Barbro Margareta Svensson (9 March 1938 – 3 April 2018), known by her stage name Lill-Babs, was a Swedish singer, actress and television host. From the early 1950s until her death in 2018, she was one of Sweden's best-known and popular singers. She represented Sweden in the

1961 Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest 1961 was the 6th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, held on 18 March 1961 in the in Cannes, France. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster (RTF), and originally known as the () ...

Cannes Cannes (, ; , ; ) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions Internatio ...

with the song "

April, april Sweden was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 1961 with the song "", composed by Bobbie Ericsson, with lyrics by Bo Eneby, and performed by Lill-Babs. The Swedish participating broadcaster, (SR), selected its entry through a national ...

". She was also well known for the song "

Är du kär i mej ännu Klas-Göran? "Är du kär i mej ännu Klas-Göran?" ("Are you still in love with me, Klas-Göran?") is a song written by Stig "Stikkan" Andersson in 1959. A recording by singer Lill-Babs from 1959 became a major hit song and solid gold record in Sweden in 19 ...

" ("Are You Still in Love with Me, Klas-Göran?").

Early life and career

Lill-Babs was born Barbro Svensson in Järvsö, north of Stockholm. She lived with her parents, Ragnar and Britta Svensson, for nine years in a small cottage without running water. She first sang in a church at age 11. Her first public appearance was with a colleague of her father accompanying her on the accordion. Svensson's first public performance was at Barnens dag in

Järvsö Järvsö (), locally known as ''Jarse'' (), is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality and a parish situated in Ljusdal Municipality, Gävleborg County, Sweden with 1,407 inhabitants in 2010. From Järvsö, people commute to Ljusdal, Färila, Bollnäs, a ...

1953. Soon after, she started singing with Lasse Schönning's orchestra. She was "discovered" when she sang on the radio program ''Morgonkvisten'' ("Early Morning") in 1954.

Simon Brehm Simon Brehm (31 December 1921 – 11 February 1967) was a Swedish double-bass player and, later in life, a record producer and owner of Karusell Records. He was the manager of the singer Lill-Babs and was the leader of the orchestra that play ...

, a musician and record producer, liked her and took her to Stockholm where she made her professional singing debut at the Bal Palais restaurant. Brehm was Svensson's manager until his death in 1967. He gave Svensson her stage name "Lill-Babs", a play on words as a connection to the older, and at that time better known, singer

Alice Babs Hildur Alice Nilson (26 January 1924 – 11 February 2014), known by her stage name Alice Babs, was a Swedish singer. She worked in a wide number of genres – Swedish folklore, Elizabethan songs and opera. While she was best known internationall ...

. She released her first music album in 1954, a gramophone record with two songs: "Min mammas boogie" ("My Mamma's Boogie") and "Svar till 'Ung och kär'" ("Answer to 'Young And In Love'"). Soon afterwards, finding herself pregnant, she returned to Järvsö and gave birth to a daughter, Monica. The Beatles and Lill-Babs 1963

Lill-Babs made her television debut in 1957 and her first

folkpark In Sweden, a folkpark (also called Folkets park; approximately "people's 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 pa ...

show using her birth name in 1958. She visited every folk park in Sweden during her long career In 1959, Lill-Babs performed

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

's song "

" ("Are You Still in Love with Me, Klas-Göran?"); her recording of it became a major hit. She made her theater debut in 1958 in the play ''Fly mig en greve'' ("Fly Me a Count") at Nöjeskatten theater. She also appeared in the films ''Svenska Floyd'' and ''En nolla för mycket'' ("One Zero Too Many").

Eurovision and later career

Lill-Babs represented

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

in the

with the song "

". It had been performed by

Siw Malmkvist Siw Gunnel Margareta Malmkvist (born 31 December 1936) is a Swedish schlager singer and actress popular in Scandinavia and West Germany (today's Germany). She represented Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest 1960 and West Germany in the Eurovi ...

in the national final, but Lill-Babs was selected to perform the song in

. She participated in

Melodifestivalen Melodifestivalen (; ) is an annual song competition organised by Swedish public broadcasters Sveriges Television (SVT) and Sveriges Radio (SR). It determines the country's representative for the Eurovision Song Contest, and has been staged almo ...

three times in

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Janu ...

1961 Events January * January 1 – Monetary reform in the Soviet Union, 1961, Monetary reform in the Soviet Union. * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and cons ...

