and from onwards the first 'B' in the logo version of the name was mirror image reversed on the band's promotional material and ????® became the group's registered trademark The first time ABBA is found written on paper is on a recording session sheet from the Metronome Studio in Stockholm, dated October This was first written as Björn, Benny, Agnetha & Frida , but was subsequently crossed out with ABBA written in large letters on top Official logo edit The official logo, using the bold version of the News Gothic typeface, was designed by Rune Söderqvist, and appeared for the first time on the Dancing Queen single in August , and subsequently on all later original albums and singles But the idea for the official logo was made by the German photographer Wolfgang Heilemann on a Dancing Queen shoot for the teenage magazine Bravo On the photo, the ABBA members held a giant initial letter of his her name After the pictures were made, Heilemann found out that one of the men held his letter backwards as in ???? They discussed it and the members of ABBA liked it Following their acquisition of the group's catalogue, Polygram began using variations of the ABBA logo, using a different font and adding a crown emblem to it in for the first release of the ABBA Gold Greatest Hits compilation When Universal Music purchased Polygram and, thus, ABBA's label Polar Music International , control of the group's catalogue was returned to Stockholm Since then, the original logo has been reinstated on all official products – Breakthrough edit Eurovision Song Contest edit ABBA making an appearance on Dutch TV in April Clockwise from top left Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus, Agnetha Fältskog and Anni Frid Lyngstad As the group entered the Melodifestivalen with Ring Ring but failed to qualify as the Swedish entry, Stig Anderson immediately started planning for the contest Ulvaeus, Andersson and Stig Anderson believed in the possibilities of using the Eurovision Song Contest as a way to make the music business aware of them as songwriters, as well as the band itself In late , they were invited by Swedish television to contribute a song for the Melodifestivalen and from a number of new songs, the upbeat song Waterloo was chosen the group was now inspired by the growing glam rock scene in England ABBA won their national heats on Swedish television on February , and with this third attempt were far more experienced and better prepared for the Eurovision Song Contest Winning the Contest on April gave ABBA

the chance to tour Europe and perform on major television shows thus the band saw the Waterloo single chart in many European countries Waterloo was ABBA's first number one single in big markets such as the UK and West Germany In the United States, the song peaked at number six on the Billboard Hot chart, paving the way for their first album and their first trip as a group there Albeit a short promotional visit, it included their first performance on American television, The Mike Douglas Show The album Waterloo only peaked at number on the Billboard chart, but received unanimous high praise from the US critics Los Angeles Times called it a compelling and fascinating debut album that captures the spirit of mainstream pop quite effectively … an immensely enjoyable and pleasant project , while Creem characterized it as a perfect blend of exceptional, lovable compositions citation needed ABBA's follow up single, Honey, Honey , peaked at number on the US Billboard Hot , and was a number two hit in West Germany However, in the United Kingdom, ABBA's British record label, Epic, decided to re release a remixed version of Ring Ring instead of Honey, Honey , and a cover version of the latter by Sweet Dreams peaked at number Both records debuted on the UK chart within one week of each other Ring Ring failed to reach the Top in the United Kingdom, increasing growing speculation that the group was simply a Eurovision one hit wonder Post Eurovision edit In November , ABBA embarked on their first European tour, playing dates in Denmark, West Germany and Austria It was not as successful as the band had hoped, since most of the venues did not sell out Due to a lack of demand, they were even forced to cancel a few shows, including a sole concert scheduled in Switzerland The second leg of the tour, which took them through Scandinavia in January , was very different They played to full houses everywhere and finally got the reception they had aimed for Live performances continued during the summer of when ABBA embarked on a fourteen open air date tour of Sweden and Finland Their Stockholm show at the Gröna Lund amusement park had an estimated audience of , Björn Ulvaeus later said that If you look at the singles we released straight after Waterloo, we were trying to be more like the Sweet, a semi glam rock group, which was stupid because we were always a pop group In late , So Long was released as a single in the United Kingdom but it received no airplay from Radio and failed to chart In the summer of , ABBA released I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do , which again received little airplay on Radio but managed to climb the charts, to number Later that year, the release of their self titled third studio album ABBA and single SOS brought back their chart presence in the UK, where the single hit number six and the album peaked at number SOS also became ABBA's second number one single in Germany and their third in Australia Success was further solidified with Mamma Mia reaching number one in the United Kingdom, Germany and Australia In the United States, SOS peaked at number on the Record World Top singles chart and number on the Billboard Hot chart, picking up the BMI Award