Artists

Formed in 2010, Urban Cone has enjoyed substantial success in their native Sweden with their debut album, 2013’s 'Our Youth', and 2015’s 'Polaroid Memories', both released on Polar Music.

Something of a wunderkind and one of the most melodically gifted songwriters Sweden has ever seen, Ted Gärdestad was only 15 years old when he released his first album on Polar in 1972. This and his following three hit albums were all produced by ABBA’s Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus. The core of Ted’s success, however, was the extraordinary songs he wrote together with his lyricist brother Kenneth. Today, tunes such as Jag vill ha en egen måne, Sol, vind och vatten, Eiffeltornet, Chapeau-claque and many others are regarded as timeless classics.

For the first decade of Polar’s existence, no group was more successful than the Hootenanny Singers. Counting ABBA’s Björn Ulvaeus among its members, the group started out as a folk music combo, branching out into light-pop, and even some 1960s-style beat music.
 

Tomas Ledin is one of the most popular artists Sweden has ever seen. In his home-country, he had already scored several domestic hits when he joined Polar Music in 1979, but his new label provided him with immediate international exposure. He sang backing vocals for ABBA on their tours of North America and Europe that year and was even afforded a solo spot performing his first Polar single, Not Bad At All, during the shows.

Husband and wife duo Svenne and Lotta Hedlund both had a background in The Hep Stars, Sweden’s biggest band in the 1960s, counting ABBA’s Benny Andersson among its members. Signing to Polar in the early 1970s, Svenne & Lotta scored a major hit with their first album for the label, 1973’s Oldies But Goodies, consisting of the duo’s versions of American hits from the late 1950s and early 1960s. The album was particularly successful in Denmark, where Oldies But Goodies broke The Beatles’ sales record.

Lena Andersson was no more than 15 years old when she was discovered by Polar owner Stig Anderson, who heard her singing on the radio. In the spring of 1971, Lena’s first single, Är det konstigt att man längtar bort nån gång (a Swedish version of Buffy Saint-Marie’s I’m Gonna Be A Country Girl Again) became a smash hit. To this day, it remains a well-known Swedish classic.

By far the biggest act to record for Polar – and one of the major pop bands of all time – ABBA was formed in 1972, first recording under the name Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Anni-Frid. Their victory with Waterloo in the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest saw an international breakthrough on a scale that was unprecedented for a group with its roots outside the English-speaking world. Hits such as Mamma Mia, Fernando, Dancing Queen and Knowing Me, Knowing You cemented ABBA’s popularity on the global arena.

Mainly known as a member of ABBA, Frida also enjoyed a successful solo career on Polar. Famously, she recorded the original Swedish version of ABBA’s Fernando for her 1975 album Frida ensam (“Frida alone”), which spent six weeks at number one in Sweden.

A highly popular singer and songwriter in Sweden since she was 17, Agnetha Fältskog would score even bigger hits when she joined Polar. Mainly as a quarter of ABBA, but also with her solo recordings, the first of which was the Wrap Your Arms Around album, issued in 1983. Produced by Mike Chapman, fresh from his work with Blondie, the album spawned a hit with The Heat Is On, which reached number one in Sweden.

The core songwriter/producer team of ABBA, Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson, first met each other in the summer of 1966. Within weeks of that initial meeting they had written their first song together.

One of the first great Swedish pop groups from the early 1990’s, Beagle secured a record deal with Polar based on the first two demo songs it recorded. Signed by Stikkan Anderson, the group released two albums produced by Martin Hennel – ”Sound on Sound” (1992) and ”Within” (1993).

Lambretta was originally formed as an all-male band in 1993. Joined by lead singer Linda Sundblad three years later, their debut album, Breakfast, was issued by Universal Music in 1999. Their follow-up, 2001’s eponymous Lambretta, was the group’s first album to be released on the Universal-owned Polar Music label.