
0:02:53 > 0:02:54and his wife, Birgit,
0:02:54 > 0:02:56who were both amateur musicians.
0:02:56 > 0:03:00I was born in Jonkoping, a little town in Sweden,
0:03:00 > 0:03:03at a lake called Vattern,
0:03:03 > 0:03:06and I lived there for 18 years.
0:03:06 > 0:03:09My parents were very musical.
0:03:09 > 0:03:12My father was a showman,
0:03:12 > 0:03:14my mother could sing as well,
0:03:14 > 0:03:17so they often sat together
0:03:17 > 0:03:23and played and sang, so I got a lot from them and they bought me a piano.
0:03:35 > 0:03:38So I can remember, I was around five years old
0:03:38 > 0:03:43when I realised that I could compose.
0:03:43 > 0:03:48Agnetha decided at an early age she was going to be a singer-songwriter.
0:03:48 > 0:03:54That was my highest dream. And I listened a lot to music.
0:03:54 > 0:03:58To singers like Connie Francis,
0:03:58 > 0:04:02all these singers that were during the '60s.
0:04:02 > 0:04:10# Don't break the heart that loves you
0:04:10 > 0:04:15# Handle it with care... #
0:04:15 > 0:04:22It was like hurt in her voice and she was singing with harmonies,
0:04:22 > 0:04:25so she doubled her own voice, and I really liked that,
0:04:25 > 0:04:27and I knew that I could do that as well.
0:04:27 > 0:04:34# You know I'm jealous of you... #
0:04:34 > 0:04:41So I sat in front of the mirror and I mimed to her songs,
0:04:41 > 0:04:45and that went on for many years.
0:04:47 > 0:04:51The years of mirror-miming paid off when, in 1965,
0:04:51 > 0:04:54Agnetha quit school, got herself an office job
0:04:54 > 0:04:57and led a double life as a singer at night
0:04:57 > 0:05:01in the Bernt Enghardt Dance Band, aged just 15.
0:05:01 > 0:05:03# La-la-la-la-la
0:05:03 > 0:05:05# La-la-la-la-la-la... #
0:05:05 > 0:05:09When Agnetha collapsed from exhaustion at work one day,
0:05:09 > 0:05:12her mother gave her an ultimatum.
0:05:12 > 0:05:16Either you go on working in the office, or you choose the music.
0:05:16 > 0:05:23And that was not a difficult choice for me to do, so I chose the music.
0:05:26 > 0:05:30The dance band was hugely popular and was playing every night.
0:05:30 > 0:05:32The next step was to get themselves a record deal.
0:05:32 > 0:05:35One member in the Dance Orchestra
0:05:35 > 0:05:41knew a rock legend in Sweden called Little Gerhard.
0:05:41 > 0:05:45ROCK 'N' ROLL MUSIC
0:05:49 > 0:05:52Little Gerhard was a rock 'n' roll singer in the '50s,
0:05:52 > 0:05:56often called the Swedish Elvis. In the '60s,
0:05:56 > 0:06:00he was working as a talent scout for Cupol records in Stockholm.
0:06:00 > 0:06:03In 1967, the band had sent him a demo tape,
0:06:03 > 0:06:07including a ballad written and sung by Agnetha.
0:06:07 > 0:06:10BALLAD IN SWEDISH
0:06:21 > 0:06:25And then he called back and said, "Who is the singer?"
0:06:25 > 0:06:28And that was when it all started.
0:06:28 > 0:06:30"Agnetha...
0:06:30 > 0:06:37"I have a tape of you here and I like it very much."
0:06:37 > 0:06:40I said to the producer, "Have you heard something like that before?"
0:06:40 > 0:06:45She said, "No, she has a clear voice. A sad voice."
0:06:45 > 0:06:48I call her up and say, "Can you come to Stockholm?"
0:06:48 > 0:06:52She said, "Do I have to?" "Yes, you must come to Stockholm."
0:06:55 > 0:06:57So we went up to Stockholm by train
0:06:57 > 0:07:03and I held my father's hand, and I felt secure.
0:07:03 > 0:07:06Gerhard had already recorded orchestral backing tracks
0:07:06 > 0:07:10of two of Agnetha's songs, ready to add her vocals.
0:07:10 > 0:07:16We went out to the studio and when they played the background for her,
0:07:16 > 0:07:21she said, "Oh, my God! Have I done that?"
0:07:21 > 0:07:23I said, "Yes, it's your tune."
0:07:23 > 0:07:26We went down the stairs and I could hear my own song,
0:07:26 > 0:07:32and with the strings on... That was a great moment for me.
0:07:32 > 0:07:36BALLAD IN SWEDISH
0:07:38 > 0:07:44They asked me, "Can you do a harmony on that melody?"
0:07:44 > 0:07:46And that was really no problem for me,
0:07:46 > 0:07:49I knew already how it was going to be.
0:07:49 > 0:07:52BALLAD CONTINUES
0:07:56 > 0:07:59I remember when they played it first on the radio,
0:07:59 > 0:08:02and that was such a fantastic moment,
0:08:02 > 0:08:05because I was still living in that little town.
0:08:07 > 0:08:13I remember hearing Agnetha's first single, on the radio.
0:08:17 > 0:08:24She did a couple back-to-back, good songs. She wrote some good stuff.
0:08:24 > 0:08:26Singing in harmony with herself.
0:08:26 > 0:08:30There was something so special about that voice,
0:08:30 > 0:08:36and the fact that she had written that song herself, it was magic.
0:08:36 > 0:08:39The song went to number three in the Swedish charts
0:08:39 > 0:08:43and Agnetha released more singles and an album in quick succession.
0:08:43 > 0:08:47At one point, she even knocked the Beatles off the top of the charts,
0:08:47 > 0:08:51just as the British invasion was gathering speed in Europe.
0:08:51 > 0:08:54SHE SINGS IN SWEDISH
0:08:54 > 0:08:58By 1968, she was a regular sight on Swedish TV
0:08:58 > 0:09:02and looked set for a long career in music.
0:09:02 > 0:09:05I composed a lot of songs then
0:09:05 > 0:09:09and it was always fantastic when it climbed in the charts.
0:09:11 > 0:09:13So at 18, Agnetha moved to Stockholm
0:09:13 > 0:09:17and was a young adult in a society that, to Britain,
0:09:17 > 0:09:19was a free-thinking world of wonder.
0:09:19 > 0:09:23'These are the richest people in the world,
0:09:23 > 0:09:26'where everything and everyone works.
0:09:26 > 0:09:28'The only country in the world
0:09:28 > 0:09:32'where seven-year-olds attend lessons on sex.
0:09:32 > 0:09:34'This could only be Sweden.'
0:09:37 > 0:09:39It was also a time when the political
0:09:39 > 0:09:41and musical landscape was changing.
0:09:41 > 0:09:45As the young protested about war, much of the music scene
0:09:45 > 0:09:48joined in and rebelled against commercial pop,
0:09:48 > 0:09:51embracing so-called progressive folk, with a socialist message.
0:09:56 > 0:10:00But Bjorn Ulvaeus and his band, The Hootenanny Singers,
0:10:00 > 0:10:04remained firmly in the pop mainstream. They did catchy ballads
0:10:04 > 0:10:06in Swedish and English,
0:10:06 > 0:10:10influenced by American pop-folk acts of the mid '60s.
0:10:10 > 0:10:13The band had a huge following across Scandinavia.
0:10:13 > 0:10:16# ..Baby, those are the rules
0:10:16 > 0:10:19# Baby, those are the rules... #
0:10:19 > 0:10:22In the close-knit world of Swedish music,
0:10:22 > 0:10:25it was inevitable that Bjorn and Agnetha would meet.
0:10:27 > 0:10:31We did a TV show together and we had a duet together.
0:10:31 > 0:10:35THEY SING IN SWEDISH
0:10:39 > 0:10:46We sat and talked, and, er, then we could both feel something.