along the way as one of the most played songs on American radio in The success of the group in the United States had until that time been limited to single releases By early , the group already had four Top singles on the US charts, but the album market proved to be tough to crack The eponymous ABBA album generated three American hits, but it only peaked at number on the Cashbox album chart and number on the Billboard chart Opinions were voiced, by Creem in particular, that in the US ABBA had endured a very sloppy promotional campaign Nevertheless, the group enjoyed warm reviews from the American press Cashbox went as far as saying that there is a recurrent thread of taste and artistry inherent in Abba's marketing, creativity and presentation that makes it almost embarrassing to critique their efforts , while Creem wrote SOS is surrounded on this LP by so many good tunes that the mind boggles In Australia, the airing of the music videos for I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do and Mamma Mia on the nationally broadcast TV pop show Countdown which premiered in November saw the band rapidly gain enormous popularity, and Countdown become a key promoter of the group via their distinctive music videos This started an immense interest for ABBA in Australia, resulting in both the single and album holding down the No positions on the charts for months – Superstardom edit In March , the band released the compilation album Greatest Hits, despite having had only six top hits in the United Kingdom and the United States Nevertheless, it became their first UK number one album, and also took ABBA into the Top on the US album charts for the first time, eventually selling more than a million copies there At the same time, Germany released a compilation named The Very Best of ABBA, also becoming a number one album there whereas the Greatest Hits compilation followed a few months later to number two on the German charts, despite all similarities with The Very Best album Also included on Greatest Hits was a new single, Fernando , which went to number one in at least thirteen countries worldwide, including the United Kingdom, Germany and Australia, and the single went on to sell over million copies worldwide In Australia, the song occupied the top position for weeks and stayed in the chart for weeks , tying with the Beatles' Hey Jude for longest running number one, and making Fernando one of the best selling singles of all time in Australia That same year, the group received its first international prize, with Fernando being chosen as the Best Studio Recording of In the United States, Fernando reached the Top of the Cashbox Top singles chart and number on the Billboard Hot It also topped the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart, ABBA's first American number one single on any chart Frida Lyngstad in Netherlands Amsterdam Airport Schiphol , The group's fourth studio album, Arrival, a number one bestseller in Europe and Australia, represented a new level of accomplishment in both songwriting and studio work, prompting rave reviews from more rock oriented UK music weeklies such as Melody Maker and New Musical Express, and mostly appreciative notices from US critics Hit after hit flowed from Arrival Money, Money, Money , another number one in Germany and Australia, and Knowing Me, Knowing You , ABBA's sixth consecutive German number one as well as another UK number one The real sensation was Dancing Queen , not only topping the charts in loyal markets the UK, Germany and Australia, but also reaching number one in the United States In South Africa, ABBA had astounding success with Fernando , Dancing Queen and Knowing Me, Knowing You being among the top best selling singles for – In , Arrival was nominated for the inaugural BRIT Award in the category Best International Album of the Year By this time ABBA were popular in the United Kingdom, most of Western Europe, Australia and New Zealand In Frida – The DVD, Lyngstad explains how she and Fältskog developed as singers, as ABBA's recordings grew more complex over the years The band's popularity in the United States would remain on a comparatively smaller scale, and Dancing Queen became the only Billboard Hot number one single ABBA had there they did, however, get three more singles to the number one position on other Billboard charts, including Billboard Adult Contemporary and Hot Dance Club Play Nevertheless, Arrival finally became a true breakthrough release for ABBA on the US album market where it peaked at number on the Billboard chart and was certified gold by RIAA European and Australian tour edit In January , ABBA embarked on their first major tour The group's status had changed dramatically and they were clearly regarded as superstars They opened their much anticipated tour in Oslo, Norway, on January, and mounted a lavishly produced spectacle that included a few scenes from their self written mini operetta The Girl with the Golden Hair The concert attracted immense media attention from across Europe and Australia They continued the tour through Western Europe, visiting Gothenburg, Copenhagen, Berlin, Cologne, Amsterdam, Antwerp, Essen, Hanover, and Hamburg and ending with shows in the United Kingdom in Manchester, Birmingham, Glasgow and two sold out concerts at London's Royal Albert Hall Tickets for these two shows were available only by mail application and it was later revealed that the box office received million requests for tickets, enough to fill the venue times Along with praise ABBA turn out to be amazingly successful at reproducing their records , wrote Creem , there were complaints that ABBA performed slickly but with a zero personality coming across from a total of people on stage Melody