The singers Benny Andersson, Bjorn Ulvaeus, Anna-Frid Lyngstad and Agnetha Faltskog were formed as ABBA in 1972 but the members had known and worked with each other for several years prior. The reason for the name is that their manager, Stig Anderson, wanted something easier to call them than by their first names which they had originally used to perform.
They entered the Eurovision Song Contest in 1973 with “Ring, Ring”, which came third, and in 1974 they decided to try again and came first with “Waterloo”which introduced them to the world’s music scene. After finding huge international success they released ABBA: The Movie which was a feature length documentary of their 1977 Australian tour.
In 1978 they converted a disused cinema into Polar Music Studio which has been used by various groups including Led Zeppelin and Genesis.
They have received a Georgie Award by the American Guild of Variety Artists, an Edison Award which is the Dutch equivalent of Grammy and a Golden Gramophone from Deutsche Grammophon as well as numerous other musical awards. They are the only pop/rock group ever to have received the Spelmannen prize which is awarded by a jury which has members from the Royal Swedish Academy of Music and Swedish Academy. They were inducted into the Vocal Hall of Fame in 2002 and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by Barry and Robin Gibb in March 2010.
” Under Attack” and “The Day Before You Came” were the last songs ever recorded by ABBA together. By November 1982 the members had started to do other things and their final appearance together as a group was in January 1986 when they were honouring Stig Anderson’s 55thbirthday.
They have never officially announced their disbandment but the members have said it is unlikely they will appear together as ABBA again, although at one time they were offered one billion dollars to do a reunion tour and they did get together again for Mamma Mia: The Party in Stockholm in 2016.
Members:
- Benny Bror Goran Andersson (keyboard/vocals)
- Bjorn Kristian Ulvaeus (guitar/vocals)
- Agnetha Ase Faltskog (vocals)
- Anna-Frid “Frida” Synni Lyngstad (vocals)
Songs
- Elaine (Bjorn Ulvaeus/Benny Andersson)
- I’m A Marionette (Bjorn Ulvaeus/Benny Andersson)
- Take A Chance on Me (Bjorn Ulvaeus/Benny Andersson)
- The Winner Takes It All (Bjorn Ulvaeus/Benny Andersson)
Here they are performing their hit single “Dancing Queen”…
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