0:10:46 > 0:10:51So that was, that was, you know, a magical moment.
0:10:51 > 0:10:57And then the next day, when we shot a film, it was very cold outside,
0:10:57 > 0:11:04like it is in Sweden most of the time, and he said,
0:11:04 > 0:11:08"I can warm you up."
0:11:08 > 0:11:13"Yes, please," I said. So that is how it all started.
0:11:13 > 0:11:17That evening, I think, is when it actually happened.
0:11:17 > 0:11:22We fell in love. And then shortly after that, we were a couple.
0:11:25 > 0:11:28And in 1971, they were married.
0:11:28 > 0:11:30With both Agnetha and Bjorn
0:11:30 > 0:11:35already pop royalty in Sweden, the wedding was a public event.
0:11:35 > 0:11:38We did not get married here in Stockholm,
0:11:38 > 0:11:41it was down in the south of Sweden,
0:11:41 > 0:11:48we chose the place, so it was crowded, really. So that was a fantastic moment.
0:11:53 > 0:11:56Bjorn's best friend and songwriting partner Benny Andersson
0:11:56 > 0:11:59played the organ at the wedding. Since 1965,
0:11:59 > 0:12:02he'd been a teen idol as the keyboard player
0:12:02 > 0:12:04in the pop band Hep Stars.
0:12:04 > 0:12:07UPBEAT MUSIC
0:12:11 > 0:12:14Benny's fiancee, Anni-Frid, was also a singer.
0:12:14 > 0:12:16Anni-Frid Lyngstad!
0:12:16 > 0:12:20She'd won a national talent competition in 1967,
0:12:20 > 0:12:24which led to this early TV appearance.
0:12:24 > 0:12:28SHE SINGS IN SWEDISH
0:12:31 > 0:12:34The two couples, now seasoned pop professionals,
0:12:34 > 0:12:38would often go on holidays together and inevitably sing a few songs,
0:12:38 > 0:12:40but only for fun.
0:12:40 > 0:12:42There we were, the four of us,
0:12:42 > 0:12:47and not having a single thought about starting a group together.
0:12:47 > 0:12:50No, that was far from our minds!
0:12:51 > 0:12:55But the four did eventually hook up to combine their talents on,
0:12:55 > 0:12:58of all things, a cabaret tour.
0:12:58 > 0:13:01We had this terrible experience.
0:13:01 > 0:13:04We did a show together, the four of us.
0:13:04 > 0:13:09Absolutely the most stupidest idea ever.
0:13:09 > 0:13:14We did a show in Gothenburg and then we were called Fest-Folket.
0:13:16 > 0:13:19Fest-Folket, or Party People,
0:13:19 > 0:13:21with dull jokes and other people's songs,
0:13:21 > 0:13:24was an inauspicious beginning for the foursome.
0:13:24 > 0:13:27UPBEAT SINGING
0:13:37 > 0:13:41It was dreadful. Absolutely dreadful.
0:13:41 > 0:13:45But we had a little piece in the middle of that show
0:13:45 > 0:13:47where we played songs that we wrote.
0:13:47 > 0:13:51Benny and I had recorded a single together
0:13:51 > 0:13:53where the girls sang in the choruses.
0:13:55 > 0:13:59They sort of took over, because it sounded much better with them.
0:13:59 > 0:14:02And that hit, while we were on that tour with the cabaret act,
0:14:02 > 0:14:08that hit suddenly struck and we had a number one with that.
0:14:17 > 0:14:22If you listen to that, you would not hear the ABBA of the future.
0:14:22 > 0:14:26But despite this success, they all decided to continue to focus on
0:14:26 > 0:14:30their existing careers and Agnetha recorded her fourth solo album.
0:14:37 > 0:14:41Also, I did other things as well.
0:14:41 > 0:14:46I played, for example, Mary Magdalene in Jesus Christ Superstar.
0:14:46 > 0:14:51# Vart skall min karlek fora?
0:14:51 > 0:14:57# Sag, vad kan jag val gora? #
0:14:57 > 0:15:00But she made a record. She came out with a single
0:15:00 > 0:15:03of I Don't Know How To Love Him in Swedish.
0:15:03 > 0:15:04That was very good.
0:15:04 > 0:15:07You could tell from that record what a great singer she was.
0:15:13 > 0:15:17After Agnetha's four successful months in Jesus Christ Superstar,
0:15:17 > 0:15:21in the summer of '72, Bjorn and Benny had an audacious plan
0:15:21 > 0:15:24to leap from the backwater that was Scandinavia
0:15:24 > 0:15:26to the vast ocean of pop.
0:15:26 > 0:15:31Why don't we do a single in English? A pop song.
0:15:31 > 0:15:33That's what we should do.
0:15:33 > 0:15:36Why don't we do what we really like? Try to write pop songs.
0:15:36 > 0:15:39Maybe we should ask Frida and Agnetha to sing them.
0:15:39 > 0:15:42So that's what we did,
0:15:42 > 0:15:44with a song called People Need Love.
0:15:44 > 0:15:46# People need hope
0:15:46 > 0:15:48# People need loving
0:15:48 > 0:15:51# People need trust from a fellow man
0:15:51 > 0:15:54# People need love to make a good living
0:15:54 > 0:15:58# People need faith in a helping hand. #
0:15:58 > 0:16:00That became a hit, here.
0:16:00 > 0:16:03A little in Holland, a little in Germany,
0:16:03 > 0:16:06so we felt we were on the right track.
0:16:06 > 0:16:09Fest-Folket was no more - the group had now changed its name
0:16:09 > 0:16:14to the somewhat less catchy Bjorn & Benny, Agnetha & Anni-Frid.
0:16:14 > 0:16:19We had a big hit in Sweden and some other countries with Ring Ring.
0:16:19 > 0:16:23# I was sitting by the phone
0:16:23 > 0:16:26# I was waiting all alone. #
0:16:26 > 0:16:28After these home-grown hits,
0:16:28 > 0:16:32the group's manager Stig Anderson decided the way to get them noticed
0:16:32 > 0:16:34outside of Sweden was Eurovision,
0:16:34 > 0:16:38and Ring Ring was entered into the preliminary selection rounds.
0:16:38 > 0:16:40That's why we entered Eurovision.
0:16:40 > 0:16:44To make people outside Sweden aware there was a band from Sweden
0:16:44 > 0:16:47who could record some decent music.
0:16:47 > 0:16:50But then I was highly pregnant.
0:16:50 > 0:16:53# And I don't know what to do... #
0:16:53 > 0:16:56'73, so we got our daughter then.
0:16:56 > 0:16:59Linda was born that February,
0:16:59 > 0:17:02just when her parents' group were on the brink of success.
0:17:02 > 0:17:08So everything happened for me between 20 and 30 years.
0:17:08 > 0:17:10But luckily for young mother Agnetha,
0:17:10 > 0:17:14the song didn't get selected and she had a well-earned rest.
0:17:14 > 0:17:17Meanwhile, the boys plotted the group's entry
0:17:17 > 0:17:19for the following year's Eurovision.
0:17:19 > 0:17:23Rechristened ABBA, they had a killer look and killer material.
0:17:23 > 0:17:27We had a song that wasn't the usual Eurovision stuff.
0:17:27 > 0:17:32Waterloo by ABBA for Sweden. Watch this one.
0:17:32 > 0:17:34After years of hard graft in the school of pop,
0:17:34 > 0:17:36ABBA were about to graduate.
0:17:36 > 0:17:38# My, my
0:17:38 > 0:17:43# At Waterloo, Napoleon did surrender... #
0:17:43 > 0:17:47From a show that's always been not really taken seriously,
0:17:47 > 0:17:50when that song came on, I think it took the whole show
0:17:50 > 0:17:54and the expectation of the songs in the show,
0:17:54 > 0:17:55to a whole new level.