Maker One of the Royal Albert Hall concerts was filmed as a reference for the filming of the Australian tour for what became ABBA The Movie, though it is not exactly known how much of the concert was filmed Agnetha Fältskog at the opening concert of ABBA's European and Australian Tour in Oslo, January After the European leg of the tour, in March , ABBA played dates in Australia before a total of , people The opening concert in Sydney at the Sydney Showground on March to an audience of , was marred by torrential rain with Lyngstad slipping on the wet stage during the concert However, all four members would later recall this concert as the most memorable of their career Upon their arrival in Melbourne, a civic reception was held at the Melbourne Town Hall and ABBA appeared on the balcony to greet an enthusiastic crowd of , In Melbourne, the group played three concerts at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl with , at each including the Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser and his family At the first Melbourne concert, an additional , people gathered outside the fenced off area to listen to the concert In Adelaide, the group performed one concert at West Lakes Football Stadium before , people, with another , listening outside During the first of five concerts in Perth, there was a bomb scare with everyone having to evacuate the Entertainment Centre The trip was accompanied by mass hysteria and unprecedented media attention Swedish ABBA stirs box office in Down Under tour and the media coverage of the quartet rivals that set to cover the upcoming Royal tour of Australia , wrote Variety , and is captured on film in ABBA The Movie, directed by Lasse Hallström The Australian tour and its subsequent ABBA The Movie produced some ABBA lore, as well Fältskog's blonde good looks had long made her the band's pin up girl , a role she disdained During the Australian tour, she performed in a skin tight white jumpsuit, causing one Australian newspaper to use the headline Agnetha's bottom tops dull show When asked about this at a news conference, she replied Don't they have bottoms in Australia In December , ABBA followed up Arrival with the more ambitious fifth album ABBA The Album, released to coincide with the debut of ABBA The Movie Although the album was less well received by UK reviewers, it did spawn more worldwide hits The Name of the Game and Take a Chance on Me , which both topped the UK charts, and peaked at number and number one, respectively, on the Billboard Hot chart in the US Although Take a Chance on Me did not top the American charts, it proved to be ABBA's biggest hit single there, selling more copies than Dancing Queen The Album also included Thank You for the Music , the B side of Eagle in countries where the latter had been released as a single, and was belatedly released as an A side single in the United Kingdom and Ireland in Thank You for the Music has become one of the best loved and best known ABBA songs without being released as a single during the group's lifetime Polar Music Studio formation edit Polar Music Studios was situated in this building at Sankt Eriksgatan in Stockholm until By ABBA were one of the biggest bands in the world They converted a vacant movie theatre into the Polar Music Studio, a state of the art studio in Stockholm The studio was used by several other bands notably Genesis' Duke and Led Zeppelin's In Through the Out Door were recorded there During May, the group went to the United States for a promotional campaign, performing alongside Andy Gibb on Olivia Newton John's TV show Recording sessions for the single Summer Night City were an uphill struggle, citation needed but upon release the song became another hit for the group The track would set the stage for ABBA's foray into disco with their next album On January , the group performed Chiquitita at the Music for UNICEF Concert held at the United Nations General Assembly to celebrate UNICEF's Year of the Child ABBA donated the copyright of this worldwide hit to the UNICEF see Music for UNICEF Concert The single was released the following week, and reached number one in ten countries North American and European tours edit In mid January , Ulvaeus and Fältskog announced they were getting divorced The news caused interest from the media and led to speculation about the band's future ABBA assured the press and their fan base they were continuing their work as a group and that the divorce would not affect them Nonetheless, the media continued to confront them with this in interviews To escape the media swirl and concentrate on their writing, Andersson and Ulvaeus secretly travelled to Compass Point Studios in Nassau, Bahamas, where for two weeks they prepared their next album's songs in relative quiet The group's sixth studio album, Voulez Vous, was released in April , the title track of which was recorded at the famous Criteria Studios in Miami, Florida, with the assistance of recording engineer Tom Dowd amongst others The album topped the charts across Europe and in Japan and Mexico, hit the Top in Canada and Australia and the Top in the United States None of the singles from the album reached number one on the UK charts, but Chiquitita , Does Your Mother Know , Angeleyes with Voulez Vous , released as a double A side and I Have a Dream were all UK Top hits In Canada, I Have a Dream became ABBA's second number one on the RPM Adult Contemporary chart after Fernando hit the top previously Also in , the group released their second compilation album, Greatest Hits Vol , which featured a brand new track Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! A Man After Midnight , another number three hit in both the UK and Germany In Russia during the