Lotta Engberg

Lotta Engberg, a Swedish pop vocalist, first captured nationwide attention during the 1980s through repeated appearances on Melodifestivalen. Throughout the following decade she led a dansband that issued roughly one album annually, then shifted back to solo work in the new millennium, issuing fresh recordings on an unhurried schedule. Born Anna Charlotte Pedersen on March 5, 1963, in Överkalix, Sweden, she launched her performing life in 1980 by singing on the television program Nygammalt. Still billed as Lotta Pedersen, she teamed with Göran Folkestad in 1984 to finish second at that year’s Melodifestivalen with the song “Sankta Cecilia.” After adopting the surname Engberg, she claimed victory at the 1987 contest with the Top 20 single “Fyra Bugg och en Coca-Cola.” Her first full-length album, Fyra Bugg och en Coca-Cola, appeared the same year, followed in short order by 100% (1988). She next joined her husband Anders Engberg to establish the dansband Lotta & Anders Engbergs Orkester, which produced the albums Genom Vatten och Eld (1989), En Gång Till (1990), Världens Bästa Servitris (1991), Stora Rubriker (1992), and Kärlek Gör Mig Tokig (1993). After parting ways with both her spouse and the group, she assembled her own ensemble, Lotta Engbergs Orkester (subsequently shortened to Lotta Engbergs), and released Våra Nya Vingar (1994), Äntligen På Väg (1996), Åh Vad Jag Älskade Dig Just Då (1998), Tjejer & Snubbar (1999), and Vilken Härlig Dag (2000). Returning to a solo path after 2000, Engberg collaborated with Jarl Carlsson on the duet album Kvinna & Man (2005) and issued the holiday collection Jul Hos Mig (2009), which climbed to number two on the Swedish charts.