0:17:55 > 0:18:00# Waterloo, I was defeated You won the war
0:18:01 > 0:18:05# Waterloo, promised to love you for evermore... #
0:18:08 > 0:18:13I had a funny star-shaped guitar. People would remember us, I thought.
0:18:15 > 0:18:17They dressed up in their funny outfits,
0:18:17 > 0:18:21but in 1974 they didn't seem quite so funny as they might now.
0:18:23 > 0:18:27No, but they were tight. They were really tight!
0:18:28 > 0:18:34I don't think any one of us thought that we would win the competition.
0:18:34 > 0:18:37Well, I bet 100 quid on it.
0:18:37 > 0:18:41I did. I think I had like 12 times the money or something.
0:18:41 > 0:18:45Of course I thought maybe we were going to be number three.
0:18:48 > 0:18:50APPLAUSE
0:18:50 > 0:18:53How about that for an onstage performance?
0:18:53 > 0:18:57Sweden, they've never won it, but they've surely got to be amongst the reckoning with that one.
0:18:57 > 0:19:02But of course they DID win and our love affair with them began.
0:19:04 > 0:19:07That was a great moment, really.
0:19:10 > 0:19:14I think it was pretty obvious it was the best song and the best performance.
0:19:14 > 0:19:16I think we reacted quite well to it.
0:19:16 > 0:19:18They came out and performed the song on Top Of The Pops
0:19:18 > 0:19:21and I think we really warmed to them
0:19:21 > 0:19:23and took them to our hearts, really.
0:19:23 > 0:19:26We took them to our hearts because ABBA fitted exactly into
0:19:26 > 0:19:28what was going on in Britain at the time.
0:19:28 > 0:19:32MUSIC: "20th Century Boy" by T Rex
0:19:32 > 0:19:36The Sweet, T-Rex, sequins and sex. In other words, ABBA was glam.
0:19:38 > 0:19:42They're ABBA, and their song that everyone wants to hear at the moment
0:19:42 > 0:19:43is at number one.
0:19:43 > 0:19:45# If you change your mind
0:19:45 > 0:19:47# I'm the first in line
0:19:47 > 0:19:50# Honey, I'm still free
0:19:50 > 0:19:51# Take a chance on me... #
0:19:51 > 0:19:55ABBA were an instant hit in the UK, but not everyone loved them.
0:19:55 > 0:19:58It's a bit like The Bee Gees, who were also brilliant.
0:19:58 > 0:20:04The intellectual side of the pop business took quite a while to accept them.
0:20:04 > 0:20:06# I've been cheated by you
0:20:06 > 0:20:08# Since I don't know when... #
0:20:08 > 0:20:11It was almost like Benny and Bjorn,
0:20:11 > 0:20:16the hook could never be big enough. Just as we've got it enormous,
0:20:16 > 0:20:18let's add another level.
0:20:18 > 0:20:22It's like they were never satisfied with how big this thing could be.
0:20:22 > 0:20:24# Knowing me, knowing you
0:20:24 > 0:20:26# A-ha
0:20:26 > 0:20:28# There is nothing we can do
0:20:28 > 0:20:31# Knowing me, knowing you
0:20:31 > 0:20:33# A-ha... #
0:20:33 > 0:20:35Knowing me, Knowing You was the first of
0:20:35 > 0:20:38what would become ABBA's trademark, the break-up song,
0:20:38 > 0:20:42wrapped in glossy production with videos that presented the group
0:20:42 > 0:20:44as an unfolding drama.
0:20:44 > 0:20:49Even when the lyrics are negative, it's actually a very positive sound.
0:20:49 > 0:20:53Pop music really at its best.
0:20:53 > 0:20:55# Knowing me, knowing you
0:20:55 > 0:20:57# A-ha
0:20:57 > 0:20:59# There is nothing we can do
0:20:59 > 0:21:02# Knowing me, knowing you... #
0:21:02 > 0:21:04Despite her early success with her own songs,
0:21:04 > 0:21:08Agnetha left the songwriting duties in ABBA to Bjorn and Benny.
0:21:08 > 0:21:11All through our time with ABBA, Benny and I wanted Agnetha
0:21:11 > 0:21:13to write much more than she did.
0:21:13 > 0:21:17Like the first two albums, she wrote a song for each album.
0:21:17 > 0:21:21I did one song. It's called Disillusion.
0:21:21 > 0:21:24# Changing, moving
0:21:24 > 0:21:28# In a circle... #
0:21:28 > 0:21:31She has written so many fantastic songs
0:21:31 > 0:21:36and we wanted her, "Please, why don't you come up with a couple of songs for this album?"
0:21:36 > 0:21:39Maybe she felt intimidated by us.
0:21:39 > 0:21:43There was a time when I felt, "How can I compose with these guys,"
0:21:43 > 0:21:47so I felt I had to take a step back.
0:21:47 > 0:21:51But they were always wanting me to compose,
0:21:51 > 0:21:56but I felt that they are not good enough, you know?
0:21:58 > 0:22:02Benny and Bjorn may have written the hits, but it was Agnetha's
0:22:02 > 0:22:05delivery of them that made her contribution to ABBA clear.
0:22:05 > 0:22:09# Cos you know I've got so much that I wanna do
0:22:09 > 0:22:11# When I dream I'm alone with you
0:22:11 > 0:22:13# It's magic! #
0:22:13 > 0:22:16It's really all about the lead vocal
0:22:16 > 0:22:19You can put great drums, guitarists, whatever,
0:22:19 > 0:22:21but if that lead vocal isn't amazing,
0:22:21 > 0:22:23it just doesn't connect with people.
0:22:23 > 0:22:27So that sound that I've heard all my life,
0:22:27 > 0:22:29that we've heard on the radio all our lives,
0:22:29 > 0:22:33the sound of three or four generations, really,
0:22:33 > 0:22:37that's how important her voice was to those records.
0:22:37 > 0:22:42# Where are those happy days, they seem so hard to find? #
0:22:42 > 0:22:49Very emotional. She's amazing in interpreting emotions.
0:22:49 > 0:22:53# Whatever happened to our love?
0:22:53 > 0:22:56# I wish I understood
0:22:56 > 0:22:59# It used to be so nice
0:22:59 > 0:23:01# It used to be so good... #
0:23:01 > 0:23:06It's like a film role. It's just that.
0:23:06 > 0:23:10At the moment you sing, it's nothing else.
0:23:10 > 0:23:12It's just like being in a bubble.
0:23:12 > 0:23:14# When you're gone
0:23:14 > 0:23:18# How can I even try to go on? #
0:23:18 > 0:23:21I'm a very much feeling person,
0:23:21 > 0:23:28so I try to put everything in the song at the time.
0:23:28 > 0:23:31The lead vocal duties were split pretty evenly between Agnetha
0:23:31 > 0:23:35and Frida, but each had their own unique style.
0:23:35 > 0:23:39Mine maybe stood out as well because I had the highest.
0:23:39 > 0:23:43There might have been songs that we had
0:23:43 > 0:23:46one of them in mind when writing it.
0:23:46 > 0:23:48That was the boys' choice.
0:23:48 > 0:23:51So they really knew that before,
0:23:51 > 0:23:55that this is a song for you and this is a song for Frida.
0:23:55 > 0:24:00But mostly, it was a matter of, you know,
0:24:00 > 0:24:04"Agnetha has got two songs now. It's my turn, isn't it?"
0:24:04 > 0:24:08# Can you hear the drums, Fernando?
0:24:08 > 0:24:14# I remember long ago another starry night like this... #
0:24:14 > 0:24:17It has been so much written that we were not friends
0:24:17 > 0:24:21and of course there were a lot of irritations,
0:24:21 > 0:24:25because we were tired, but we also helped each other.
0:24:25 > 0:24:28The good thing is when they were singing together.
0:24:28 > 0:24:31# Voulez-vous
0:24:31 > 0:24:33# Take it now or leave it
0:24:33 > 0:24:35# Now is all we get
0:24:35 > 0:24:38# Nothing promised, no regrets. #
0:24:38 > 0:24:43When you put these two voices together, you reach a lot.