late s, the group was paid in oil commodities because of an embargo on the ruble On September , ABBA began their ABBA The Tour at the Northlands Coliseum in Edmonton, Canada, with a full house of , The voices of the band, Agnetha's high sauciness combined with round, rich lower tones of Anni Frid, were excellent Technically perfect, melodically correct and always in perfect pitch The soft lower voice of Anni Frid and the high, edgy vocals of Agnetha were stunning , raved Edmonton Journal During the next four weeks they played a total of sold out dates, in the United States and four in Canada The last scheduled ABBA concert in the United States in Washington, D C was cancelled due to Fältskog's emotional distress suffered during the flight from New York to Boston, when the group's private plane was subjected to extreme weather conditions and was unable to land for an extended period They appeared at the Boston Music Hall for the performance minutes late The tour ended with a show in Toronto, Canada at Maple Leaf Gardens before a capacity crowd of , ABBA plays with surprising power and volume but although they are loud, they're also clear, which does justice to the signature vocal sound Anyone who's been waiting five years to see Abba will be well satisfied , wrote Record World On October , the tour resumed in Western Europe where the band played sold out gigs, including six sold out nights at London's Wembley Arena Progression edit Super Trouper, seventh studio album released by the group in In March , ABBA travelled to Japan where upon their arrival at Narita International Airport, they were besieged by thousands of fans The group played eleven concerts to full houses, including six shows at Tokyo's Budokan This tour was the last on the road adventure of their career In the summer of , the group released the single The Winner Takes It All the group's eighth UK chart topper and their first since The song is widely misunderstood as being written about Ulvaeus and Fältskog's marital tribulations Ulvaeus wrote the lyrics, but has stated they were not about his own divorce Fältskog has repeatedly stated she was not the loser in their


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lise-pinson little-oral-annie liza-dwyer liza-harper lizzy-borden logan-labrent lois-ayres lola-cait long-jean-silver loni-bunny loni-sanders loona-luxx lorelei-lee lorelei-rand lorena-sanchez lori-alexia lori-blue lorrie-lovett luci-diamond lucie-doll lucie-theodorova lucy-van-dam lydia-baum lynn-franciss lynn-lemay lynn-ray lynn-stevens lynx-canon lysa-thatcher madelina-ray madison-parker magdalena-lynn maggie-randall mai-lin mandi-wine mandy-bright mandy-malone mandy-may mandy-mistery mandy-starr marcia-minor maren margit-ojetz margitta-hofer margo-stevens margot-mahler mariah-cherry marianne-aubert maria-tortuga marie-anne marie-christine-chireix marie-christine-veroda marie-claude-moreau marie-dominique-cabannes marie-france-morel marie-luise-lusewitz marie-sharp marilyn-chambers marilyne-leroy marilyn-gee marilyn-jess marilyn-martyn marilyn-star marina-hedman marion-webb marita-ekberg marita-kemper marlena marlene-willoughby marry-queen martine-grimaud martine-schultz 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tammy tammy-lee tammy-reynolds tania-lorenzo tantala-ray tanya-danielle tanya-fox tanya-foxx tanya-lawson tanya-valis tara-aire tasha-voux tatjana-belousova tatjana-skomorokhova tawnee-lee tawny-pearl tayla-rox taylor-wane teddi-austin teddi-barrett tera-bond tera-heart tera-joy teresa-may teresa-orlowski teri-diver teri-weigel terri-dolan terri-hall tess-ferre tess-newheart thais-vieira tia-cherry tianna tiara tiffany-blake tiffany-clark tiffany-duponte tiffany-rayne tiffany-rousso tiffany-storm tiffany-towers tiffany-tyler tiger-lily tigr timea-vagvoelgyi tina-blair tina-burner tina-evil tina-gabriel tina-loren tina-marie tina-russell tish-ambrose tommi-rose tonisha-mills topsy-curvey tori-secrets tori-sinclair tori-welles tracey-adams traci-lords traci-topps traci-winn tracy-duzit tracy-love tracy-williams tricia-devereaux tricia-yen trinity-loren trisha-rey trista-post trixie-tyler ultramax ursula-gaussmann ursula-moore uschi-karnat valentina valerie-leveau valery-hilton 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divorce In the United States, the single peaked at number eight on the Billboard Hot chart and became ABBA's second Billboard Adult Contemporary number one It was also re recorded by Andersson and Ulvaeus with a slightly different backing track, by French chanteuse Mireille Mathieu at the end of – as Bravo Tu As Gagné , with French lyrics by Alain Boublil November the same year saw the release of ABBA's seventh album Super Trouper, which reflected a certain change in ABBA's style with more prominent use of synthesizers and increasingly personal lyrics It set a record for the most pre orders ever received for a UK album after one million copies were ordered before release The second single from the album, Super Trouper , also hit number one in the UK, becoming the group's ninth and final UK chart topper Another track from the Super Trouper album, Lay All Your Love on Me , released in as a inch mm single only in selected territories, managed to top the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart and peaked at number seven on the UK singles chart becoming, at the time, the highest ever charting inch mm release in UK chart history Also in , ABBA recorded a compilation of Spanish language versions of their hits called Gracias Por La Música This was released in Spanish speaking countries as well as in Japan and Australia The album became a major success, and along with the Spanish version of Chiquitita , this signalled the group's