Benny Andersson (born in Stockholm on December 16, 1946) is a Swedish musician, composer and a member of the Swedish musical group, ABBA.
Benny's musical background came from his father and grandfather; both enjoyed playing the accordion. At the age of six Benny got an accordion of his own. Father Gösta and grandfather Efraim taught him Swedish folk music. When he was ten he had one or two piano lessons but found it rather boring. He left school at the age of fifteen and began to perform at youth clubs.
In 1964 Benny became the keyboard player of the rock 'n roll group Hep Stars. In 1965 Benny started to write material for the band, such as the number one hit Sunny Girl.
In the summer of 1969 Benny met Anni-Frid Lyngstad around the same time as Björn Ulvaeus met Agnetha Fältskog. Each was talented in their own right and successful within the Swedish entertainment business. The four soon became friends and formed the group ABBA which would go on to sell an estimated 400 million records.
Having been a member of both the Hep Stars and ABBA Benny created the musicals Chess (1984), Kristina från Duvemåla (1995), and Mamma Mia! (2001); all of these together with Björn Ulvaeus.
Andersson believes folk music to be an essential heritage of any nation which must be kept alive and continuously developed, and to that end he performs folk music on the accordion together with Orsa Spelmän. Since the late nineties he mostly plays with his band Benny Anderssons orkester (Benny Andersson's orchestra/band) with Helen Sjöholm from Kristina from Duvemåla on vocals.
Discography: Klinga mina klockor (1987), November 1989 (1989), Benny Anderssons Orkester (2001), BAO! (2004), BAO På Turne (2006), BAO 3 (2007).
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