0:24:43 > 0:24:49# Voulez-vous! #
0:24:49 > 0:24:52They were great singing together, but they were also
0:24:52 > 0:24:55contrasting voices and contrasting images.
0:24:59 > 0:25:02That's so much part of the secret.
0:25:02 > 0:25:07Why ABBA is still here today. Why I am being interviewed by you today.
0:25:14 > 0:25:17When we recorded Dancing Queen,
0:25:17 > 0:25:20both Frida and I could feel something very, very special,
0:25:20 > 0:25:26because we had the goosebumps, and we said, "This is strong."
0:25:26 > 0:25:30# Baby, baby, you're out of sight
0:25:30 > 0:25:35# Hey, you're looking all right tonight
0:25:35 > 0:25:37# When you come to the party
0:25:37 > 0:25:39# Listen to the guys
0:25:39 > 0:25:44# They got the look in their eyes. #
0:25:44 > 0:25:47What I'd like you to do really is just ask you
0:25:47 > 0:25:50to publicly tell us your favourite ABBA tunes.
0:25:50 > 0:25:53I would like to choose Dancing Queen.
0:25:53 > 0:25:56I remember recording that backing track.
0:25:56 > 0:25:59I really felt something very strongly for it.
0:26:06 > 0:26:11We just pushed everything the best we could.
0:26:11 > 0:26:15I think that we got a lot of energy from each other.
0:26:18 > 0:26:22We had a funny time there, really building it all up.
0:26:22 > 0:26:27I really enjoy being in the studio so for me, there was...
0:26:27 > 0:26:30There was not working, just fun, I think.
0:26:30 > 0:26:34We all started to know where are the limits, how far can we go,
0:26:34 > 0:26:37how high can you sing, how low can you sing?
0:26:37 > 0:26:40Where can we put this so it sounds at its best.
0:26:40 > 0:26:42# See that girl
0:26:42 > 0:26:44# Watch that scene
0:26:44 > 0:26:47# Digging the dancing queen. #
0:26:47 > 0:26:51It sounds effortless when you listen to a piece of ABBA's music,
0:26:51 > 0:26:54but actually it's very complex what's going on in there.
0:26:54 > 0:26:58As a singer, I particularly always avoid ABBA songs,
0:26:58 > 0:27:01because they're actually so hard to sing.
0:27:01 > 0:27:05With Dancing Queen, ABBA surfed the wave of disco fever
0:27:05 > 0:27:08that would soon engulf the world in the late '70s.
0:27:08 > 0:27:11It was number one in nine countries in 1976
0:27:11 > 0:27:15and the album Arrival saw them reach their peak of commercial success.
0:27:15 > 0:27:18They produced hit after hit after hit.
0:27:18 > 0:27:20# Money, money, money... #
0:27:20 > 0:27:25By the next year it seemed the whole world had gone ABBA mad,
0:27:25 > 0:27:29particularly in Australia where they seemed to mirror what the country
0:27:29 > 0:27:34thought of itself - optimistic, beautiful, yet conservative.
0:27:34 > 0:27:36They've always dressed nicely.
0:27:36 > 0:27:38I like the clean-cut beat of the music.
0:27:40 > 0:27:42The ABBAmania storm was gathering
0:27:42 > 0:27:45and Agnetha was caught in the middle of it.
0:27:45 > 0:27:47You didn't expect that we were that big
0:27:47 > 0:27:51and so many people should be there.
0:27:54 > 0:27:58It was a big "What?" when we came there.
0:28:01 > 0:28:04It affects you when it gets too much.
0:28:04 > 0:28:09I could feel that when we were in Australia sometimes.
0:28:09 > 0:28:13It was really a fever.
0:28:18 > 0:28:21And going into the concerts when we drove other cars,
0:28:21 > 0:28:25people were just throwing themselves on the car
0:28:25 > 0:28:29and there were small kids being there.
0:28:29 > 0:28:33We were so scared that one car would drive over someone.
0:28:33 > 0:28:36There was tense moments.
0:28:39 > 0:28:43So many people aiming at you, focusing on you,
0:28:43 > 0:28:45what you say, where you go.
0:28:45 > 0:28:47The crowds may have been scary,
0:28:47 > 0:28:51but it was the stage itself that frightened Agnetha the most.
0:28:51 > 0:28:55More at home in the studio, she was never a natural performer.
0:28:55 > 0:28:59Frida was more at home on stage than Agnetha was.
0:28:59 > 0:29:02She wasn't quite relaxed. She was kind of frightened
0:29:02 > 0:29:05to go on stage every now and then.
0:29:05 > 0:29:08I had some difficulties going on stage
0:29:08 > 0:29:12because I think you're very focused, very nervous.
0:29:12 > 0:29:14I wasn't too keen on being on stage myself,
0:29:14 > 0:29:17so I completely understand her.
0:29:17 > 0:29:21The time before, it's a bit scary, I think.
0:29:22 > 0:29:27I can remember the feeling of the crowd shouting
0:29:27 > 0:29:31and the girls going on stage in their gold capes.
0:29:32 > 0:29:35If she might have been frightened going on stage,
0:29:35 > 0:29:38once she was there, there was all this warmth,
0:29:38 > 0:29:42all this fantastic response coming from the audience.
0:29:42 > 0:29:43That makes you forget.
0:29:43 > 0:29:47# The city is a nightmare A horrible dream. #
0:29:47 > 0:29:51I enjoyed it, being on the stage, after,
0:29:51 > 0:29:53maybe, half an hour or something like that.
0:29:53 > 0:29:55# And try not to scream. #
0:29:55 > 0:29:57'She's very good at understatement, which is something'
0:29:57 > 0:30:03that I always like in an artist. She doesn't, sort of, go berserk.
0:30:03 > 0:30:06So, a little movement from Agnetha is often worth a bigger gesture
0:30:06 > 0:30:09from another sort of artist.
0:30:09 > 0:30:11# I could never let you go. #
0:30:18 > 0:30:21I was perfectly happy sitting by the piano just playing along
0:30:21 > 0:30:25and letting the women do the work, which they actually did.
0:30:25 > 0:30:29# You are the dancing queen
0:30:29 > 0:30:32# Young and sweet, only 17. #
0:30:34 > 0:30:36'They were the face.'
0:30:36 > 0:30:40We were just... We were just there playing along, Bjorn and I.
0:30:40 > 0:30:43It was never obvious to the audience what a reluctant star
0:30:43 > 0:30:47Agnetha was, but she often got more attention for her looks.
0:30:47 > 0:30:49# I'm sexy and I know it. #
0:30:52 > 0:30:55I think Agnetha was always thought of as a sex symbol
0:30:55 > 0:30:57by, certainly, all ABBA fans.
0:30:57 > 0:30:59# I'm sexy and I know it. #
0:30:59 > 0:31:02She was the main eye candy of the band.
0:31:02 > 0:31:05# Girl, look at the body # Girl, look at the body. #
0:31:05 > 0:31:09In Sweden, all the men thought she was a very sexy girl.
0:31:10 > 0:31:12I think a lot of men dreamt about her.
0:31:12 > 0:31:14The world was thinking it,
0:31:14 > 0:31:17but it took the brash Australians to come out with it.
0:31:17 > 0:31:21I read somewhere that you are the proud owner of an award
0:31:21 > 0:31:24which declares you as the lady with the most sexiest bottom.
0:31:24 > 0:31:27LAUGHTER
0:31:27 > 0:31:29Is that true?
0:31:29 > 0:31:33How can I answer to that?! I don't know! I haven't seen it.
0:31:33 > 0:31:35LAUGHTER
0:31:35 > 0:31:37# I'm sexy and I know it. #
0:31:37 > 0:31:39To start with, I wasn't so much aware of it,
0:31:39 > 0:31:44but then, when the papers said something, we joked about it a lot.