breakthrough in Latin America ABBA Oro Grandes Éxitos, the Spanish equivalent of ABBA Gold Greatest Hits, was released in – Final album and performances edit ABBA during a TV special Dick Cavett Meets ABBA in April In January , Ulvaeus married Lena Källersjö, and manager Stig Anderson celebrated his th birthday with a party For this occasion, ABBA recorded the track Hovas Vittne a pun on the Swedish name for Jehovah's Witness and Anderson's birthplace, Hova as a tribute to him, and released it only on red vinyl copies, to be distributed to the guests attending the party This single has become a sought after collectible In mid February , Andersson and Lyngstad announced they were filing for divorce Information surfaced that their marriage had been an uphill struggle for years, and Benny had already met another woman, Mona Nörklit, whom he married in November Andersson and Ulvaeus had songwriting sessions during the spring of , and recording sessions began in mid March At the end of April, the group recorded a TV special, Dick Cavett Meets ABBA with the US talk show host Dick Cavett The Visitors, ABBA's eighth and final studio album, showed a songwriting maturity and depth of feeling distinctly lacking from their earlier recordings but still placing the band squarely in the pop genre, with catchy tunes and harmonies Although not revealed at the time of its release, the album's title track, according to Ulvaeus, refers to the secret meetings held against the approval of totalitarian governments in Soviet dominated states, while other tracks address topics like failed relationships, the threat of war, ageing, and loss of innocence The album's only major single release, One of Us , proved to be the last of ABBA's nine number one singles in Germany, this being in December and the swansong of their sixteen Top singles on the South African chart One of Us was also ABBA's final Top hit in the UK Although it topped the album charts across most of Europe, including the UK and Germany, The Visitors was not as commercially successful as its predecessors, showing a commercial decline in previously loyal markets such as France, Australia and Japan A track from the album, When All Is Said and Done , was released as a single in North America, Australia and New Zealand, and fittingly became ABBA's final Top hit in the US debuting on the US charts on December , while also reaching the US Adult Contemporary Top , and number four on the RPM Adult Contemporary chart in Canada The song's lyrics, as with The Winner Takes It All and One of Us , dealt with the painful experience of separating from a long term partner, though it looked at the trauma more optimistically With the now publicised story of Andersson and Lyngstad's divorce, speculation increased of tension within the band Also released in the United States was the title track of The Visitors, which hit the Top Ten on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart Final recording sessions edit In the spring of , songwriting sessions had started and the group came together for more recordings Plans were not completely clear, but a new album was discussed and the prospect of a small tour suggested The recording sessions in May and June were a struggle, and only three songs were eventually recorded You Owe Me One , I Am the City and Just Like That Andersson and Ulvaeus were not satisfied with the outcome, so the tapes were shelved and the group took a break for the summer Back in the studio again in early August, the group had changed plans for the rest of the year they settled for a Christmas release of a double album compilation of all their past single releases to be named The Singles The First Ten Years New songwriting and recording sessions took place, and during October and December, they released the singles The Day Before You Came Cassandra and Under Attack You Owe Me One , the A sides of which were included on the compilation album Neither single made the Top in the United Kingdom, though The Day Before You Came became a Top hit in many European countries such as Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium The album went to number one in the UK and Belgium, Top in the Netherlands and Germany and Top in many other countries Under Attack , the group's final release before disbanding, was a Top hit in the Netherlands and Belgium I Am the City and Just Like That were left unreleased on The Singles The First Ten Years for possible inclusion on the next projected studio album, though this never came to fruition I Am the City was eventually released on the compilation album More ABBA Gold in , while Just Like That has been recycled in new songs with other artists produced by Andersson and Ulvaeus A reworked version of the verses ended up in the musical Chess The chorus section of Just Like That was eventually released on a retrospective box set in , as well as in the ABBA Undeleted medley featured on disc of The Complete Studio Recordings Despite a number of requests from fans, Ulvaeus and Andersson are still refusing to release ABBA's version of Just Like That in its entirety, even though the complete version surfaced on bootlegs The group travelled to London to promote The Singles The First Ten Years in the first week of November , appearing on Saturday Superstore and The Late, Late Breakfast Show, and also to West Germany in the second week, to perform on Show Express On November , ABBA appeared for the last time in Sweden on the TV programme Nöjesmaskinen, and on December , they made their last performance ever, transmitted to the UK on Noel Edmonds' The Late, Late Breakfast Show, through a live link from a TV studio in Stockholm Final performances edit Andersson and Ulvaeus began collaborating with Tim Rice