Lill-Babs

Lill-Babs

Lill-Babs is the stage name of Barbro Margareta Svensson, a Swedish singer and actress from Järvsö, Sweden. She is active from the 1950s and becomes one of Sweden’s best known singers. She is known for pop material and for a long career across recording, stage, film and television.

Early life and first performances

Svensson makes her first public performance at Barnens dag in Järvsö in 1953. She soon begins singing with Lasse Schönning’s orchestra. In 1954 she is heard on the radio programme Morgonkvisten, where Simon Brehm discovers her and takes her to Stockholm. She makes her professional singing debut at the Bal Palais restaurant and releases her first record the same year, a gramophone disc with the songs “Min mammas boogie” and “Svar till ‘Ung och kär’”.

Brehm manages her until his death in 1967 and gives her the name Lill-Babs, a play on Alice Babs, who is already well known at the time.

Recording career

In 1959 she records Stikkan Anderson’s “Är du kär i mej ännu Klas-Göran?”, which becomes a major hit. She is also widely associated with the same title song as a signature number. Her first music album appears in 1954, and she later releases two English-language solo singles for the United States market.

Eurovision, Melodifestivalen and international work

Lill-Babs represents Sweden at the Eurovision Song Contest in Cannes in 1961 with “April, april”. Before that, Siw Malmkvist performs the song in the Swedish national final, but Lill-Babs is selected for the contest. She takes part in Melodifestivalen three times, in 1960, 1961 and 1973, without winning.

After Eurovision she starts a career in West Germany, where she appears in several films.

Stage, film and television

She makes her television debut in 1957 and her first folkpark show under her own name in 1958. She performs at folkparks throughout Sweden. She also makes her theatre debut in 1958 in the play Fly mig en greve at Nöjeskatten theatre.

Her film appearances include Svenska Floyd and En nolla för mycket. On stage she performs revue at Kar de Mumma at Folkan in the 1970s, and she plays Annie Oakley in Annie Get Your Gun in Scandinavium in Gothenburg.

On television she presents Hemma hos Lill-Babs, Morgonlust, Vem tar vem and Cocktail on SVT. In 1983 she appears as the main guest on Här är ditt liv, and in 2010 she takes part in Så mycket bättre on TV4. In 2017 she appears as “Gugge” in the SVT series Bonusfamiljen; the script is changed after her death. A two-part documentary, Lill-Babs, Leva livet, is broadcast on TV4 in 2017.

Personal life and later recognition

She is married to singer Lars Berghagen from 1965 to 1968 and to goalkeeper Kjell Kaspersen from 1969 to 1973. She is the mother of three daughters: Monica Svensson, Malin Berghagen and Kristin Kaspersen.

She publishes the autobiography Hon är jag in 1996. In 2017 she is inducted into the Swedish Music Hall of Fame. She dies on 3 April 2018 after suffering from cancer and heart failure.