Born in Bjørkåsen (Ballangen) to a Norwegian mother and a German soldier father, she grew up in Torshälla, Sweden, and started her first solo career there, as a jazz singer in 1967, through a talent competition called "New Faces". She won the competition with her song, ""En ledig dag"", leading to a television appearance on "Hylands Hörna" on Dagen H; as a result, she was signed by EMI, and in turn was signed by Stig Anderson's record label, Polar Music, after years of releasing several singles and an album, "Frida" under the earlier record label. Although she had moderate success in Sweden, as she was a contestant for Melodifestivalen 1969 with her song ""Härlig är vår jord"", she did not reach international fame until she joined ABBA, which has sold over 150 million albums and singles worldwide, making them one of the best-selling music acts in history. After the break-up of ABBA, she continued an international solo singing career with mixed success, releasing the albums "Something's Going On" (1982) and "Shine" (1984); the latter being her last international album. In 1996, Lyngstad recorded her final album in Swedish, "Djupa andetag" ("Deep Breaths"), released by Anderson Records, before retiring from music.