Editing Benny Andersson (section)

==Early life==
Göran Bror Benny Andersson was born 16 December 1946 in the [[Vasastan, Stockholm|Vasastan]] district of [[Stockholm]] to civil engineer Gösta Andersson (1912–1973) and his wife Laila (1920–1971). His sister Eva-Lis Andersson followed in 1948. Andersson's musical interest was spurred by his father and grandfather (Efraim), who played the [[accordion]]. At the age of six, they bought him one, too, and introduced him to Swedish [[folk music]], [[traditional music]], and [[schlager]]. The first records he owned were "Du Bist Musik" by Italian schlager singer [[Caterina Valente]] and [[Elvis Presley]]'s  "[[Jailhouse Rock (song)|Jailhouse Rock]]".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Tobler |first1=John |title=Abba – Uncensored on the Record |date=2012 |publisher=Coda Books Limited |location=Henley in Arden, Warwickshire, UK |isbn=9781908538239 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-hkbqflhfKoC |access-date=10 August 2021}}</ref> He was especially impressed by the flip side, "Treat Me Nice", as this featured a piano. This variety of different kinds of music influenced him through the years.

At ten, Andersson got his own piano and taught himself to play. He was influenced by [[Brian Jones]], left school at 15 and began to perform at youth clubs. This is when he met his first girlfriend Christina Grönvall, with whom he had two children: Peter (born 1963) and Heléne (born 1965). In early 1964, Benny and Christina joined "Elverkets Spelmanslag" ("The Electricity Board Folk Music Group"); the name was a punning reference to their electric instruments. Their repertoire consisted mainly of instrumentals, including "[[Baby Elephant Walk]]";<ref>{{Cite web |last=Team |first=uDiscover |date=2020-02-06 |title=Benny Andersson |url=https://www.udiscovermusic.com/artist/benny-andersson/ |access-date=2024-06-06 |website=uDiscover Music |language=en-US}}</ref> he also wrote his first songs.