The Most Famous

SINGERS from Norway

This page contains a list of the greatest Norwegian Singers. The pantheon dataset contains 4,381 Singers, 57 of which were born in Norway. This makes Norway the birth place of the 13th most number of Singers behind Canada, and India.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Norwegian Singers of all time. This list of famous Norwegian Singers is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Norwegian Singers.

1. Anni-Frid Lyngstad (b. 1945)

With an HPI of 77.96, Anni-Frid Lyngstad is the most famous Norwegian Singer. Her biography has been translated into 64 different languages on wikipedia.

Anni-Frid Synni Lyngstad (born 15 November 1945), also known simply as Frida, is a Norwegian-born Swedish singer who is best known as one of the founding members and lead singers of the pop band ABBA. Courtesy titles Princess Reuss and Countess of Plauen are also in use due to her third marriage. Born in Bjørkåsen (Ballangen), Norway, to a Norwegian mother and a German father, she grew up in Torshälla, Sweden, and started her first solo career there, as a jazz singer in 1967, through a talent competition called New Faces. She won the competition with her song "En ledig dag", leading to a television appearance on Hylands Hörna on Dagen H; as a result, she was signed by EMI, and in turn was signed by Stig Anderson's record label, Polar Music, after years of releasing several singles and an album, Frida under the earlier record label. She then had moderate success in Sweden, as she was a contestant for Melodifestivalen 1969 with her song "Härlig är vår jord". Lyngstad did not reach international fame, however, until she joined ABBA, who have sold over 150 million albums and singles worldwide, making the group, which included her second husband Benny Andersson, one of the best-selling music acts in history. After the break-up of ABBA, she continued an international solo singing career with mixed success, releasing the albums Something's Going On (1982) and Shine (1984); the latter being her last international album. In 1996, Lyngstad recorded her final album in Swedish, Djupa andetag (Deep Breaths), released by Anderson Records, before retiring from music.

2. Morten Harket (b. 1959)

With an HPI of 59.34, Morten Harket is the 2nd most famous Norwegian Singer. His biography has been translated into 29 different languages.

Morten Harket (Norwegian pronunciation: [mʊ̂ʈːn̩ ˈhɑ̀ɾkət]; born 14 September 1959) is a Norwegian singer and songwriter who is the lead vocalist of the synthpop/rock band a-ha. a-ha has released 11 studio albums to date [as of 2023], and topped the charts internationally after their breakthrough hit "Take On Me" in 1985. Harket has also released six solo albums. Before joining a-ha in 1982, Harket had appeared on the Oslo club scene as the singer for blues outfit Souldier Blue. Harket was named a Knight First Class of the Order of St. Olav by King Harald for his services to Norwegian music and his international success.

3. Kirsten Flagstad (1895 - 1962)

With an HPI of 56.86, Kirsten Flagstad is the 3rd most famous Norwegian Singer. Her biography has been translated into 30 different languages.

Kirsten Malfrid Flagstad (12 July 1895 – 7 December 1962) was a Norwegian opera singer, who was the outstanding Wagnerian soprano of her era. Her triumphant debut in New York on 2 February 1935 is one of the legends of opera. Giulio Gatti-Casazza, the longstanding General Manager of the Metropolitan Opera said, “I have given America two great gifts — Caruso and Flagstad.” Called "the voice of the century", she ranks among the greatest singers of the 20th century. Desmond Shawe-Taylor wrote of her in the New Grove Dictionary of Opera: "No one within living memory surpassed her in sheer beauty and consistency of line and tone."

4. Mari Boine (b. 1956)

With an HPI of 55.47, Mari Boine is the 4th most famous Norwegian Singer. Her biography has been translated into 27 different languages.

Mari Boine (born Mari Brit Randi Boine, 8 November 1956) is a Norwegian Sámi singer. She combined a form of Sámi joik singing with rock. In 2008, she became a professor of musicology at Nesna University College.

5. Nora Brockstedt (1923 - 2015)

With an HPI of 52.15, Nora Brockstedt is the 5th most famous Norwegian Singer. Her biography has been translated into 23 different languages.

Nora Brockstedt (20 January 1923 – 5 November 2015) was a Norwegian singer. She was first nationally known through being part of the musical quintet The Monn Keys. In her last years, she focused more on the jazz genre, with successful albums like As Time Goes By (JazzAvdelingen, 2004) and Christmas Songs (JazzAvdelingen, 2005). She sang jazz in the 1960s, but was more known for her 'conventional' pop songs. She died after a short illness at Ullevaal Hospital in Oslo on 5 November 2015.

6. Sissel Kyrkjebø (b. 1969)

With an HPI of 51.42, Sissel Kyrkjebø is the 6th most famous Norwegian Singer. Her biography has been translated into 30 different languages.