in early on writing songs for the musical project Chess, while Fältskog and Lyngstad both concentrated on international solo careers While Andersson and Ulvaeus were working on the musical, a further co operation among the three of them came with the musical Abbacadabra that was produced in France for television It was a children's musical utilising ABBA songs Alain and Daniel Boublil, who wrote Les Misérables, had been in touch with Stig Anderson about the project, and the TV musical was aired over Christmas on French TV and later a Dutch version was also broadcast Boublil previously also wrote the French lyric for Mireille Mathieu's version of The Winner Takes It All Lyngstad, who had recently moved to Paris, participated in the French version, and recorded a single, Belle , a duet with French singer Daniel Balavoine The song was a cover of ABBA's instrumental track Arrival As the single Belle sold well in France, Cameron Mackintosh wanted to stage an English language version of the show in London, with the French lyrics translated by David Wood and Don Black Andersson and Ulvaeus got involved in the project, and contributed with one new song, The Seeker Abbacadabra premièred on December at The Lyric Hammersmith Theatre in London, to mixed reviews and full houses for eight weeks, closing on January Lyngstad was also involved in this production, recording Belle in English as Time , a duet with actor and singer B A Robertson the single sold well, and was produced and recorded by Andersson and Ulvaeus Anni Frid Lyngstad performed I Have A Dream with a children's choir on French television in , solo All four members made their final public appearance, as four friends more than as ABBA, in January , when they recorded a video of themselves performing an acoustic version of Tivedshambo , which was the first song written by their manager, Stig Anderson, for a Swedish TV show honouring Anderson on his th birthday The four had not seen each other for more than two years That same year they also performed privately at another friend's th birthday their old tour manager, Claes af Geijerstam They sang a self written song titled Der Kleine Franz that was later to resurface in Chess Also in , ABBA Live was released, featuring selections of live performances from the group's and tours The four members were guests at the th birthday of Görel Hanser in Hanser was a long time friend of all four, and also former secretary of Stig Anderson Honouring Görel, ABBA performed a Swedish birthday song Med En Enkel Tulipan a cappella Benny Andersson has on several occasions performed old ABBA songs In June , he and Ulvaeus appeared with U at a Stockholm concert, singing the chorus of Dancing Queen , and a few years later during the final performance of the B & B in Concert in Stockholm, Andersson joined the cast for an encore at the piano Andersson frequently adds an ABBA song to the playlist when he performs with his BAO band He also played the piano during new recordings of the ABBA songs Like an Angel Passing Through My Room with opera singer Anne Sofie von Otter, and When All Is Said and Done with Swede Viktoria Tolstoy In , Andersson and Ulvaeus both performed an a cappella rendition of the first verse of Fernando as they accepted their Ivor Novello award in London Lyngstad performed and recorded an a cappella version of Dancing Queen with the Swedish group The Real Group in , and has also re recorded I Have a Dream with Swiss singer Dan Daniell in Permanent break edit ABBA has never officially announced the end of the group, but it has long been considered dissolved Their final public performance together as ABBA was on the British TV programme The Late, Late Breakfast Show live from Stockholm on December While reminiscing on the The Day Before You Came , Ulvaeus said we might have continued for a while longer if that had been a number one In January , Fältskog started recording sessions for a solo album, as Lyngstad had successfully released her album Something's Going On some months earlier Ulvaeus and Andersson, meanwhile, started songwriting sessions for the musical Chess In interviews at the time, Björn and Benny denied the split of ABBA Who are we without our ladies Initials of Brigitte Bardot , and Lyngstad and Fältskog kept claiming in interviews that ABBA would come together for a new album repeatedly during and Internal strife between the group and their manager escalated and the band members sold their shares in Polar Music during Except for a TV appearance in , the foursome did not come together publicly again until they were reunited at the Swedish premiere of the Mamma Mia! movie on July In an interview with the Sunday Telegraph, following the premiere, Ulvaeus and Andersson confirmed that there was nothing that could entice them back on stage again Ulvaeus said We will never appear on stage again There is simply no motivation to re group Money is not a factor and we would like people to remember us as we were Young, exuberant, full of energy and ambition I remember Robert Plant saying Led Zeppelin were a cover band now because they cover all their own stuff I think that hit the nail on the head However, on January , Fältskog, who has been long considered to be the most reclusive member of the group and possibly also the major obstacle to any reunion, raised the possibility of reuniting for a one off engagement She admitted that she has not yet brought the idea up to the other three members In April , she reiterated her hopes for reunion during an interview with Die Zeit, stating If they ask me, I'll say yes In a May interview, Fältskog, aged at the time, confirmed that an ABBA reunion will never eventuate I think we have to accept that it will not happen, because we are