Biography

Lotta Engberg is a Swedish pop singer who rose to national stardom as a Melodifestivalen contestant in the 1980s. She fronted a dansband throughout the '90s, releasing an album more or less every year, and she resumed her solo career after the turn of the century, releasing new material at her leisure. Born Anna Charlotte Pedersen on March 5, 1963, in Överkalix, Sweden, she began her performance career in 1980 as a singer on the television show Nygammalt. In 1984, when she was still known as Lotta Pedersen, she and duet partner Göran Folkestad won second place at that year's Melodifestivalen with "Sankta Cecilia." A few years later, after changing her name to Lotta Engberg, she won the 1987 Melodifestivalen with the Top 20 hit "Fyra Bugg och en Coca-Cola." Engberg made her full-length album debut around this same time with Fyra Bugg och en Coca-Cola (1987), followed shortly thereafter by 100% (1988). She subsequently formed the dansband Lotta & Anders Engbergs Orkester with her husband, Anders Engberg, and they released several albums: Genom Vatten och Eld (1989), En Gång Till (1990), Världens Bästa Servitris (1991), Stora Rubriker (1992), and Kärlek Gör Mig Tokig (1993). Engberg left her husband and his band at this point and formed a dansband of her own, Lotta Engbergs Orkester (later known as Lotta Engbergs), with which she released several more albums: Våra Nya Vingar (1994), Äntligen På Väg (1996), Åh Vad Jag Älskade Dig Just Då (1998), Tjejer & Snubbar (1999), and Vilken Härlig Dag (2000). After the turn of the century, Engberg resumed her solo career, releasing Kvinna & Man (2005), a duet album with Jarl Carlsson, and Jul Hos Mig (2009), a holiday album that reached number two on the Swedish charts. ~ Jason Birchmeier, Rovi