Sissel Kyrkjebø (Norwegian pronunciation: [ˈsɪ̀sːl̩ ˈçʏ̀ʁçəˌbøː]; born 24 June 1969), also simply known as Sissel, is a Norwegian soprano. Sissel is considered one of the world's top crossover sopranos. Her musical style ranges from pop recordings and folk songs, to classical vocals and operatic arias. She sings mainly in English and Norwegian and has also sung songs in Spanish, Swedish, Danish, Irish, Italian, French, Russian, Icelandic, Faroese, German, Neapolitan, Māori, Japanese and Latin. She rose to prominence in Norway in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and her cover version of Ole Paus' song "Innerst i sjelen" gained wide popularity in the 1990s. She is well known for singing the Olympic Hymn (Hymne Olympique) at the opening and closing ceremonies of the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway; for duets with Plácido Domingo and Charles Aznavour at the "Christmas in Vienna" concert of 1994, José Carreras, Andrea Bocelli, Bryn Terfel, Josh Groban, Neil Sedaka, Mario Frangoulis, Russell Watson, Brian May, Tommy Körberg, Diana Krall, Warren G, Dee Dee Bridgewater and The Chieftains; and her participation on the Titanic film soundtrack. Sissel received her first U.S. Grammy nominations on 6 December 2007 for a collaboration with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Spirit of the Season, a collection of songs from the choir's 2006 Christmas concert at Temple Square, was nominated for the Best Classical Crossover Album of the Year, as well as Best Engineered Classical Album.Sissel's combined solo record sales (not including soundtracks and other albums to which she contributed) amount to 10 million albums sold, most of them in Norway, a country with 5 million people. Her albums have also sold well in Sweden, Denmark and Japan. Together with Odd Nordstoga, they are the only Norwegian artists to have an album go 11 times platinum in album sales for Strålande jul (Glorious Christmas).In Norway she is mostly known as Sissel Kyrkjebø; she started using her first name mononymously abroad later in her career. Her first name 'Sissel' is a Norwegian variant of 'Cecilia'. This is a popular first name from Saint Cecilia, the patron saint of church music. Her last name means "church farm" or "church field", and may be derived from an agricultural property owned by or located near the local church.

7. Kirsti Sparboe (b. 1946)

With an HPI of 51.21, Kirsti Sparboe is the 7th most famous Norwegian Singer. Her biography has been translated into 23 different languages.

Kirsti Sparboe (born 7 December 1946) is a Norwegian musical performer and an actress. Most of her musical career has been built on participation in the widely-popular Eurovision Song Contest in which she competed three times and scored a grand total of four points. Kirsti Sparboe was born on 7 December 1946 in Tromsø, Norway. She first participated in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1965 when she was 18, with the song "Karusell", which came in 13th place. She then participated in the 1966 Norwegian pre-selection for the Eurovision Song Contest, with the song "Gi Meg Fri", which came in second. In 1967, her song "Dukkemann" won the pre-selection, and came in 14th place in Eurovision. She also participated in the 1968 Norwegian pre-selection, and would have gone on to represent Norway in 1968, but the song she performed ("Jag har aldri vært så glad i no'en som deg") was disqualified after there were accusations that it was a plagiarism of a popular Cliff Richard song called "Summer Holiday". She also covered the winning song of that year, Spain's "La La La", in Norwegian. She represented Norway once more in 1969 with the song "Oj, oj, oj, så glad jeg skal bli" in 1969, which finished in last place. This song was recorded in four languages (Norwegian, Swedish, German, and French), and years later a "Grand Jubilee" version entitled "Oj Oj Oj, Grand Prix Jubilee", was released. Sparboe participated in the 1970 German selection for the Eurovision Song Contest after Norway, Finland, Portugal, and Sweden refused to participate for that year. She sang "Pierre Der Clochard", and ended in fourth place. Sparboe also covered 1971's winning song "Un Banc, Un Arbre, Une Rue" in Norwegian, and also 1970's winning song, "All Kinds of Everything". That cover can be heard in the "external links" section. Since the Eurovision Song Contest, she has released singles mostly in Germany, where she found moderate success. She also showed off her acting talents for a one-off BBC TV Show, Jon, Brian, Kirsti And Jon, in 1980.

People

Pantheon has 58 people classified as Norwegian singers born between 1845 and 1999. Of these 58, 49 (84.48%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Norwegian singers include Anni-Frid Lyngstad, Morten Harket, and Mari Boine. The most famous deceased Norwegian singers include Kirsten Flagstad, Nora Brockstedt, and Nina Grieg. As of April 2024, 3 new Norwegian singers have been added to Pantheon including Morten Harket, Kristoffer Rygg, and Dagny.