Alice Babs

Hildur Alice Nilson (26 January 1924 – 11 February 2014), known by her stage name Alice Babs, was a Swedish singer. She worked in a wide number of genres – Swedish folklore, Elizabethan songs and opera. While she was best known internationally as a jazz singer, Babs also competed as Sweden's first annual competition entrant in the Eurovision Song Contest 1958. In 1972 she was named Sweden's Royal Court Singer, the first non-opera singer as such.

Career
After making her breakthrough in the film Swing it, magistern! ('Swing It, Teacher!', 1940), she appeared in more than a dozen Swedish-language films. Despite being cast as the well-behaved, good-hearted, cheerful girl, the youth culture forming with Babs as its icon caused outrage among members of the older generation. A vicar called the Babs cult the "foot and mouth disease of cultural life".

A long and productive period of collaboration with Duke Ellington began in 1963. Among other works, Babs participated in performances of Ellington's second and third Sacred Concerts which he had written originally for her. Her voice had a range of more than three octaves; Ellington said that when she was not available to sing the parts that he had written for her, he had to use three different singers.

In 1963, her recording of "After You've Gone" (Fontana) reached No. 29 on the British New Musical Express charts.

In 1972, she contributed to the recording of "Auntie", a Dutch song commemorating the beginning of British Broadcasting Corporation's radio broadcasts 50 years before.

Personal life
In 1943, Babs married Nils Ivar Sjöblom (1919–2011). Their three children are Lilleba Sjöblom Lagerbäck (born 1945), Lars-Ivar (Lasse) Sjöblom (born 1948), and Titti Sjöblom (born 1949).



Between 1973 and 2004, Babs and her husband resided in Costa del Sol, Spain, while still working in Sweden and internationally. In their later years, they returned to Sweden.

Awards
She was awarded the Illis quorum by the government of Sweden in 2003.

Death
Babs died of complications from Alzheimer's disease at age 90 on 11 February 2014 in Stockholm.

Discography
Alice Babs' discography includes more than 800 recordings since her debut with Joddlarflickan in 1939. The following is a list of her recordings available on CD, listed chronologically from when they were originally recorded.
 * Vax Records	CD 1003	Alice Babs & Nisse Linds Hot-trio, originally recorded: 1939–41
 * Naxos	8.120759	Swingflickan, originally recorded: 1939–44
 * Vax Records	CD 1000	Early recordings 1939–1949
 * Klara skivan	KLA 7802-2	Joddlarflickan (2 CDs), originally recorded: 1939–51
 * Phontastic	PHONTCD 9302	Swing it! Alice Babs!, originally recorded: 1939–53
 * Sonora	548493-2	Swing it, Alice! (2 CDs), originally recorded: 1939–63
 * Sonora	529315-2	Ett glatt humör, originally recorded: 1940–42
 * Odeon	7C138-35971/2	Alice Babs, originally recorded: 1942–1947
 * Metronome	8573-84676-2	Guldkorn, originally recorded: 1951–58
 * Metronome	4509-93189-2	Metronomeåren, originally recorded: 1951–58
 * Metronome	5050467-1616-2-7	Alice Babs bästa (2 CDs), originally recorded: 1951–61
 * Bear Family	BCD 15809-AH	Mitsommernacht, originally recorded: 1953–59
 * Bear Family	BCD 15814-AH	Lollipop, originally recorded: 1953–59
 * EMI	7243-5-96148-2-3	Diamanter (2 CDs), originally recorded: 1958–60
 * EMI	7243-5-20153-2-0	Just you, just me, originally recorded: 1958–72
 * Pickwick	751146	Regntunga skyar, originally recorded: 1958–72
 * Metronome	4509-95438-2	Swe-Danes Scandinavian Shuffle, originally recorded: 1959
 * RCA	74321-12719-2	Alice and Wonderband, originally recorded: 1959
 * Real Gone Music RGM-0496 Serenade to Sweden, Alice Babs and Duke Ellington, originally recorded: 1963
 * Swedish Society Discofil	SWECD 401	Sjung med oss mamma (Alice Tegnér), originally recorded: 1963
 * Swedish Society Discofil	SWECD 400	Alice Babs, originally recorded: 1964
 * Swedish Society Discofil	SWECD 402	Scandinavian songs (Svend Asmussen) originally recorded: 1964
 * Prophone	PCD 050	Yesterday, originally recorded: 1966–75
 * Vax Records VAXCD 1006 "Illusion" (with Jan Johansson and Georg Riedels orchestra) Originally recorded 1966
 * Vax Records CD 1008 "As time goes by" Alice Babs with Bengt Hallbergs trio and Arne Domnérus Big Band with Svend Asmussen. Originally recorded 1960–1969
 * EMI	7243 5398942 2 	Den olydiga ballongen/Hej du måne, originally recorded: 1968–76
 * Prophone	PCD 045	What a joy!, originally recorded: 1972–80
 * Bluebell	ABCD 052	There's something about me, originally recorded: 1973–78
 * Prophone	PCD 021	Serenading Duke Ellington, originally recorded: 1974–75
 * Swedish Society Discofil	SCD 3003	Om sommaren sköna – Sjunger Alice Tegnér, originally recorded: 1974
 * Bluebell	ABCD 005	Far away star, originally recorded: 1977
 * RCA Victor	74321-62363-2	Swingtime again, originally recorded: 1998
 * Sony	SK 61797	A church blues for Alice, originally recorded: 1999
 * Four Leaf Clover Records FLCDVD 8001 Swingtime Again with Charlie Norman recorded 1999
 * Prophone	PCD 062	Don't be blue, originally recorded: 2001
 * Vax Records	Vi Minns Alice Babs released: 2014