0:31:44 > 0:31:47- "Agnetha's Bottom Tops Show". - Oh, my God.
0:31:47 > 0:31:50Don't they have bottoms in Australia?
0:31:50 > 0:31:54At least I did something for the show, didn't I?
0:31:54 > 0:31:59And then I thought, maybe I can take advantage of this
0:31:59 > 0:32:01and just play a little, you know!
0:32:01 > 0:32:03# Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle Wiggle, wiggle, yeah
0:32:03 > 0:32:06# Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle Wiggle, wiggle, yeah. #
0:32:06 > 0:32:08As far as I know, she was never really trying to be sexy.
0:32:08 > 0:32:10She was just sexy.
0:32:10 > 0:32:13But offstage, the relentless touring schedule
0:32:13 > 0:32:17was taking its toll on Agnetha and when new baby Christian arrived,
0:32:17 > 0:32:20she wanted to start spending more time at home.
0:32:20 > 0:32:25I had my little daughter at home and then my two children,
0:32:25 > 0:32:30so I felt often that I want to spend my life with them.
0:32:30 > 0:32:33# The feeling that I'm losing her... #
0:32:33 > 0:32:41At the time, you know, I might have...been irritated sometimes,
0:32:41 > 0:32:43if we could do more things than we actually did.
0:32:43 > 0:32:47# Slip though my fingers all the time... #
0:32:47 > 0:32:53To be together with your child, compare that to doing promotion
0:32:53 > 0:32:59in Stuttgart. Ugh! In retrospect, what is the best?
0:32:59 > 0:33:00It's easy, isn't it?
0:33:00 > 0:33:06In October 1978, Benny and Frida were finally married,
0:33:06 > 0:33:08nearly ten years after they first met.
0:33:08 > 0:33:11But a few months later, it was announced
0:33:11 > 0:33:14that Agnetha and Bjorn would be ending their ten-year marriage.
0:33:16 > 0:33:19That was some hard times, really.
0:33:19 > 0:33:24There was endless speculation in the press, as to what caused the split.
0:33:24 > 0:33:27The fact that we were separating was ever so much worse
0:33:27 > 0:33:31than what the press wrote... you know?
0:33:31 > 0:33:33That's the way we saw it.
0:33:33 > 0:33:37But there are always some kind of rumours and things going on
0:33:37 > 0:33:40that it doesn't feel so good.
0:33:40 > 0:33:43Despite the rift between the couple,
0:33:43 > 0:33:45it was decided that ABBA should continue,
0:33:45 > 0:33:48as they were just hitting it big in America.
0:33:48 > 0:33:50I've waited my entire life to see this group.
0:33:50 > 0:33:52The day I heard Waterloo, I totally flipped out.
0:33:52 > 0:33:57# Voulez-vous Take it now or leave it
0:33:57 > 0:33:59# Now is all we get
0:33:59 > 0:34:03# Nothing promised, no regrets. #
0:34:03 > 0:34:06But the huge 1979 world tour
0:34:06 > 0:34:10proved to be a miserable one for Agnetha, who had to hide the pain
0:34:10 > 0:34:13in her personal life and keep smiling on stage.
0:34:13 > 0:34:20They grabbed something from the backbone to use and to make it
0:34:20 > 0:34:22a professional performance, anyway.
0:34:22 > 0:34:26One bright spot on the tour was when Agnetha and Bjorn's
0:34:26 > 0:34:30then six-year-old daughter Linda joined them on stage in Las Vegas
0:34:30 > 0:34:31for her singing debut.
0:34:31 > 0:34:35# I believe in angels
0:34:35 > 0:34:40# When I know the time is right for me.
0:34:40 > 0:34:44The next year, Bjorn presented a song to the group that everyone
0:34:44 > 0:34:46assumes was about their divorce.
0:34:48 > 0:34:52The break-up song, that ABBA had long made their own, had come true
0:34:52 > 0:34:55and life had become art. Or was it vice versa?
0:34:55 > 0:35:00I presented the lyric and everyone was, sort of,
0:35:00 > 0:35:02slightly teary-eyed.
0:35:02 > 0:35:04It was very moving.
0:35:04 > 0:35:08It was a challenge for me, at the same time, to do this,
0:35:08 > 0:35:10because it was so real.
0:35:10 > 0:35:16And then she started singing and, my God, that was magic.
0:35:16 > 0:35:18So fantastic.
0:35:18 > 0:35:21# I don't wanna talk
0:35:21 > 0:35:25# About things we've gone through
0:35:25 > 0:35:28# Though it's hurting me
0:35:28 > 0:35:32# Now, it's history
0:35:32 > 0:35:37# I've played all my cards
0:35:37 > 0:35:40# And that's what you've done, too
0:35:40 > 0:35:44# Nothing more to say
0:35:44 > 0:35:49# No more ace to play
0:35:49 > 0:35:52# The winner takes it all
0:35:52 > 0:35:56# The loser standing small. #
0:35:56 > 0:35:59'It's not like the winner takes it all.'
0:35:59 > 0:36:01That's not how it happens.
0:36:02 > 0:36:07In a situation like that, I think everyone's a loser.
0:36:07 > 0:36:11There was not one winner, in the case of us.
0:36:12 > 0:36:16So, it's...pure fiction.
0:36:16 > 0:36:19You don't know what he was writing about.
0:36:19 > 0:36:22WHO was he writing about?
0:36:22 > 0:36:27It could be 50% from him and 50% from me, the lyrics,
0:36:27 > 0:36:29I mean, what it's all about.
0:36:29 > 0:36:33- # The winner takes it all - Takes it all
0:36:33 > 0:36:37- # The loser has to fall - Has to fall
0:36:37 > 0:36:44# It's simple and it's plain Why should I complain? #
0:36:44 > 0:36:50But going through a divorce is difficult,
0:36:50 > 0:36:53as anyone would know, who has done it.
0:36:53 > 0:37:00And...it makes you think about... It's like a failure.
0:37:00 > 0:37:04It's... Yeah, it's difficult
0:37:04 > 0:37:11and...maybe that was one way of getting it out of my system.
0:37:11 > 0:37:17It was like, you know, to write a lyric like that
0:37:17 > 0:37:21and have her sing it, it was like, you know, cleansing in a way.
0:37:21 > 0:37:26We got it out, in a big way!
0:37:27 > 0:37:29# I don't wanna talk
0:37:31 > 0:37:34# If it makes you feel sad
0:37:35 > 0:37:37# And I understand
0:37:38 > 0:37:41# You've come to shake my hand
0:37:43 > 0:37:45# I apologise
0:37:46 > 0:37:50# If it makes you feel bad
0:37:50 > 0:37:52# Seeing me so tense
0:37:54 > 0:37:56# No self-confidence
0:37:56 > 0:37:58# But you see
0:37:58 > 0:38:02# The winner takes it all. #
0:38:02 > 0:38:05It was powerful, you know.
0:38:05 > 0:38:08It's a good song. One of our best, I think.
0:38:08 > 0:38:13Sometimes, it happens, when I have bad self-confidence
0:38:13 > 0:38:15that I put on The Winner Takes It All
0:38:15 > 0:38:19or something else that we are very proud of.
0:38:19 > 0:38:25And I can think that, "This is really something.
0:38:25 > 0:38:27"I did this, at least!"
0:38:27 > 0:38:32In 1981, Benny and Frida were divorced, too,
0:38:32 > 0:38:34after just two and a half years of marriage,
0:38:34 > 0:38:36but again, the group continued
0:38:36 > 0:38:38and were determined not to let the cracks show in public.
0:38:38 > 0:38:40That's the way it is.
0:38:42 > 0:38:45But when Abba went into the studio to record what would be
0:38:45 > 0:38:47their last album, The Visitors,
0:38:47 > 0:38:50everyone felt that the spark had gone.
0:38:50 > 0:38:53It suddenly had got a bit heavy.
