At the age of six Benny Andersson was given an accordion. Four years later he took up the piano, which he proceeeded to play, "for hours every day", which he added, he still does today. After performances at Vällingby youth centre (west of Stockholm) he joined the Hep Stars and began to write songs for Swedish artists like Lill-Babs. Even at an early age he knew that he wanted to be a musician.
In 1974 Abba made their breakthrough during the Eurovision Song Contest in Brighton. During the discussion in Aula Magna Professor Larsen showed a recording of Abba's 1974 performance in Brighton, when they won the competition with the number "Waterloo". After seeing the clip in Aula Magna Benny Andersson revealed that he had never previously seen the recording of the winning number.
After the years with Abba Benny Andersson began to work with musicals, like Chess and Kristina from Duvemåla. This was followed by an increasing focus on folk music, including the development of the Benny Andersson Orchestra. At several points during the conversation in Aula Magna he described his delight in making music, especially folk music, "To play together with others is great fun – you really know you're alive!"
Benny Andersson also delighted the audience with several musical interludes on the grand piano. Commenting on the question of which of his own songs is his favourite, he said, "If I have to choose a song, it would have to be "Birthday Waltz to Mona" (”Födelsedagsvals till Mona”).
Text: Per Larsson