AGNETHA FALTSKOG

When I was 25, Abba was formed. After Abba I made three solo albums. Maybe I have been productive enough.

I must be allowed to be as I am.

My path has not been determined. I shall have more experiences and pass many more milestones.

It has always felt like a failure that Bjorn and I couldn't keep our family together. You never get it back, but to this day I don't regret splitting up. The reason behind our separation is one of those things I definitely don't want to go into!

I would like to sing the theme tune of a big film - something like 'Titanic.'

It's strange that the newspapers don't see a connection between their false revelations about my private life and my need for seclusion and security.

Performing live is not my favourite. I am more of a recording person; I prefer to be private. I didn't mind doing videos, even if they came very close with the camera. I can take that, but walking on stage in concert and singing live, that is a bit difficult.

I just want to live in peace and quiet.

I spend a lot of time with the grandchildren. They love it when we sing together. It's fantastic to hear them, and they really can sing. I don't talk to them so much about 'Abba' and the past, but as they get older, they will become more aware.

I can spot empty flattery and know exactly where I stand. In the end it's really only my own approval or disapproval that means anything.

My life contains so many other things; I have my children, my grandchildren, my two dogs and a big place in the country. I have my own life.

When I'm living in the world of luxury and celebrity, which is where I found myself for a large part of my life, it's a walk-on part. Not a vital necessity, like it is for so many people. I enjoy it but I can see right through it!

The press has always written that I am a recluse and a mysterious woman, but I am more down-to-earth than they think.

I have always had strong maternal instincts. Even when I was still a child I cut out pictures of prams from newspapers and imagined the feeling of pushing my own pram through fresh winter snow and seeing the wheels' tracks behind me in the snow.

There was a time when the music fell silent. Both within me and around me.

I have one pug and one Czechoslovakian dog called Prazsky krysarik.

I may have aimed too high sometimes, asked too much of myself and demanded too little from those around me.

I'm a country bumpkin. I'm not a showgirl.

I sing just for fun.

I am uninterested in appearing in newspapers and on television. Many people think I am striking a pose - that I want to create a sense of shyness. But it's just not something I want to do. I overdosed.

There is a danger of changing too much in the search for perfection.

No one who has experienced facing a screaming, boiling, hysterical audience can avoid feeling shivers in the spine. It's a thin line between celebration and menace.

This idea of trying to repeat a success doesn't interest me. It's only really done to make money.

I was so tired once 'Abba' was over and just wanted to be calm and with my children. I married, was in 'Abba,' had my children, divorced, all in ten years. I wonder how I managed it, but I was young.

When I was 15 I became a full-time singer in a band. At 18 I made my first record.