Björn Kristian Ulvaeus was born in Gothenburg on April 25th, 1945. He studied business and law at Lund University before pursuing a career in music. He was a founding member of the successful Swedish folk band Hootenanny Singers and while on tour, he came across the contemporary Swedish band, The Hepstars. He quickly became good friends with one of their members, Benny Andersson, and the duo began collaborating. With Benny as his writing partners, Björn also worked as the in-house record producer at Polar Record Company.
Björn and Benny released their first LP as a duo and invited their respective girlfriends, Anni-Frid Lyngstad and Agnetha Fältskog, to join them in a musical touring act called Festfolket. Although this initial collaboration was not a success, the foursome would go on to achieve international fame with their next group, ABBA. From 1972 to 1982, ABBA achieved phenomenal success, with Benny and Björn writing every song the band produced.
After ABBA disbanded, Björn continued to write music with Benny. They initially collaborated with Tim Rice on the musical Chess, which was first released as a concept album in 1984. The duo then worked on a Swedish musical that focused on their fondness for traditional folk music. Kristina från Duvemåla premiered in Malmö, Sweden in 1995 and ran for almost five years. In 1999, the musical Mamma Mia! premiered in London. Based around a catalogue of ABBA hits, the musical was a huge hit around the world and inspired the 2008 film of the same name, and its sequel Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again (2018). Both Björn and Benny had small cameo appearances in both films.
Björn was married to ABBA member Agnetha Fältskog from 1971 to 1980 and the couple had two children. He then married music journalist Lena Källersjö, with whom he also had two children.
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