Robert Zero Karl Oskar Broberg (2 July 1940 â 21 July 2015), originally Robert Karl Oskar Broberg â born in the RÃÂ¥sunda district of Solna parish in Stockholm County, died in Gustav Vasa (district) parish in Stockholm â was a Swedish singer, comedian, artist, composer, musician and painter.
As an artist, he used various names: Robban or Robban Broberg (1957âÂÂ1968), Robert Karl-Oskar Broberg (1968âÂÂ1974), Zero (1974âÂÂ1982) and, starting in 1982, Robert Broberg, the name he used until his death. However, "Robban" remained a nickname for the Swedish and wider Scandinavian public throughout Broberg's career.
Broberg was the son of engineer Georg Broberg (1906âÂÂ1995) and Valborg Lindgren (1909âÂÂ1997). He went to Konstfack in 1957 and made up a story about having a skiffle group. In reality, he didn't have a band, but word spread and he was offered to play with his group at the dance restaurant Lorry in . Then he quickly collected musician friends and they started rehearsing. Robban (as he was then known ) eventually he started writing own songs. The desire and ability to play with words was there from the start, a talent that he developed further through his many humorous texts.
It was through Hylands hörna (lit. âÂÂâÂÂHyland's CornerâÂÂâÂÂ) on TV that Broberg really established himself. He got involved in a revue at Gröna Lund in 1965 where he had success with his own song "Koftan". His first major record success was "Maria-Therese", a song that reached first place on Svensktoppen in 1967. Broberg submitted the song to participate in Melodifestivalen, but was not selected. Instead, it became a big hit after his appearance on the TV program ÃÂnskeprogrammet frÃÂ¥n Cirkus. Then came a series of songs, both funny, burlesque, beautiful and romantic. Examples include "Det som göms i snö", "Jag mÃÂ¥ste hejda mig" and the breakthrough song "" (1967), which is about two boats that fall in love with each other.
In 1967, he and his much older colleague Julia Cæsar made acclaimed appearances on the radio program Thores trekvart, the same year he was the host of the radio. In 1968, he played the lead role in and wrote the music for the feature film .
At this time, Broberg made several popular entertainment programs on TV, including Tjejjer, which was directed by Lasse Hallström, with a number of ironically hilarious songs about various female characters from Robban. The program was entered as a competition entry at the Montreux Comedy Festival in 1970. He made children's programs such as , where he appeared partly as himself, partly dressed as a robot.
Shortly thereafter, he broke with his image as a humorous and slightly crazy wordsmith, which had already made him one of the country's most appreciated younger artists. The tone became more serious and more questioning, and on the following albums, Broberg approached the progressive music movement with titles such as âÂÂâÂÂVem är det som Bromsar & Vem är det som Skjuter PÃÂ¥?âÂÂâÂÂ. He made it clear that he did not want to be called Robban anymore and in the 1970s also appeared under the name Zero.
During the latter half of the 1970s, Broberg found himself at a dead end and considered quitting as an artist. In 1976, he left Sweden and settled in California and later New York for a few years. After a period of experimentation, he made a comeback with the successful one-man show in Stockholm.
During the 1980s, a series of successful one-man shows followed at the in Stockholm, where Robert Broberg offered a wordy mix of music and stand-up. New songs such as "Vatten", "Killa mig pÃÂ¥ ryggenâÂÂ, and "Spring inte sÃÂ¥ fort, pappa" became hits.
In 1989, he received the Povel Ramel . The same year, he appeared in the short film Godnatt, herr luffare!. In 1991, he did the anniversary show "MÃÂ¥larock" which, after a tour around the country, filled two performances at the Globen in Stockholm to capacity. During the 1990s, he did several successful shows that toured the country and ended at the Globen.
During the 2000s, his songs and stage shows increasingly became about life, aging and death.
For many years, Sveriges Radio had a whistle as a vignette between programs when it said "This is Sveriges Radio P3". Broberg was the one who made the whistle.
Robert Broberg was first married from 1963 to 1975 to Eva Myhre (born 1937) from Norway and had two daughters (born 1963 and 1966 respectively) and a son (born 1972).
In a cohabitation in the 1980s with Anastasia von Zweigbergk (born 1956), granddaughter of , he had a third daughter (born 1981). They also collaborated on some of Broberg's albums.
He was married for the second time from 1997 to 1999 to Eva Bolin (born 1959), who is the mother of his fourth daughter (born 1990).
In his last years, Robert Broberg withdrew from the limelight and publicity as his health deteriorated. He died from Parkinson's disease on 21 July 2015 at the age of 75.
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