too old and each one of us has their own life Too many years have gone by since we stopped, and there’s really no meaning in putting us together again Fältskog further explained that the band members remained on amenable terms It’s always nice to see each other now and then and to talk a little and to be a little nostalgic In an April interview, Fältskog, when asked about whether the band might reunite for a new recording said It's difficult to talk about this because then all the news stories will be 'ABBA is going to record another song!' But as long as we can sing and play, then why not I would love to, but it's up to Björn and Benny Solo careers edit Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus edit Main articles Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson In October , Ulvaeus and Andersson together with lyricist Tim Rice released the musical concept double album Chess The singles One Night in Bangkok with vocals by Murray Head and Anders Glenmark and I Know Him So Well a duet by Barbara Dickson and Elaine Paige, and later also recorded by both Barbra Streisand and Whitney Houston were both hugely successful The former reached number one in Australia, Germany, Spain and Switzerland number two in Austria, France and New Zealand number three in Canada, Norway, Sweden and the US, as well as reaching the top in a few other countries In May , the musical premièred in London's West End, and ran for almost three years Chess also opened on Broadway in April , but closed within two months due to bad reviews In Stockholm, the composers staged Chess på svenska Chess in Swedish in , with some new material, including the musical numbers Han är en man, han är ett barn He's a Man, He's a Child and Glöm mig om du kan Forget Me If You Can In , the musical was again revived for a successful staging at London's Royal Albert Hall which was subsequently released on DVD, and then in two successful separate touring productions in the United States and United Kingdom, in Benny Andersson during a performance in Minnesota Andersson and Ulvaeus' next project, Kristina från Duvemåla, an epic Swedish musical, premiered in Malmö, in southern Sweden in October The musical ran for five years in Stockholm, and an English version has been in development for some considerable time It has been reported that a Broadway production is in its earliest stages of pre production In the meantime, following some earlier workshops, a full presentation of the English translation of the musical in concert, now with the shortened name of Kristina , took place to capacity crowds in September at New York's Carnegie Hall, and in April at London's Royal Albert Hall, followed by a CD release of the New York recordings Since , besides Chess and Kristina från Duvemåla, Benny Andersson has continued writing songs with Ulvaeus The pair produced two English language pop albums with Swedish duo Gemini in and In , Andersson also released his first solo album on his own label, Mono Music, called Klinga mina klockor Ring My Bells , all new material inspired by Swedish folk music – and followed it with his second album titled November During the s, Andersson wrote music for the popular Swedish cabaret quartet Ainbusk Singers, giving them two hits Lassie and Älska mig Love me , and later produced Shapes, an English language album by the group's Josefin Nilsson with all new material by Andersson and Ulvaeus Andersson has also regularly written music for films most notably to Roy Andersson's Songs from the Second Floor In , Andersson formed his own band, Benny Anderssons Orkester BAO , which released three successful albums in , and Andersson has the distinction of remaining the longest in the Swedish Radio Svensktoppen charts the song Du är min man You Are My Man , sung by Helen Sjöholm, spent weeks there between and Andersson released his third album BAO in October , of new material with his band BAO and vocalists Helen Sjöholm and Tommy Körberg, as well as playing to full houses at two of Sweden's largest concert venues in October and November , with an audience of , Björn Ulvaeus at Gothenburg Book Fair Ulvaeus has not appeared on stage performing music since ABBA, but had a reunion with his co members of the Hootenanny Singers on July at a music festival in his hometown of Västervik, singing their hit Marianne Andersson and Ulvaeus have been highly involved in the worldwide productions of the musical Mamma Mia!, alongside Lyngstad who attends premieres They were also involved in the production of the successful film version of the musical, which opened in July Andersson produced the soundtrack utilising many of the musicians ABBA used on their albums and tours Andersson made a cameo appearance in the movie as a 'fisherman' piano player in the Dancing Queen scene, while Ulvaeus is seen as a Greek god playing a lyre during the closing credits Andersson and Ulvaeus have continuously been writing new material most recently the two wrote songs for Anderssons 'BAO' album 'O Klang Och Jubeltid', performed as usual by vocalists Sjöholm, Körberg and Moreus In July , 'BAO' released their first international release, now named The Benny Andersson Band, with the album The Story of a Heart The album was a compilation of tracks from Andersson's five Swedish language releases between and , including five songs now recorded with lyrics by Ulvaeus in English, and the new title song premiered on BBC 's Ken Bruce Show A Swedish language version of the title track, Sommaren Du Fick The Summer You Got , was released as a single in Sweden prior to the English version, with vocals by Helen Sjöholm In the spring of , Andersson also released a single recorded by the staff at his privately owned Stockholm hotel Hotel