Tomas Ledin started his career in 1972 when his first single, "", was a big hit. Other successful songs followed: "" (1973), (covered by
Björn Skifs), "" (1975), "" (1976), and "" (1977). At the beginning of the 1970s, Ledin was influenced by hippie fashion and demonstrated against the
Vietnam War. He also took part in a Swedish stage production of the musical
Godspell in 1975 and performed in 140 concerts in the Swedish
folkparks in 1977. In 1979,
ABBA member
Benny Andersson offered him a chance to record for the group's company Polar Music. The singer joined ABBA on their 1979–1980 tour as a backing vocalist, but also got the opportunity to sing his own composition "Not Bad at All" during the show. Tomas Ledin also appeared on the
ABBA Live DVD and on the
Super Trouper Video. He won the Swedish
Melodifestivalen in 1980 and represented Sweden in the
Eurovision Song Contest that year with "
Just nu!". The song was a big hit in Scandinavia, and also in Greece and Portugal since Ledin recorded an English version, "Right Now!". In 1982, he released the duet "
Never Again" with
Agnetha Fältskog of
ABBA fame; the song reached number one in Chile (in its Spanish version "") and was popular across Europe. Ledin also composed "Take Good Care of Your Children", which Fältskog released in 1983 on her album
Wrap Your Arms Around Me. Another composition by the singer, "I Got Something", was released by
Anni-Frid Lyngstad of
ABBA on her album ''
Something's Going On''. In the 1980s, Ledin was very successful in Scandinavia but his career abroad failed to reach the same level. He nevertheless toured Germany and the Netherlands on a small scale in 1982, and the following year, he played in front of 60,000 people at the Olympic stadium in Berlin, in a show with other international acts. He decided to put an end to his career in 1984 and started to act as a producer for Record Station, his wife's record company. He discovered other singers and successfully produced artists such as
Pugh Rogefeldt and
Magnus Uggla. In 1985, he organized a concert for
ANC featuring several Swedish artists. Three years later, Tomas Ledin started to compose again and wrote songs in English. The album
Down on the Pleasure Avenue was released but was not successful. Ledin was very disappointed but started to compose again, in Swedish this time. He started to enjoy success again in 1990 when he released a compilation and a new album, , and has been one of the best selling artists in Sweden since then. In 2000, 260,000 copies of his compilation album were sold in Sweden, which meant he was awarded three platinum records there. In 2002, he went on the biggest tour ever planned in Scandinavia and performed in 27 shows in Sweden and 8 shows in the rest of Scandinavia. More than 250,000 people saw the show in Northern Europe. Ledin's songs have been turned into a jukebox musical film
En del av mitt hjärta (A Piece of My Heart), which was released in 2019, directed by
Edward af Sillén, who Ledin worked with in 2011 for his stage show Showtime. == Personal life ==