0:38:53 > 0:38:57Too... It was not so fun any more to record
0:38:57 > 0:39:02and there was something in the atmosphere that didn't feel good.
0:39:02 > 0:39:05Rumours started to circulate in the press that ABBA were about
0:39:05 > 0:39:08to call it a day, but the group were saying nothing.
0:39:08 > 0:39:11The papers recently have been full of stories that you're going
0:39:11 > 0:39:16- to split eventually.- We're not. - You're not?- No.
0:39:16 > 0:39:19They're obviously relieved to hear it.
0:39:19 > 0:39:21I was going to ask you who would make the decision?
0:39:21 > 0:39:25- Would it be a joint decision? - It would, yes.
0:39:25 > 0:39:26It was gradual.
0:39:27 > 0:39:30And it began that year, '82.
0:39:32 > 0:39:36We felt that we're not having as much fun any more.
0:39:36 > 0:39:38- ABBA! - CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:39:38 > 0:39:43Just a month later, ABBA were back on Noel's Late Late Breakfast Show,
0:39:43 > 0:39:47performing on what would be their last-ever TV appearance.
0:39:47 > 0:39:51# Don't know how to take it Don't know where to go. #
0:39:51 > 0:39:54There was never any formal announcement of a split.
0:39:54 > 0:39:56Agnetha, Bjorn, Benny and Frida
0:39:56 > 0:39:58just quietly went their separate ways.
0:40:00 > 0:40:01CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:40:01 > 0:40:06So, it just stopped very natural.
0:40:06 > 0:40:12Fantastic, the way we organically, sort of, came together
0:40:12 > 0:40:17gradually and then it happened. And then, it stopped.
0:40:17 > 0:40:19Just the way it should be.
0:40:19 > 0:40:23We were very, very tired after the ABBA years.
0:40:23 > 0:40:29And we just felt, I think, all of us, but at least Frida and me,
0:40:29 > 0:40:32was just...we didn't want to hear the music no more.
0:40:32 > 0:40:38In 1983, Agnetha started considering her post-ABBA career.
0:40:38 > 0:40:42Once you are in the music business, it's hard to get away from it,
0:40:42 > 0:40:46because it's so fun when you record, I think.
0:40:46 > 0:40:51So, I started to aim for doing another record by myself.
0:40:51 > 0:40:54# Temperature is rising to fever pitch
0:40:54 > 0:40:56# Sun is getting closer We all get to reach
0:40:56 > 0:40:59- # Cos the heat is on - The heat is on
0:40:59 > 0:41:02# The heat is on. #
0:41:02 > 0:41:06Agnetha Faltskog, a quarter of ABBA, The Heat Is On.
0:41:06 > 0:41:08- Welcome to Britain. - Thank you very much.
0:41:08 > 0:41:12You're here to promote the record and there's an album coming out
0:41:12 > 0:41:15- later in the month, called...? - The album comes the last of May
0:41:15 > 0:41:19- and it's called Wrap Your Arms Around Me.- I might!
0:41:19 > 0:41:24The album was a hit in Europe, selling over two million copies
0:41:24 > 0:41:28and the single, The Heat Is On, made the Top 40 in Britain.
0:41:28 > 0:41:31Agnetha did two more solo albums in English
0:41:31 > 0:41:34but neither made an impact in the UK.
0:41:34 > 0:41:40# If it's the last time Let me wrap my love around you. #
0:41:40 > 0:41:43It may be a naive question, but with all the success,
0:41:43 > 0:41:48the enormous money that ABBA made and all the rest of it,
0:41:48 > 0:41:51one would have imagined that you would have bought yourself
0:41:51 > 0:41:54- the little house on the fjord and... - Well, I have.- You have?
0:41:54 > 0:41:58Yeah. But anyway, it hasn't got to do with the money,
0:41:58 > 0:42:05because if you have something inside, it, well, it's there and it's nice
0:42:05 > 0:42:10to do something. And when a challenge comes up,
0:42:10 > 0:42:11it's nice to do it.
0:42:11 > 0:42:14Despite her pre-ABBA success as a songwriter,
0:42:14 > 0:42:18Agnetha only wrote two songs over these three albums.
0:42:18 > 0:42:21You get spoiled having good songs to sing. All of a sudden,
0:42:21 > 0:42:23you have almost good songs to sing.
0:42:23 > 0:42:27There are some songs here and there that I can think,
0:42:27 > 0:42:30"Why did we do this one?"
0:42:30 > 0:42:33But you don't think that way when you're in it.
0:42:35 > 0:42:38Even though the albums had been hits in Sweden
0:42:38 > 0:42:41and elsewhere in Europe, after 20 years in the limelight,
0:42:41 > 0:42:44Agnetha decided to retreat to her island home
0:42:44 > 0:42:45just outside of Stockholm.
0:42:45 > 0:42:49I thought I have to have a little break now.
0:42:49 > 0:42:55I had done so much. I want to be with my children
0:42:55 > 0:43:00and in my home and with the horses and with my dogs.
0:43:00 > 0:43:05So, there was some years I didn't do so much.
0:43:05 > 0:43:08For an artist, particularly those who have been
0:43:08 > 0:43:11in an incredible spotlight, they have a moment when they want
0:43:11 > 0:43:14to get away and just don't want to do anything. I can fully sympathise.
0:43:14 > 0:43:17She had had enough and she wanted a normal life.
0:43:17 > 0:43:22But the media weren't content to let Agnetha have her privacy
0:43:22 > 0:43:26and, in the absence of any news about her, they simply made it up.
0:43:27 > 0:43:31I have read so many things about myself that really are not true.
0:43:31 > 0:43:36It makes you sad. It's hard to take.
0:43:37 > 0:43:40They need to write about people.
0:43:40 > 0:43:42The more you are not seen,
0:43:42 > 0:43:43the more you get away,
0:43:43 > 0:43:46the more interesting, maybe, you are.
0:43:46 > 0:43:50But that was never my meaning of this,
0:43:50 > 0:43:53so it just worked that way for me.
0:43:53 > 0:43:56The media has tried to create something about Agnetha,
0:43:56 > 0:44:01sort of, being a Greta Garbo-type of person,
0:44:01 > 0:44:04hiding away from everything, which is totally bullshit.
0:44:04 > 0:44:10One time, she couldn't go out and the media made her Greta Garbo,
0:44:10 > 0:44:12but she's not. She just wanted to be alone.
0:44:12 > 0:44:15# So, when you're near me, darling
0:44:15 > 0:44:18# Can't you hear me SOS? #
0:44:18 > 0:44:20Agnetha's self-imposed period of exile
0:44:20 > 0:44:23in the '90s coincided with a resurgence of interest
0:44:23 > 0:44:26in ABBA's music.
0:44:26 > 0:44:30'I was very glad in the '90s when it suddenly became cool to like ABBA
0:44:30 > 0:44:34'and all those people cottoned on to it and jumped on the bandwagon.'
0:44:34 > 0:44:36I always liked them!
0:44:36 > 0:44:40The real revival, in a way, came with Mamma Mia!
0:44:41 > 0:44:46Which brought their music to a huge new level.
0:44:46 > 0:44:48But when Agnetha failed to attend
0:44:48 > 0:44:51the London premiere of Mamma Mia! in 1999,
0:44:51 > 0:44:55the press again labelled her a recluse.
0:44:55 > 0:44:58If Benny doesn't want to go to something he says,
0:44:58 > 0:45:00"No, thank you," and don't.
0:45:00 > 0:45:03But as soon as she doesn't, it's a big rumble.
0:45:05 > 0:45:07I lost my parents as well,
0:45:07 > 0:45:12so I got into...erm...
0:45:12 > 0:45:17a little sort of, say, deep period.
0:45:17 > 0:45:20Around this vulnerable time
0:45:20 > 0:45:24an obsessive Dutch fan found his way into Agnetha's life,
0:45:24 > 0:45:28stirring the tabloids into a frenzy of speculation.
