Tomas Ledin
Encyclopedia
Sandviken
Sandviken may refer to:* Sandviken, a Swedish town and the seat of Sandviken municipality* Sandviken Municipality, a Swedish municipality around the town of Sandviken* Sandviken, Norway, a neighbourhood in Bergen, Norway...
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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 Skifs
Björn Nils Olof Skifs is a Swedish singer, songwriter, actor, and screenwriter.Björn Skifs formed his first musical group Slam Creepers’ in 1963. Slam Creepers’ split in 1969 and Skifs went on to form a new band, Blåblus, in 1972. As Blue Swede, the band had a #1 hit on Billboard Hot 100 in 1974...
), 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
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
. He also took part in a Swedish stage production of the musical Gospell in 1975 and performed in 140 concerts in the Swedish folkpark
Folkpark
In Sweden, a folkpark 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 by the labour movement so that workers and their families could have a place to unwind...
s in 1977.
In 1979, ABBA
ABBA
ABBA was a Swedish pop group formed in Stockholm in 1970 which consisted of Anni-Frid Lyngstad, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Agnetha Fältskog...
member Benny Andersson
Benny Andersson
Göran Bror "Benny" Andersson is a Swedish musician, composer, a former member of the Swedish musical group ABBA , and co-composer of the musicals Chess, Kristina från Duvemåla, and Mamma Mia!...
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.
He won the Swedish Melodifestivalen
Melodifestivalen
Melodifestivalen is an annual music competition organised by Swedish public broadcasters Sveriges Television and Sveriges Radio . It determines the country's representative for the Eurovision Song Contest, and has been staged almost every year since 1959...
in 1980 and represented Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest
Eurovision Song Contest
The Eurovision Song Contest is an annual competition held among active member countries of the European Broadcasting Union .Each member country submits a song to be performed on live television and then casts votes for the other countries' songs to determine the most popular song in the competition...
that year with Just nu!
Just nu!
"Just nu!" was the Swedish 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 air in his lungs and perhaps to travel to Paris.The song...
. The song was a big hit in Scandinavia, but also in Greece and Portugal since Ledin recorded an English version, Right now.
In 1982, he released the duet Never Again with Agnetha Fältskog
Agnetha Fältskog
Agnetha Åse Fältskog is a Swedish recording artist. She achieved success in Sweden after the release of her début album Agnetha Fältskog in 1968, and reached international stardom as a member of the pop group ABBA, which to date has sold over 375 million records worldwide, making it the fourth...
of ABBA
ABBA
ABBA was a Swedish pop group formed in Stockholm in 1970 which consisted of Anni-Frid Lyngstad, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Agnetha Fältskog...
fame; the song reached number one in Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
(in its Spanish version Ya nunca más) and was popular across Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
. Ledin also composed Take good care of your children, which Fältskog released in 1983 on her album Wrap your arms around me. Another composition by the singer, I Got Something, was released by Anni-Frid Lyngstad
Anni-Frid Lyngstad
Anni-Frid Prinzessin Reuss von Plauen , is a Norwegian-born Swedish pop singer...
of ABBA
ABBA
ABBA was a Swedish pop group formed in Stockholm in 1970 which consisted of Anni-Frid Lyngstad, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Agnetha Fältskog...
on her album Something's going on.
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 and Magnus Ugglas. In 1985, he organized a concert for ANC
ANC
ANC commonly refers to the African National Congress, a revolutionary movement which became the ruling political party in South Africa in the 1994 election.ANC may also refer to:-Organizations:...
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, Tillfällighetrenas 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. The same year he was also awarded a gold record in Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
for the first time. 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 this show in Northern Europe.
He has been married since 1983 to record company president Marie Ledin, daughter of Stig Anderson
Stig Anderson
Stig 'Stikkan' Erik Leopold Anderson was born in Hova, Sweden, and is best known as the manager of the pop group ABBA.- Polar Music:Anderson was the founder of the Polar Music record label in 1963...
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Discography
- 1972 - Restless mind
- 1973 - Hjärtats rytm
- 1975 - Knivhuggarrock
- 1976 - Natten är ung
- 1977 - Tomas Ledin
- 1978 - Fasten seatbelts
- 1978 - Tagen på bar gärning (live album)
- 1979 - Ut på stan
- 1980 - Looking for a good time
- 1982 - Gränslös
- 1982 - The Human touch
- 1982 - Sommaren är kort
- 1983 - Captured
- 1985 - En galen kväll (live album)
- 1988 - Down on the Pleasure Avenue
- 1990 - Ett samlingsalbum
- 1990 - Tillfälligheternas spel
- 1993 - Du kan lita på mig
- 1996 - T
- 1997 - Sånger att älska till
- 2000 - Vuodet 1972–2000
- 2000 - Djävulen & ängeln
- 2001 - Festen har börjat (samlingsalbum)
- 2002 - Hela vägen
- 2003 - I sommarnattens ljus
- 2003 - Ledin: Just då! (DVD)
- 2004 - Med vidöppna fönster
- 2006 - Plektrum
- 2009 - 500 dagar om året