*FEBRUARY 18, 1956 at 2.40 pm at Danderyd's hospital †JUNI 22, 1997
He grew up with his mother (Margit), father (Arne) and brothers (Kenneth and Kjell) in Sollentuna, Sweden.
Ted was singing at the age of three and by the time he was six he had already composed his first song "Sollentunavalsen". As a child he composed several songs and one, "Marknadshambo", was a soundtrack in a movie. Ted’s main influences came from the Beatles!
Ted was a great tennis player and competed at the age of 13. Only Björn Borg managed to beat him!
At this point, Ted had to choose between tennis and music. It became music full time!
Ted often collaborated with his brother - Kenneth wrote all the lyrics and Ted composed all music.
At the age of 12, Ted and his brother Kenneth sent a demo to Stickan Andersson (ABBA’s manager).
However, Stickan told them to contact him again when the songs were in Swedish!
That is just what they did and the rest is history.
Ted’s debut album, “Undringar - 1972” was released when he was 16. It was followed by a song called "Jag vill ha en egen måne", which became a big hit in Sweden.
Kjell managed to collaborate with his younger brothers on the song "Viking" from the album "Upptåg" - 1974.
Ted struggled with mental illness for more than 11 years.
In June 22, 1997, Ted died in front of a train at a commuter train station in Sollentuna.
John Charles Kenneth
Gärdestad
*May 9, 1948 †march 3, 2018
Kenneth was named after his grandfather John.
He was married to Christina with three children: Christoffer, Alexander and Madeleine. The family of Kenneth also had cats.
Kenneth wrote all the lyrics for Ted’s songs and worked as an architect.
When he was younger he played basketball for Turebergs IF but as older he only played golf.
Kenneth released a tribute single in 2006, “Kom, kom i min famn”, about a Swedish harbour town called Grisslehamn.
In 2006, Kenneth got an award from SKAP, Swedish composers of popmusic. This acknowledged that his lyrics were an important part of Ted’s musical career.
In 2017 Kenneth received Orust's big Evert Taube Prize.
At the Grammy Awards, Kenneth received the honorary award on February 8, 2018.
Janne grew up in Bromma, Stockholm, and is rather well-known within the Swedish music industry.
Janne has participated on almost all of Ted’s original albums. Kenneth’s lyrics were important to Ted & so was Janne’s guitar music. So much that it gave the music a NEW dimension and some extra spice.
Below is some information about Janne’s participation on Ted's albums:
1972 Undringar = comp guitar by Björn Ulvaeus, but all the other guitar was played by Janne.
1973 Ted = Janne played both electrical and acoustical guitar on the studio record.
1974 Upptåg = Janne played both electrical and acoustical guitar.
1976 Franska kort = Janne played both electrical and acoustical guitar.
1978 Blue Virgin Isles = it was recorded in the US but Janne didn’t participate in this album. But in 1979 the album was rereleased and two additional songs; “Satellite” in English and in Swedish, was recorded in Stockholm. At this point Janne acted as a producer and played the guitar.
1981 Stormvarning = Janne acted as producer and guitarist.
1994 Äntligen på väg = This was Ted’s comeback! Janne acted as producer/guitarrist & also played an electric sitar.
