Tomas Folke Jonas Ledin (; born 25 February 1952) is a Swedish singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. He grew up in the town of

Sandviken Sandviken is a locality and the seat of Sandviken Municipality in Gävleborg County, Sweden with 39,234 inhabitants in 2019. It is situated about 25 km west of Gävle and lies approximately 190 km north of Stockholm. The rail journey to ...

, Sweden and has sold 3 million records.

Career

Tomas Ledin started his career in 1972 when his first single, "Då ska jag spela", was a big hit. Other successful songs followed: "Blå, blå känslor" (1973), (covered by

Björn Skifs Björn Nils Olof Skifs (; born 20 April 1947) is a Swedish singer, songwriter, actor, and screenwriter. Career Björn Skifs formed his first musical group, Slam Creepers, in 1962. Slam Creepers split in 1969 and Skifs went on to form a new ban ...

), "Knivhuggarrock" (1975), "Festen har börjat" (1976), and "I natt är jag din" (1977). At the beginning of the 70s, Ledin was influenced by hippie fashion and demonstrated against the

Vietnam war The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

. He also took part in a Swedish stage production of the musical ''

Godspell ''Godspell'' is a musical composed by Stephen Schwartz with book by John-Michael Tebelak. The show is structured as a series of parables, primarily based on the Gospel of Matthew, interspersed with music mostly set to lyrics from traditional hym ...

'' in 1975 and performed in 140 concerts in the Swedish

folkpark In Sweden, a folkpark (approximately "peoples park" in English) is a public recreation space, usually featuring large grassed areas, trees, children's play facilities, etc. Most towns and cities have a folkpark. These parks were originally created b ...

s in 1977. In 1979,

ABBA ABBA ( , , formerly named Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Anni-Frid or Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Frida) are a Swedish supergroup formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. The group's ...

member

Benny Andersson Göran Bror Benny Andersson (; born 16 December 1946) is a Swedish musician, singer, composer and producer best known as a member of the musical group ABBA and co-composer of the musicals ''Chess'', ''Kristina från Duvemåla'', and '' Mamma M ...

offered him a chance to record for the group's company Polar Music. The singer joined ABBA on their 1979–1980 tour as a backing vocalist, but also got the opportunity to sing his own composition "Not Bad at All" during the show. Tomas Ledin also appeared on the ''ABBA Live'' DVD and on the ''Super Trouper'' Video. Eurovision Song Contest 1980 postcards - Tomas Ledin 24

Eurovision Song Contest 1980 postcards - Tomas Ledin 24

He won the Swedish Melodifestivalen in 1980 and represented Sweden in the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...

that year with "

Just nu! "Just nu!" (; "Right now!") was the entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1980, performed in Swedish by Tomas Ledin. The song talks about a man tired of the monotonous life in the city, in that moment he wants to live his life, he wants to feel ...

". The song was a big hit in Scandinavia, and also in Greece and Portugal since Ledin recorded an English version, "Right Now!". In 1982, he released the duet "

Never Again "Never again" is a phrase or slogan which is associated with the lessons of the Holocaust and other genocides. The phrase may originate from a 1927 poem by Yitzhak Lamdan which stated "Never again shall Masada fall!" In the context of genocide ...

" with

Agnetha Fältskog Agneta Åse Fältskog (born 5 April 1950), known as Agnetha Fältskog (), is a Swedish singer, songwriter, and musician. She first achieved success in Sweden with the release of her 1968 self-titled debut album. She later achieved internatio ...

fame; the song reached number one in Chile (in its Spanish version "Ya nunca más") and was popular across Europe. Ledin also composed "Take Good Care of Your Children", which Fältskog released in 1983 on her album ''

Wrap Your Arms Around Me ''Wrap Your Arms Around Me'' is the first English-language solo studio album by Swedish singer and ABBA member Agnetha Fältskog, and her seventh studio album overall. It was released by Polar Music on 31 May 1983 and was produced by Mike Chapma ...

