Nilsen fell asleep quietly on Saturday evening with his closest friends around him, the record company Grappa wrote in a press release.
Lillebjørn Nilsen was a central figure in the Norwegian vice wave from the mid-1960s and on into the 1970s.
He wrote songs that have become almost universally owned, to which many people know the lyrics. Like the autobiographical “Stillest guy på sovesal 1”, the eternal summer hit “Bysommer” and the swing jazz song and the Django Reinhardt tribute “Tanta til Beate”.
And then he was the whole of Norway’s guitar teacher. In 1973, “Lillebjørn’s guitar book” appeared, which 50 years later has had 18 editions and sold over 200,000 copies. Many well-known artists have taken their first groping guitar chords for instruction from this book.
In 2023, Lillebjørn Nilsen received the honorary award during the distribution of the Spellemann prize.
Lillebjørn Nilsen could play several instruments. In addition to the guitar, he also played, among other things, the ukulele, banjo and harmonica. Here he plays the fiddle in connection with the launch of the play “Postcard from Lillebjørn” at the Oslo Nye theater in 2012.
In 2017, Lillebjørn Nilsen received the St. Hallvards medal, which is the highest award for the city of Oslo.
In connection with the terrorism trial after the 22 July terror started in 2012, thousands of people gathered at Youngstorget in Oslo to sing “Children of the rainbow” in protest. The terrorist thought the song was Marxist indoctrination of children.
Oslogut and guitar mate
Bjørn Falk Nilsen was born in Oslo on 21 December 1950. Several of the songs he wrote were inspired by growing up in the capital, such as “Alexander Kiellands Plass”.
In 1965, he helped start the vice club Dolphins in Oslo. There he met Bjørn Morisse, among others, with whom he formed the vice duo Young Norwegians.
Because Morisse was the tallest, he was called Store-Bjørn, while Nilsen was nicknamed Lille-Bjørn, which he took with him when he pursued a solo career in the 1970s.
Lillebjørn Nilsen and Steinar Ofsdal met each other when they attended the music department at Hartvig Nissen’s school in Oslo. They had several collaborations, and also released records together.
The swing jazz group Hot Club de Norvege were street musicians when Lillebjørn Nilsen invited them to the studio to record “Tanta til Beate” in 1982. Here in connection with Hot Club de Norvege celebrating 20 years in 1999.
Gitarkameratene was one of the most popular groups in Norway in the late 1980s and early 1990s. From left: Lillebjørn Nilsen, Jan Eggum, Halvdan Sivertsen and Øystein Sunde.
At the end of the 1970s, Nilsen was in the group Ballade! together with Lars Klevstrand, Åse Kleveland and Birgitte Grimstad.
And in 1988 a collaboration started with Øystein Sunde, Halvdan Sivertsen and Jan Eggum. They called themselves Gitarkameratene, and achieved extensive touring and two record releases before the collaboration ended in 1994.
Success as a solo artist
But it is perhaps as a solo artist that Lillebjørn Nilsen left the deepest traces. The breakthrough came in the same year that he published the guitar book, in 1973.
Then came the album “Portrett” with, among other things, “Children of the rainbow” and “Alle duene”.
“Children of the rainbow” took on a new meaning after the terrorist attacks in the Government Quarter and on Utøya in 2011. 40,000 people and Nilsen himself sang the song at Youngstorget in 2012 to show support for the bereaved and victims of the terror.
Nilsen also released the album “På stengrunn” together with, among others, Kari Svendsen, Steinar Ofsdal and Lars Klevstrand, where he had written music for several poems by Rudolf Nilsen.
Lillebjørn Nilsen’s tribute to urban summer, preferably in Oslo.
Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, a number of records and tours followed. In 1993, the album “Nære Nilsen” came out, which was his last album with new material.
In total, Lillebjørn Nilsen received six Spellemannprize, either as a solo artist or together with others, including the honorary prize he received in 2023.
In 2013, he was inducted into the Rockheim Hall of Fame.
In addition, he has received a number of other honorary awards, cultural awards, and was made a knight of the 1st class of the Order of St. Olav in 2022.
Lillebjørn’s talent brought him into the limelight as a shy 15-year-old. This is his own story about music, fame and an eternal longing for peace.