0:45:28 > 0:45:30It makes you sad
0:45:30 > 0:45:32and it's hard to take.
0:45:32 > 0:45:34It's always, like, a shock,
0:45:34 > 0:45:39when you see your name in the tabloids
0:45:39 > 0:45:43with dark letters, big.
0:45:43 > 0:45:48In reflective mood in 2003, Agnetha recorded My Colouring Book,
0:45:48 > 0:45:50a collection of melancholy cover songs
0:45:50 > 0:45:52remembered from her adolescence.
0:45:52 > 0:45:59# I would bring you flowers in the morning
0:45:59 > 0:46:04# Wild roses when the sun begins to shine... #
0:46:04 > 0:46:07'After a while I felt, maybe after some years,'
0:46:07 > 0:46:11that this is maybe a little heavy, in a way.
0:46:11 > 0:46:14But maybe that was the way I felt.
0:46:14 > 0:46:19But I still think it's a very good album.
0:46:19 > 0:46:22Although the record was critically acclaimed,
0:46:22 > 0:46:24Agnetha effectively retired from music
0:46:24 > 0:46:26and didn't intend to record again.
0:46:26 > 0:46:28Then the years moved on.
0:46:28 > 0:46:34But, I mean, it's happening so much in your private life sometimes,
0:46:34 > 0:46:37so then I'm not thinking of working.
0:46:39 > 0:46:42# Crazy! #
0:46:42 > 0:46:44Then the man who wrote this...
0:46:44 > 0:46:46# You drive me crazy... #
0:46:46 > 0:46:48..and the man who arranged this...
0:46:48 > 0:46:52# Y hoy que ya no estas aqui
0:46:52 > 0:46:55# Que se lo mucho que perdi... #
0:46:55 > 0:46:59..were looking for a new project to work on together in 2011.
0:46:59 > 0:47:03We actually had the same dream - to work with Agnetha.
0:47:03 > 0:47:06Agnetha Faltskog, yeah. We've got to do that.
0:47:06 > 0:47:09And at the same time I felt, "Oh, no, that's mission impossible."
0:47:09 > 0:47:14A friend of ours called me and she said that these guys,
0:47:14 > 0:47:16which I'd heard of,
0:47:16 > 0:47:20want to meet you and play you some songs.
0:47:20 > 0:47:25And I thought, well... I'll give it a listen,
0:47:25 > 0:47:27because I haven't closed any doors.
0:47:27 > 0:47:30And she got back, and, yeah, she's open for it
0:47:30 > 0:47:33and I think maybe she's interested in doing something again.
0:47:33 > 0:47:37But you can't see her now because she just bought a dog, a puppy.
0:47:37 > 0:47:40And this was May, like two years ago,
0:47:40 > 0:47:43so we had to wait, like, three months to see her.
0:47:43 > 0:47:46When Jorgen and Peter finally did
0:47:46 > 0:47:49get to talk about their project with Agnetha,
0:47:49 > 0:47:50they came well prepared.
0:47:50 > 0:47:51We really wanted to get to know her.
0:47:51 > 0:47:55We talked a lot about music, but, you know, life in general and stuff.
0:47:55 > 0:47:57And then she suddenly said, you know,
0:47:57 > 0:48:00"Well, aren't we going to hear some music?"
0:48:00 > 0:48:03And then I sort of just, "Well, I've got the CD here, so..."
0:48:03 > 0:48:05They played me three songs
0:48:05 > 0:48:12and after that I felt that I can't say no to this, I have to do this.
0:48:12 > 0:48:16The sessions began at Jorgen's home studio towards the end of 2011,
0:48:16 > 0:48:20but as Agnetha hadn't sung for nearly a decade
0:48:20 > 0:48:22nobody was sure how she'd sound.
0:48:22 > 0:48:28If my voice sounds old, I don't want to do it.
0:48:28 > 0:48:30And of course we said, "You know, if you don't have it
0:48:30 > 0:48:33"and your voice sounds old, we don't want to do it either!"
0:48:33 > 0:48:35Because we felt that
0:48:35 > 0:48:38we don't want to make an album with Agnetha Faltskog
0:48:38 > 0:48:41only because she's Agnetha Faltskog.
0:48:41 > 0:48:45THEY SPEAK IN SWEDISH
0:48:52 > 0:48:56# Everything I ever had
0:48:56 > 0:48:59# I let it slip away... #
0:48:59 > 0:49:03Agnetha said, you know, she came out in the kitchen
0:49:03 > 0:49:06and my wife asked her, "So, how did it go?" "It was terrible!"
0:49:06 > 0:49:08And then I came in. "It was great!"
0:49:08 > 0:49:11So we were quite far away from each other,
0:49:11 > 0:49:14but I just knew it was going to be fantastic.
0:49:14 > 0:49:17A bit tense.
0:49:17 > 0:49:21But also very, very nice to sing again.
0:49:21 > 0:49:24THEY SPEAK IN SWEDISH
0:49:24 > 0:49:27She needed a little work, along the way,
0:49:27 > 0:49:29sort of to get her muscles going
0:49:29 > 0:49:32and we helped her a bit with that as well.
0:49:32 > 0:49:39So that's why I decided I have to take some singing lessons just to...
0:49:39 > 0:49:43To remind myself how I'm going to do this.
0:49:43 > 0:49:47I asked her to pick the song you gravitate most towards
0:49:47 > 0:49:49and let's try that one.
0:49:53 > 0:49:57# Everything I ever had
0:49:57 > 0:50:00# I let it slip away
0:50:00 > 0:50:03# Every dream I ever dreamed
0:50:03 > 0:50:05# Was lost until today
0:50:05 > 0:50:09# For I have seen tomorrow
0:50:09 > 0:50:13# Where my future lies
0:50:13 > 0:50:15# I see it every time
0:50:15 > 0:50:20# When I look into your beautiful eyes... #
0:50:20 > 0:50:25I think the voice is nearly the same. Strange.
0:50:25 > 0:50:32I think it has fallen down maybe one tone, but also got wider.
0:50:32 > 0:50:38It's slightly lower now, but it's got a lot of feeling and expression.
0:50:38 > 0:50:44So, yes, it's as good, but in a different way.
0:50:44 > 0:50:46# Love, don't let me go
0:50:46 > 0:50:51# Love, please let me show
0:50:51 > 0:50:53# How much I want to
0:50:53 > 0:50:58# Be the one who loves you now. #
0:50:58 > 0:51:03And I think they've dealt with that really well on this record.
0:51:03 > 0:51:06That she is... Her voice is more mature
0:51:06 > 0:51:10and she's not up there, you know,
0:51:10 > 0:51:15sort of as far as you can go, all the time, like she was with ABBA.
0:51:15 > 0:51:20# Be the one who loves you now. #
0:51:26 > 0:51:28Good, guys! LAUGHTER.
0:51:28 > 0:51:30That was really good.
0:51:30 > 0:51:34As I learned... Getting to know her...
0:51:34 > 0:51:37I got more information,
0:51:37 > 0:51:39I kind of figured out who she was
0:51:39 > 0:51:41and what she would like to sing about now,
0:51:41 > 0:51:43finding the right lyrics
0:51:43 > 0:51:47that could suit a very mature woman, you know.
0:51:47 > 0:51:49Rather than a young girl.
0:51:49 > 0:51:53# In this bubble made for two
0:51:53 > 0:51:57# The tears inside your eyes
0:51:57 > 0:52:00# Multiply... #
0:52:00 > 0:52:04Now that I know her, it looks like she is in a bubble.
0:52:04 > 0:52:07You know, in a way.
0:52:07 > 0:52:10Sometimes she'll let myself and Jorgen
0:52:10 > 0:52:13and other people into that bubble.
0:52:13 > 0:52:16She's stretching it a bit on that song,
0:52:16 > 0:52:19she's, you know, trying a different territory, a bit more jazz,
0:52:19 > 0:52:24it's a darker thing, you know, she hasn't done before.