''. Another composition by the singer, "I Got Something", was released by

Anni-Frid Lyngstad Princess Anni-Frid Synni Reuss, Countess of Plauen (born Anni-Frid Synni Lyngstad on 15 November 1945), also known by her nickname "Frida", is a Norwegian-born Swedish singer, songwriter and environmentalist, who is best known as one of the foun ...

on her album ''

Something's Going On ''Something's Going On'' is the third solo album by Swedish singer Anni-Frid Lyngstad (Frida), one of the founding members of the Swedish pop group ABBA, and her first album recorded entirely in English. Her previous two albums had been recorded ...

''. In the 80s, Ledin was very successful in Scandinavia but his career abroad failed to reach the same level. He nevertheless toured Germany and the Netherlands on a small scale in 1982, and the following year, he played in front of 60,000 people at the Olympic stadium in Berlin, in a show with other international acts. He decided to put an end to his career in 1984 and started to act as a producer for Record Station, his wife's record company. He discovered other singers and successfully produced artists such as

Pugh Rogefeldt Pugh Rogefeldt, real name Anders Sture Torbjörn Rogefeldt (, ; born 2 March 1947 in Västerås, Sweden), is a Swedish singer, musician, guitarist and songwriter. Musical career Rogefeldt made his breakthrough in the late 1960s with albums such ...

and

Magnus Uggla Per Allan Magnus Claësson Uggla (pronounced ; born 18 June 1954) is a Swedish artist, composer, actor, and occasional radio host. He is known for his satire, satirical lyrics. Uggla was born in Stockholm. He was the lead singer of the hard r ...

. In 1985, he organized a concert for

ANC The African National Congress (ANC) is a social-democratic political party in South Africa. A liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid, it has governed the country since 1994, when the first post-apartheid election install ...

featuring several Swedish artists. Three years later, Tomas Ledin started to compose again and wrote songs in English. The album ''Down on the Pleasure Avenue'' was released but was not successful. Ledin was very disappointed but started to compose again, in Swedish this time. He started to enjoy success again in 1990 when he released a compilation and a new album, ''Tillfälligheternas spel'', and has been one of the best selling artists in Sweden since then. In 2000, 260,000 copies of his compilation album ''Festen har börjat (samlingsalbum)'' were sold in Sweden, which meant he was awarded three platinum records there. In 2002, he went on the biggest tour ever planned in Scandinavia and performed in 27 shows in Sweden and 8 shows in the rest of Scandinavia. More than 250,000 people saw the show in Northern Europe. Ledin's songs have been turned into a jukebox musical film '' En del av mitt hjärta (A Piece of My Heart)'', which was released in 2019, directed by

Edward af Sillén Edward af Sillén (born 1982 in Blumenau, Santa Catarina, Brazil) is a Swedish screenwriter and director for stage, film and TV. He has translated and directed many highly successful theatre shows including ''Twelfth Night'' by William Shakespea ...

, who Ledin worked with in 2011 for his stage show Showtime.

Personal life

Ledin has been married since 1983 to record company president Marie Ledin, daughter of

Stig Anderson Stig Erik Leopold Anderson (25 January 1931 – 12 September 1997), better known as Stikkan Anderson, was a Swedish music manager, lyricist and music publisher. He was the co-founder of Polar Music, and is best known for managing the Sw ...

. They have two sons together, named John and Theo.

Discography

* '' Med vidöppna fönster'' (2004) * ''

Plektrum ''Plektrum'' is the 19th studio album by Swedish singer-songwriter Tomas Ledin, released in June 2006. In November of the same year, the album was re-issued as a 2-CD-set with a bonus track on disc 1 as well as a full bonus disc, called ''Ledin ...

'' (2006) * '' 500 dagar om året'' (2009)

Citations

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ledin, Tomas 20th-century Swedish male singers Melodifestivalen contestants Melodifestivalen winners Eurovision Song Contest entrants for Sweden Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 1980 1952 births Living people People from Sandviken Municipality Swedish singer-songwriters Swedish guitarists Male guitarists Swedish record producers 21st-century Swedish male singers