(her own two songs did not win) and in 1973 without winning. In 1969, she participated in the Norwegian

Melodi Grand Prix Melodi Grand Prix (), commonly known as Grand Prix and MGP, sometimes as Norsk Melodi Grand Prix, is an annual music competition organised by Norwegian public broadcaster (NRK). It determines for the Eurovision Song Contest, and has been sta ...

without winning. Soon after Eurovision, she launched a career in West Germany, where she acted in several films. She also released two English-language solo singles for the United States market. Lill-Babs met

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

in 1963 when she was the main guest star on the teen music show ''Drop-In'' broadcast on

Sveriges Television Sveriges Television AB ("Sweden's Television aktiebolag, Stock Company"), shortened to SVT (), is the Sweden, Swedish national public broadcasting, public television broadcaster, funded by a public service tax on personal income set by the Riksd ...

(SVT). The then-unknown band asked for her autograph. Lill-Babs performed several shows in bars at Berns in Stockholm, Trädgår'n in

Gothenburg Gothenburg ( ; ) is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, second-largest city in Sweden, after the capital Stockholm, and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by the Kattegat on the west coast of Sweden, it is the gub ...

and Kronprinsen in

Malmö Malmö is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, sixth-largest city in Nordic countries, the Nordic region. Located on ...

Björn Ulvaeus Björn Kristian Ulvaeus (; born 25 April 1945) is a Swedish musician, singer, songwriter, and producer best known as a member of the musical group ABBA. He is also the co-composer of the musicals ''Chess (musical), Chess'', ''Kristina från Duve ...

and

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

ABBA ABBA ( ) were a Swedish pop group formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. They are one of the most popular and successful musical groups of all time, and are one of the List ...

wrote and produced her 1971 hit song "Welcome to the World". The four future members of ABBA sang on it. Also in the 1970s she played in a

Kar de Mumma Erik Harald Zetterström (14 August 1904 – 7 July 1997), better known by his screen name Kar de Mumma, was a Swedish humorous writer and playwright. His pen name can be read as Car da Mon in Swedish. In the 1920s and 1930s, he wrote man ...

revue at Folkan, and played

Annie Oakley Annie Oakley (born Phoebe Ann Mosey; August 13, 1860 – November 3, 1926) was an American marksman, sharpshooter and folk heroine who starred in Buffalo Bill's Wild West. Oakley developed hunting skills as a child to provide for her impoveris ...

in the musical ''

Annie Get Your Gun Annie may refer to: People and fictional characters * Annie (given name), a given name and a list of people and fictional characters with the name * Annie (Malayalam actress) (born 1975), Indian actress who works in Malayalam-language films * ...

'' at

Scandinavium Scandinavium () is an indoor arena located in Gothenburg, Sweden. Construction on Scandinavium began in 1969 after decades of setbacks, and was inaugurated on 18 May 1971. Scandinavium has been selected as a championship arena at least fifty t ...

arena in Gothenburg.

Television

Lill-Babs was the main guest on ''Här är ditt liv'' (Swedish version of "This Is Your Life") on 26 December 1983 when the host Lasse Holmqvist surprised her in the studio with a long line of ex-boyfriends. She was the presenter on several TV shows like ''Hemma hos Lill-Babs'' (1987) ("At Home with Lill-Babs"), ''Morgonlust'' (1988) ("Morning Desire"), ''Vem tar vem'' (1990) ("Who Takes Whom"), and ''Cocktail'' (1991) all on SVT. In 2010, she participated in the television show ''

Så mycket bättre Så mycket bättre (, ) is a Swedish reality television show broadcast on TV4 (Sweden), TV4. The basic premise is that each participating musician performs their own version of a well-known song by another artist, with each episode focusing on ...

'' ("That Much Better"), broadcast on TV4. In 2012, Lill-Babs appeared on ''

Stjärnorna på slottet ''Stjärnorna på slottet'' () is a Swedish show featuring five film or music stars which is usually broadcast during the Christmas and New Year Eve weekend and a bit into January each year. The show was broadcast for the first time in January 20 ...

'' ("Stars at the Palace"), broadcast on SVT, where she spoke about her career. In 2017 and 2018, she acted as a lesbian character Gugge in two seasons of the SVT series '' Bonusfamiljen''; the series' script had to be changed following her death. A two-part documentary was broadcast on TV4 in 2017 called ''Lill-Babs, Leva livet'' ("Lill-Babs, to Live Life"), which presented her life and career.

