The Swedish disco-pop quartet ABBA remains one of the most popular bands of all-time
worldwide -- from Australia to Russia, ABBA reigns supreme, their music perennially popular in
European nightclubs and "discotheques" and in gay clubs throughout the English-speaking world.
Despite breaking up in 1982, the members of ABBA have gone on to successful solo careers in
Sweden, and the band itself continues to sell millions of albums a year internationally. Like Elvis,
ABBA has spawned "tribute" acts, fanzines and conventions, which draw thousands of obsessed
fans. Thanks to recent reissues of their albums, a 1995 Australian movie in which the band's
music is prominently featured (Muriel's Wedding), and covers by popular groups such as Erasure,
ABBA has found new fans worldwide, too young to remember the ABBA heyday of the mid-1970s.
ABBA's roots go back to Stockholm, Sweden in the early 1970s, where Bjorn Ulvaeus sang and
played guitar for the Hootenanny Singers, a popular folk-rock group, and his friend Benny
Andersson played keyboard for The Hep Stars, a pop band. Both men also worked as session
musicians at Stockholm's Polar Studio, where they wrote songs together and with Polar's owner,
Stig Anderson, who later became ABBA's manager. Both Ulvaeus and Andersson were involved
with talented female singers -- Ulvaeus with top-charting pop vocalist Agnetha Faltskog (who also
played Mary Magdalene in a production of Jesus Christ Superstar) and Andersson with
Norwegian-born jazz singer Anni-Frid "Frida" Lyngstad. Eager to collaborate, the two couples
recorded the song "People Need Love," which was a surprise hit in Europe. The success of their
first single won the group an invitation to participate in the 1973 Swedish heat of the much-reviled
Eurovision Song Contest. Going under the clumsy moniker "Bjorn, Benny, Agnetha and Frida," the
group entered the song "Ring Ring," which, though it went on to become a popular song in
Europe, did not win the contest. Despite this setback, the group continued on; Bjorn and Agnetha
married later that year. After working on new material and changing their name to the
palindromic, universal acronym "ABBA" (the initials of the members' first names), the group
entered the 1974 Eurovision contest with the song "Waterloo." Like most of their material, the
song was written in English and featured Faltskog and Lyngstad on lead vocals. ABBA won top
prize in Sweden and went on to the international finals in England, where they became the first
(and only) Swedish band to win the cloying continental competition. "Waterloo" became a hit
throughout Europe, even reaching the Top 10 in the U.S. and U.K. After their next few singles
flopped, ABBA returned in 1975 with "S.O.S.," an international No. 1 which cemented their status
as worldwide superstars, even in traditionally insular, non-English-speaking markets. Over the
next three years ABBA refined their pop sound and released numerous hits, such as "Mamma
Mia," "Fernando," "I Do I Do I Do I Do" and "Knowing Me, Knowing You." The group scored 13
U.K. Top 5 hits, six of which reached No. 1; their biggest single, "Dancing Queen," even reached
No. 1 in the recalcitrant U.S. market, and was performed live at the King of Sweden's wedding.
ABBA's 1978 album Album reached the Top 20 in the U.S. and went platinum in less than six
months, spawning the U.K. No. 1 "Take a Chance on Me." That same year a feature-length film
about the group, ABBA -- The Movie was released worldwide, and Lyngstad and Andersson, who
had been dating for years, finally married. Unfortunately, only three months after Frida and Benny
tied the knot, Bjorn and Agnetha separated. Putting personal issues aside, ABBA continued
performing, releasing the 1979 album Voulez-Vous, which spawned five British Top 5 hits and
went gold in the U.S. Though 1980's Super Trouper sold and charted well internationally, it
marked the end of their success in America. In 1981 Lyngstad and Andersson divorced; with the
couples barely speaking to each other and disco in decline, ABBA called it quits in early 1982,
after releasing their final album, The Visitors. Singers Agnetha and Frida went on to separate
solo careers; though bestsellers in Sweden and moderately successful in continental Europe, their
records never made it to the U.S. Friends Andersson and Ulvaeus continued working together as
professional songwriters, finding their biggest post-ABBA audience with the hit Broadway musical
Chess, written with lyricist Tim Rice. Andersson and Ulvaeus continue to work on musicals, most
recently on the Swedish hit The Immigrants. Frida stopped recording in 1992, though she remains
a media figure in Scandinavia, where she is an outspoken environmental activist. Agnetha
officially retired from singing in 1989, and recently divorced her second husband, Tomas
Sonnenfeld. In the late 1990s, ABBA remains wildly popular throughout much of the world. ABBA
tribute bands such as Abbacadabra and Bjorn Again pack houses, and ABBA singles receive
frequent clubplay, especially in new remixes. ABBA songs have been covered by several modern
dance-oriented groups, including Information Society, Erasure and U2.
