Lill-Babs

Barbro Margareta Svensson (9 March 1938 – 3 April 2018), known by her stage name Lill-Babs, was a Swedish singer, actress and television host. From the early 1950s until her death in 2018, she was one of Sweden's best-known and most popular singers. She represented Sweden in the 1961 Eurovision Song Contest in Cannes with the song "April, april". She was also well known for the song "Är du kär i mej ännu Klas-Göran?" ("Are You Still in Love with Me, Klas-Göran?").

Early life and career

Lill-Babs was born Barbro Svensson in Järvsö, 290 km (180 mi) north of Stockholm. She lived with her parents, Ragnar and Britta Svensson, for nine years in a small cottage without running water. She first sang in a church at age 11. Her first public appearance was with a colleague of her father accompanying her on the accordion.

Svensson's first public performance was at Barnens dag in Järvsö 1953. Soon after, she started singing with Lasse Schönning's orchestra. She was "discovered" when she sang on the radio program Morgonkvisten ("Early Morning") in 1954. Simon Brehm, a musician and record producer, liked her and took her to Stockholm where she made her professional singing debut at the Bal Palais restaurant. Brehm was Svensson's manager until his death in 1967. He gave Svensson her stage name "Lill-Babs", a play on words as a connection to the older, and at that time better known, singer Alice Babs. She released her first music album in 1954, a gramophone record with two songs: "Min mammas boogie" ("My Mamma's Boogie") and "Svar till 'Ung och kär'" ("Answer to 'Young And In Love'"). Soon afterwards, finding herself pregnant, she returned to Järvsö and gave birth to a daughter, Monica.

Lill-Babs made her television debut in 1957 and her first folkpark show using her birth name in 1958. She visited every folk park in Sweden during her long career