I sang in the Melodifestivalen when I was 13, in 1974 the same show as ABBA. I actually wanted ABBA to win and thankfully they did! I came second which was a nice surprise, but my song still somehow went to number 1 on the Swedish charts! I was thrilled when ABBA won the Eurovision in 1974. My family also loved them. By now I was a regular on Swedish Television, sometimes even on Finnish television because I spoke both languages flawlessly. The only language I spoke that was accented was English, and it was with a Swedish accent. I also released my debut album after releasing some non-album hit singles. This was a tri-lingual album featuring songs in Swedish, Finnish and English. "Främling", was the title of the album and the song too. I also sang in English a little later. I was only starting to actually know English, and I got better little by little – I think what made it easier was that it's also a Germanic language! "Främling" would eventually be covered in 1983 by a Finnish singer, Meiju Suvas, who is also a good friend of mine and has been since 1981.
Ever since the Melodifestivalen, I was very good friends with ABBA, very close. Despite my age, they thought I was very mature and I was kind of their confidant in a way. Since then they would send me autographed copies of their albums, and that included the girls sending me autographed copies of their solo albums too! In turn I'd send them autographed copies of my solo and band's albums, they were huge fans of mine too! God bless them!
In 1975, they were going to perform in Norway, on "Hei Sveis!" "Momarkedet". I was on a show in Norway, and my brother Magnus was with me, and he made his debut here. We sang songs, and talked and tomorrow I'd be singing with ABBA at the show! Our godparents looked after me when I travelled while I was still a minor, as my parents still had two young girls to take care of. They dropped me off at the venue and after I said hello to the beautiful girls of ABBA, I went back out and sang their beautiful song "Gonna Sing You My Lovesong" while it played from a distance.
Sure enough, a young boy, a little older than me approached me. His name was Morten Harket – the popular Norwegian teen heartthrob, and he told me he was a fan of mine, and asked for an autograph. When I said I didn't know how popular I was in Norway he said:
"You've had some very popular songs here, and you're very beautiful." I was flattered, and about my songs, I wasn't surprised as I knew always how similar Norwegian and Swedish are. Little did I know that this young man would be my future husband! He was 2 weeks and a day shy of being 16 and I was 14. I actually recognized him from a commercial I saw Norwegian TV the previous night. We exchanged addresses so we could write to each other. We had fun at the concert together, and somehow we knew we were going to see each other again.
The same year I formed with my friends Magnfrid & Charlotte, the girl group "Nordic". We even have a "stylized" trademark: NØRDIC. Like Frida from ABBA, Magnfrid was actually of Norwegian origin, but moved to Sweden when she was still a baby and she speaks both languages and she used to holiday in Norway twice a year. My brother Magnus also became a singer a little bit, along with his wife, Monika. They also modeled together as a couple. (Monika was my best friend since I was 9, and then she started dating Magnus in 1977. Monika was a Finnish girl who moved to Sweden, and because I spoke Finnish well, I was chosen by the nuns at school to look after her, so to speak).
I was performing in Germany, France, The Netherlands and the UK. My English language songs became hits there, especially my song "Spread your wings (For your love)".
By 1976, I'd take regular trips to our neighboring countries, in other words Finland, Norway, & I went to Iceland & Greenland for the first time when I was 10 & 15 respectively