The Swedish disco-pop quartet ABBA remains one of the most popular bands of all-time
worldwide -- from Australia to Russia, ABBA reigns supreme, their music perennially popular in
European nightclubs and "discotheques" and in gay clubs throughout the English-speaking world.
Despite breaking up in 1982, the members of ABBA have gone on to successful solo careers in
Sweden, and the band itself continues to sell millions of albums a year internationally. Like Elvis,
ABBA has spawned "tribute" acts, fanzines and conventions, which draw thousands of obsessed
fans. Thanks to recent reissues of their albums, a 1995 Australian movie in which the band's
music is prominently featured (Muriel's Wedding), and covers by popular groups such as Erasure,
ABBA has found new fans worldwide, too young to remember the ABBA heyday of the mid-1970s.
ABBA's roots go back to Stockholm, Sweden in the early 1970s, where Bjorn Ulvaeus sang and
played guitar for the Hootenanny Singers, a popular folk-rock group, and his friend Benny
Andersson played keyboard for The Hep Stars, a pop band. Both men also worked as session
musicians at Stockholm's Polar Studio, where they wrote songs together and with Polar's owner,
Stig Anderson, who later became ABBA's manager. Both Ulvaeus and Andersson were involved
with talented female singers -- Ulvaeus with top-charting pop vocalist Agnetha Faltskog (who also
played Mary Magdalene in a production of Jesus Christ Superstar) and Andersson with
Norwegian-born jazz singer Anni-Frid "Frida" Lyngstad. Eager to collaborate, the two couples
recorded the song "People Need Love," which was a surprise hit in Europe. The success of their
first single won the group an invitation to participate in the 1973 Swedish heat of the much-reviled
Eurovision Song Contest. Going under the clumsy moniker "Bjorn, Benny, Agnetha and Frida," the
group entered the song "Ring Ring," which, though it went on to become a popular song in
Europe, did not win the contest. Despite this setback, the group continued on; Bjorn and Agnetha
married later that year. After working on new material and changing their name to the
palindromic, universal acronym "ABBA" (the initials of the members' first names), the group
entered the 1974 Eurovision contest with the song "Waterloo." Like most of their material, the
song was written in English and featured Faltskog and Lyngstad on lead vocals. ABBA won top
prize in Sweden and went on to the international finals in England, where they became the first
(and only) Swedish band to win the cloying continental competition. "Waterloo" became a hit
throughout Europe, even reaching the Top 10 in the U.S. and U.K. After their next few singles
flopped, ABBA returned in 1975 with "S.O.S.," an international No. 1 which cemented their status
as worldwide superstars, even in traditionally insular, non-English-speaking markets. Over the
next three years ABBA refined their pop sound and released numerous hits, such as "Mamma
Mia," "Fernando," "I Do I Do I Do I Do" and "Knowing Me, Knowing You." The group scored 13
U.K. Top 5 hits, six of which reached No. 1; their biggest single, "Dancing Queen," even reached
No. 1 in the recalcitrant U.S. market, and was performed live at the King of Sweden's wedding.
ABBA's 1978 album Album reached the Top 20 in the U.S. and went platinum in less than six
months, spawning the U.K. No. 1 "Take a Chance on Me." That same year a feature-length film
about the group, ABBA -- The Movie was released worldwide, and Lyngstad and Andersson, who
had been dating for years, finally married. Unfortunately, only three months after Frida and Benny
tied the knot, Bjorn and Agnetha separated. Putting personal issues aside, ABBA continued
performing, releasing the 1979 album Voulez-Vous, which spawned five British Top 5 hits and
went gold in the U.S. Though 1980's Super Trouper sold and charted well internationally, it
marked the end of their success in America. In 1981 Lyngstad and Andersson divorced; with the
couples barely speaking to each other and disco in decline, ABBA called it quits in early 1982,
after releasing their final album, The Visitors. Singers Agnetha and Frida went on to separate
solo careers; though bestsellers in Sweden and moderately successful in continental Europe, their
records never made it to the U.S. Friends Andersson and Ulvaeus continued working together as
professional songwriters, finding their biggest post-ABBA audience with the hit Broadway musical
Chess, written with lyricist Tim Rice. Andersson and Ulvaeus continue to work on musicals, most
recently on the Swedish hit The Immigrants. Frida stopped recording in 1992, though she remains
a media figure in Scandinavia, where she is an outspoken environmental activist. Agnetha
officially retired from singing in 1989, and recently divorced her second husband, Tomas
Sonnenfeld. In the late 1990s, ABBA remains wildly popular throughout much of the world. ABBA
tribute bands such as Abbacadabra and Bjorn Again pack houses, and ABBA singles receive
frequent clubplay, especially in new remixes. ABBA songs have been covered by several modern
dance-oriented groups, including Information Society, Erasure and U2. 
