Barbro "Lill-Babs" Svensson passed away

Barbro "Lill-Babs" Svensson passed away

Sweden's most beloved star Lill-Babs dies aged 80
Sweden paid tribute to late artist Barbro 'Lill-Babs' Svensson, who passed away on Tuesday. She leaves behind a legacy spanning more than six decades. Here are some of her finest moments.


Sweden paid tribute to late artist Barbro 'Lill-Babs' Svensson, who passed away on Tuesday. She leaves behind a legacy spanning more than six decades. Here are some of her finest moments.
Born in Järvsö in Sweden's rural Hälsingland region in 1938, Svensson – nicknamed Lill-Babs – became and remained one of the Nordic country's most popular artists from her breakthrough in the 50s to her death.

She had her first hit with the song 'Är du kär i mej ännu Klas-Göran' ('Are you still in love with me, Klas-Göran?' – written by Abba manager and Polar Music Prize founder Stikkan Andersson) in 1959, about a lonely farm girl whose boyfriend left and moved to America.

She also sang the Swedish version of 1960s hit 'Itsty Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polkadot Bikini' and performed with The Beatles, then still relatively unknown in Sweden, during their visit to Stockholm in 1963.

Last year she was inducted into the Swedish Music Hall of Fame.

The artist passed away on April 3rd after being admitted to hospital due to heart problems just before her 80th birthday. She leaves behind children Monica Svensson, Malin Berghagen and Kristin Kaspersen.

https://www.thelocal.se/20180403/in-pictures-sweden-pays-tribute-to-its-most-beloved-star-lill-babs
Read More: https://www.expressen.se/noje/lasse-berghagen-om-sista-motet-med-lill-babs/

-----------------------------------------

The pop, soul and Swedish “schlager” singer was honoured on Facebook by her daughter, TV-host and journalist Kristin Kaspersen, also on behalf of Lill-Babs’ other daughters Monica Svensson and Malin Berghagen:

Our beloved mother, sister, grandmother, great-grandmother and aunt has peacefully fallen asleep after a short period of illness. Her heart has struck many beautiful beats for the public, family, colleagues ans friends, but now it will rest. Mom suffered from acute heartfailure and then a malignant cancer was discovered. A combination that became too much for our otherwise wilful and strong mother. The family visited mom every day since she was hospitalized and this morning she calmly fell asleep. Now her soul rests with her mother Brita.

Now our family needs time to mourn and we pray that this will be respected.

Love, Monica, Malin, Kristin and family.
http://esctoday.com/162448/sweden-lill-babs-eurovision-1961-passes-away/

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

photos
Gröna Lund backstage" at Pop House may, 7 2017

Gröna Lund Backstage is open at Abba Museum

Not your average ceiling. Photo: Miriam Bade
Björn Ulvaeus striking a pose for The Local's Miriam Bade. Photo: Micke Bayart

18 de de mayo de 2017
06:59 CEST + 02: 00
Where can you watch an electric performance from Jimi Hendrix and one of Bob Marley's last gigs? At the new Gröna Lund Backstage exhibition in Stockhom. The Local met Abba icon Björn Ulvaeus – who also played there – to take a sneak peak at the ode to a legendary venue.
Seven roller coasters, 177,601 hamburgers consumed in 2016 alone, and 89 years of music history – the Gröna Lund amusement park in Stockholm is an institution, not least for having one of the oldest and most important music stages in Sweden.

The Beatles, Iggy Pop, Miles Davis, Bryan Adams, Cliff Richard, Quincy Jones, Ray Charles, BB King, Louis Armstrong – the list of people to set foot on that stage is enviable. Every year since 1928 the park has attracted hundreds of thousands of music lovers to its famous summer concerts, and with line-ups like that it's no wonder.

The new Gröna Lund Backstage exhibition at Pop House Stockholm celebrates that history, paying tribute to all the fantastic stories that have unfolded there over nearly 90 years. The Local contributor Miriam Bade was one of the lucky few to get a sneak peak of the exhibition ahead of its launch,

"This is a very Swedish thing," Abba legend Björn Ulvaeus tells The Local at the launch.

Björn Ulvaeus flanked by images of some of the fellow music heavyweights to play Gröna Lund. Photo: Micke Bayart/Azul

"Gröna Lund is one of the most popular stages in Sweden, in the middle of the city. I think the exhibition is pretty much complete, and I like to go through it with people who haven't seen it before."

Asked to pick one favourite part, the Abba mastermind says it's too difficult:

"I wouldn't point out one specific place. It all belongs together. I dont have a favourite spot here any more than I have a favourite Abba song."



Not many venues can claim to have hosted Abba in their prime and Chuck Berry. Photo: Micke Bayart

Located downstairs from the main entrance to the popular Abba The Museum in Pop House Stockholm, the first thing visitors see when entering the exhibition is a huge wall of video.

Each screen shows historic concerts, framed and illuminated with multi-coloured light bulbs. Grab a set of headphones and get lost in the sounds, sights and atmosphere of concerts by no less than Jimi Hendrix (1967), Kiss (1976), Lady Gaga (2009) and – of course – Abba (1975).

All took place at Gröna Lund during the last half century. Bob Marley's landmark concert from 1980, represented though closing number Lively Up Yourself, stands out in particular. The realization that this was one of his last performances before dying less than a year later is sure to send shivers up the listner's spine.



Music history, and a slice of amusement park iconography for good measure. Photo: Pop House Stockholm

On top of the videos there's original photography, the park's typically unique looking concert posters, and even stage outfits spread across eight smaller gallery areas and ordered chronologically.



But even if the exhibition serves as a reminder of memories from years gone by, Ulvaeus admits that years of constant media reporting of his every move has killed some of the nostalgia factor for him. "I really can't say that it awakens nostalgia in me. It doesn't, because I see it all the time," he laments

For us mere mortals who haven't lived a life in the spotlight however, it's a brilliant insight into one of Stckholm's truly historic places and an emotional trip down a musical memory lane.


Gröna Lund Backstage is open from May until December 20th 2017. Entrance is included in the standard ticket to Abba The Museum, so while you're there watching The Beatles and Hendrix, you should also take some time to learn about Sweden's greatest ever pop export, according to Ulvaeus:

"When I got involved in the Abba museum I wanted to make it with a sense of humour, very human, very warm and for people to get closer to us and maybe to recognize the beginnings".


https://www.thelocal.se/20170518/the-beatles-meet-hendrix-in-his-prime-inside-stockholms-new-music-exhibition-with-abbas-bjorn