0:52:24 > 0:52:28# Forget the world Let's stay inside
0:52:28 > 0:52:33# I know the perfect place to hide... #
0:52:33 > 0:52:36And I could feel that this suits me very well,
0:52:36 > 0:52:39I feel very comfortable with singing this.
0:52:39 > 0:52:46# In this bubble made for two. #
0:52:50 > 0:52:53We wanted to have a duet on this record,
0:52:53 > 0:52:57so we started early on to talk about, you know, possible partners.
0:52:57 > 0:52:59Many names came up, actually,
0:52:59 > 0:53:05and she was very clear of what she liked and didn't like.
0:53:05 > 0:53:06During this process
0:53:06 > 0:53:09I had one name in the back of my mind all the time,
0:53:09 > 0:53:12and it's Gary Barlow.
0:53:12 > 0:53:16Gary and Jorgen had written songs together before
0:53:16 > 0:53:18and had been friends for years.
0:53:18 > 0:53:21When he called me about 18 months ago
0:53:21 > 0:53:24and asked would I work on something with him.
0:53:24 > 0:53:27Instantly - "Definitely, whatever it is, I'll be there."
0:53:27 > 0:53:30And then he told me what it was.
0:53:30 > 0:53:33It was so quick, I couldn't even, you know, ask the question
0:53:33 > 0:53:35until he said yes. It was like a nanosecond.
0:53:35 > 0:53:40But I thought, "What fun." To work with such an incredible legend
0:53:40 > 0:53:42and work with my friend Jorgen.
0:53:42 > 0:53:46What a horrible way of spending a day.
0:53:46 > 0:53:49Gary came out to Stockholm to write the song with Jorgen,
0:53:49 > 0:53:52but Agnetha was unexpectedly away for the recording.
0:53:52 > 0:53:56I sang on it and I left Stockholm that night
0:53:56 > 0:53:59not knowing if Agnetha was going to like it,
0:53:59 > 0:54:01he was going to play it to her the next day.
0:54:01 > 0:54:03When I come back I heard his voice
0:54:03 > 0:54:08and I thought, "How am I going to match this?"
0:54:08 > 0:54:12# I can't believe it's really you
0:54:15 > 0:54:21# You still look the way you used to... #
0:54:21 > 0:54:23I really love this voice,
0:54:23 > 0:54:28so I think it's fantastic to sing with him.
0:54:28 > 0:54:31# Dance floor dust never quite settles
0:54:31 > 0:54:35# Busy feet remember still
0:54:35 > 0:54:39# The way we moved so close in the darkness
0:54:39 > 0:54:42# All the music The magic, the thrill... #
0:54:42 > 0:54:46Jorgen flew to London and he played me the finished result.
0:54:46 > 0:54:48I was absolutely thrilled.
0:54:48 > 0:54:51# Oooh
0:54:51 > 0:54:54# Followed you home. #
0:54:55 > 0:54:58APPLAUSE
0:54:59 > 0:55:04I hope I have the chance to meet him now when I get to London.
0:55:04 > 0:55:09Given that the song is about friends reuniting,
0:55:09 > 0:55:13it was fitting that when Agnetha came to London to promote the album
0:55:13 > 0:55:15the two finally did meet.
0:55:15 > 0:55:20OK. I'm not really happy you're here filming this.
0:55:20 > 0:55:24I actually wanted this to be something I did on my own,
0:55:24 > 0:55:27but you're here anyway, so do you want to come in?
0:55:27 > 0:55:29This is it - the big meet.
0:55:32 > 0:55:33- SHE LAUGHS - Hello.
0:55:33 > 0:55:37- Hello, Gary!- How are you? Nice to meet you.- At last.
0:55:37 > 0:55:41- I know, at last! How are you? - I'm so pleased to meet you.
0:55:41 > 0:55:42It was very chilling for me
0:55:42 > 0:55:46when I first heard our duet and your voice was singing my song.
0:55:46 > 0:55:49After all the years I'd studied ABBA's music,
0:55:49 > 0:55:50so it's really special.
0:55:50 > 0:55:54I think that was a perfect match,
0:55:54 > 0:55:56I think that the song,
0:55:56 > 0:56:01these two together, it's brilliant actually, it's fantastic.
0:56:04 > 0:56:06One thing I'm really intrigued with
0:56:06 > 0:56:12is that how - HOW - from today, can I talk you into...
0:56:12 > 0:56:14This may be a long thing, this may not be decided today,
0:56:14 > 0:56:18- maybe over the next few months.- Oh?
0:56:18 > 0:56:21I would love, LOVE the opportunity
0:56:21 > 0:56:24to try and do this track live somewhere.
0:56:24 > 0:56:26SHE LAUGHS
0:56:26 > 0:56:31- Was that the surprise of the day? - No! Nobody knew.
0:56:31 > 0:56:34- But now the whole world knows! - Listen, I'm prepared for no,
0:56:34 > 0:56:36I'm prepared for no,
0:56:36 > 0:56:39but I would love you just to keep the door open to maybe...
0:56:39 > 0:56:44- Can I think it over? - Think it over, absolutely.
0:56:44 > 0:56:47But I think it would be unbelievable. I really do.
0:56:47 > 0:56:49I mean, I think it would be unbelievable
0:56:49 > 0:56:52- to see you sing live by yourself. - Oh, yeah, that's...
0:56:52 > 0:56:53But I can take the credit with you.
0:56:53 > 0:56:57I'm happy... No, no, I'm happy to do that.
0:56:57 > 0:57:01- You know, that's not my strong point. - The live? Really?- No.
0:57:01 > 0:57:03For her to go on stage today,
0:57:03 > 0:57:05I don't know if she would ever do that.
0:57:05 > 0:57:08I don't think she feels like she has to, you know?
0:57:08 > 0:57:11I think she's super happy in the studio.
0:57:11 > 0:57:15- Think it over.- During the day. - Just today?!
0:57:15 > 0:57:17No, take a week. Take a month!
0:57:17 > 0:57:22- I think there's a lot of people who'd love it.- I think so too.
0:57:22 > 0:57:24But consider it. And take a week.
0:57:24 > 0:57:27- No, take six months!- OK!
0:57:27 > 0:57:30But, you know, you should never say never.
0:57:30 > 0:57:32Who thought that Agnetha Faltskog ever would record again?
0:57:32 > 0:57:34Not many, actually.
0:57:34 > 0:57:38This album is beyond doubt going to reach a lot of people,
0:57:38 > 0:57:40not just old ABBA fans.
0:57:40 > 0:57:44# When you love someone
0:57:44 > 0:57:47# When you love someone... #
0:57:47 > 0:57:52I think doing this record gave her a lot of good vibes
0:57:52 > 0:57:54and good feelings for the future.
0:57:54 > 0:57:58It's great that also she's kind of...
0:57:58 > 0:58:02not opened up, but kind of shown the world, actually,
0:58:02 > 0:58:04maybe a bit more who she is,
0:58:04 > 0:58:07and not only a person that's sort of hiding.
0:58:07 > 0:58:09CHEERING
0:58:09 > 0:58:12Peter and I, we were always sort of, "OK, Agnetha,
0:58:12 > 0:58:14"when are we starting the next one?"
0:58:14 > 0:58:16Because we obviously want to make more music with her
0:58:16 > 0:58:19because it's been so much fun.
0:58:19 > 0:58:21# Gotta break loose Have some fun... #
0:58:21 > 0:58:26Right now I'm just so focused and proud of this record,
0:58:26 > 0:58:30so I want to stay with that feeling for the moment.
0:58:30 > 0:58:32# When you love someone
0:58:32 > 0:58:35# When you love someone... #
0:58:35 > 0:58:37The response is amazing.
0:58:37 > 0:58:42I think people are behind her,
0:58:42 > 0:58:44and, yeah, we just all want to hear her sing.
0:58:44 > 0:58:48# When you really loved someone. #