Death and tributes

Lill-Babs died on 3 April 2018, following

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

and heart failure. On the day of her death, both SVT and TV4 changed their programming so that programs about Lill-Babs could air. SVT broadcast the 2004 biographical documentary ''Lill-Babs i 50 år'' ("Lill-Babs for 50 Years"), including the TV4 documentary from 2017. Her funeral was at

Järvsö Church Järvsö (), locally known as ''Jarse'' (), is a locality and a parish situated in Ljusdal Municipality, Gävleborg County, Sweden with 1,407 inhabitants in 2010. From Järvsö, people commute to Ljusdal, Färila, Bollnäs, and Gävle. The Järv pa ...

on 28 May the same year and she was buried in the churchyard there.

Personal life

Lill-Babs was married to the singer

Lasse Berghagen Lars Nils "Lasse" Berghagen (13 May 1945 – 19 October 2023) was a Swedish singer and songwriter. He represented Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest 1975 with the song "Jennie, Jennie". He was also known for presenting on Swedish television ...

1965–1968. She was then married to Norwegian footballer

Kjell Kaspersen Kjell Kaspersen (born 7 April 1939) is a former footballer from Norway. For many years he was goalkeeper for Skeid and the Norwegian national team. He was league champion in 1966, and was elected Player of the Year by ''Verdens Gang'' in 1964. ...

1969–1973. She had three daughters: Monica Svensson (born 1955),

Malin Berghagen Malin Birgitta Berghagen (formerly Berghagen Nilsson; born 11 May 1966) is a Swedish actress. She is daughter of Lasse Berghagen and Lill-Babs and half-sister to the TV host Kristin Kaspersen. In 1992, she received a Guldmask Award. Selecte ...

(born 1966), and

Kristin Kaspersen Kristin Kaspersen (born 30 September 1969) is a Swedish-Norwegian television host who is working for the Swedish media company TV4 Group, which is the owner of the television channel TV4. She is the daughter of Lill-Babs and Kjell Kaspersen an ...

(born 1969). Her younger brother Lasse Svensson used to be the drummer for rock group

Tages Tages was claimed as a founding prophet of Etruscan mythology, Etruscan religion who is known from reports by Latin authors of the late Roman Republic and Roman Empire. He revealed a cosmic view of divinity and correct methods of ascertaining ...

(and subsequently Blond) 1967–1969. She released her autobiography ''Hon är jag'' ("She Is I") in 1996. In 2017, she was inducted into the Swedish Music Hall of Fame. Lill-Babs was a known supporter of AIK.

Discography

Albums

(Source: Discogs artist page) * 1962: ''Splorr'' * 1964: ''Svensson hyllar Alpertsson'' * 1967: ''Lill-Babs'' * 1968: ''Lill-Babs'' * 1971: ''Välkommen till världen'' * 1972: ''Jag ska sjunga för dig'' * 1973: ''Hurra hurra'' * 1975: ''Det våras för Barbro'' * 1976: ''Lev mänska lev'' * 1977: ''På scen'' * 1979: ''Till mina vänner'' * 1982: ''Lill-Babs i en show av Lars Forssell'' * 1982: ''Det är ju min show! (på cd 1998)'' * 1984: ''Barbro'' * 1998: ''Who's Sorry Now'' * 2005: ''Här är jag''

Filmography

(Source: Swedish Film Database) * 1956: ''Suss gott'' * 1959: ''Fly mej en greve'' * 1961: ''Svenska Floyd'' * '' The Turkish Cucumbers'' (1962) * 1962: ''En nolla för mycket'' * 1965: ''Pang i bygget'' * 1965: ''Calle P'' * 1989: ''Imorron och imorron och imorron'' * 1990: ''Vem tar vem'' (TV show) * 1998: ''Mulan'' (Swedish voice and singing as Grandmother Fa) * 2002: ''

Rederiet ''Rederiet'' (''High Seas'' or ''The Shipping Company'') was a (318 episodes) Swedish soap opera that aired on Sveriges Television between August 1992 and April 2002. The cast featured many popular and renowned Swedish actors. The 45-minute epis ...

'' (guest role) * 2012: ''Den sista dokusåpan'' * 2017: '' Bonusfamiljen'' (TV series)

References

External links

Official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lill-Babs 1938 births 2018 deaths People from Järvsö Swedish film actresses Melodifestivalen winners Eurovision Song Contest entrants Deaths from cancer in Sweden Swedish autobiographers Women autobiographers 20th-century Swedish women singers Actresses from Gävleborg County