Rival, titled nd Best to None , accompanied by a video showing the staff at work In , Andersson and Ulvaeus wrote a song for Swedish singer Sissela Kyle, titled Jag vill bli gammal I Wanna Grow Old , for her Stockholm stage show Your Days Are Numbered , which was never recorded and released, but did get a TV performance Ulvaeus also contributed lyrics to ABBA's instrumental track Arrival for Sarah Brightman's cover version recorded for her album Winter Symphony New English lyrics have also been written for Andersson's song Innan Gryningen then also named Millennium Hymn , with the new title The Silence of the Dawn for Barbara Dickson performed live, but not yet recorded and released In , they wrote the new song Han som har vunnit allt He Who's Won It All for actor singer Anders Ekborg Björn wrote English lyrics for two older songs from Benny's solo albums I Walk with You Mama Stockholm by Night , and After the Rain Efter regnet , for opera singer Anne Sofie von Otter, for her Andersson tribute album I Let the Music Speak Barbara Dickson recorded but not yet released a Björn & Benny song called

'The Day The Wall Came Tumbling Down' the song eventually was released by Australian 'Mamma Mia!' musical star Anne Wood album of ABBA covers, Divine Discontent As of October , Björn Ulvaeus has mentioned writing new material with Benny for a 'BAO' Christmas release also mentioned as a BAO 'box' , and Benny is busy writing music for a Swedish language obscure musical, 'Hjälp Sökes' 'Help is Wanted' together with Kristina Lugn and Lars Rudolfsson, premiering February Andersson has also written music for a documentary film about Olof Palme, re recording the track 'Sorgmarch' from his last album throughout the film Agnetha Fältskog and Anni Frid Lyngstad edit Main articles Agnetha Fältskog and Anni Frid Lyngstad Both female members of ABBA pursued solo careers on the international scene after their work with the group In , Lyngstad chose Genesis drummer and vocalist Phil Collins to produce the album Something's Going On and unveiled the hit single and video I Know There's Something Going On in the autumn of that year The single became a number one hit in France where it spent five weeks at the top , Belgium, Switzerland and Costa Rica The track reached number three in Austria, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Poland, and was also a Top hit in Germany, Italy, Finland, South Africa and Australia Sveriges Television documented this historical event, by filming the whole recording process The result became a one hour TV documentary, including interviews with Lyngstad, Collins, Ulvaeus and Andersson as well as all the musicians This documentary and the promotion videos from the album are included in Frida The DVD Lyngstad's second solo album after ABBA was called Shine, produced by Steve Lillywhite Shine was recorded in Paris and released in Shine was Lyngstad's final studio album release for twelve years It featured Slowly , the last known Andersson Ulvaeus composition to have been recorded by one of the former female ABBA vocalists to date The promotion videos and clips for Shine are included in Frida – The DVD In , Agnetha Fältskog recorded Nu tändas tusen juleljus Now a thousand Christmas candles are lit , a Swedish Christmas album along with her year old daughter Linda The album was released in Nu tändas tusen julejus, which was Fältskog's first Swedish language recording for the Polar Music label after having left CBS Cupol, peaked at No on the Swedish album chart in January , has been re released on CD by Polar Music PolyGram Universal Music all through the s and s and is one of the best selling Swedish Christmas albums of all time The album name is derived from one of Scandinavia's best known Christmas carols In , Fältskog released the solo album Wrap Your Arms Around Me which achieved platinum sales in Sweden This included the single The Heat Is On , which was a hit all over Europe and Scandinavia It reached number one in Sweden and Norway and number two in the Netherlands and Belgium In the United States, Fältskog earned a Billboard Top hit with Can't Shake Loose In Europe, the single Wrap Your Arms Around Me was another successful hit, topping the charts in Belgium and Denmark, reaching the Top in Sweden, the Netherlands and South Africa, and the Top in Germany and France The album sold million copies worldwide The album was produced by the highly successful producer and songwriter Mike Chapman, also known for his work with The Sweet, Mud, Suzi Quatro, Blondie, Pat Benatar and The Knack It's So Nice to be Rich was Agnetha's fourth top ten hit in Sweden in Her duet with Tomas Ledin, Never Again was the first one Fältskog's second English language solo album, Eyes of a Woman, was released in March , peaking at number two in Sweden and another platinum seller and performing reasonably well in Europe The album was produced by Eric Stewart of cc The first single from the album was her self penned I Won't Let You Go Agnetha's duet with Ola Håkansson The Way You Are was a number one hit in Sweden in and was awarded double platinum In early , Agnetha recorded an album Kom följ med I vår karusell 'Come ride with me on my carousel' with her son Christian The album contained songs for children and was sung in Swedish For the album Agnetha recorded duets with her son and with a choir of children She also recorded a few solo songs The production was modern and fresh The single 'Pa Sondag' was much played at the radio and even made the Swedish top , unique for a song made for kids to enjoy Also in November , Fältskog released her third post ABBA solo album, the Peter Cetera produced I Stand Alone, which also included the Billboard Adult Contemporary duet with Cetera, I Wasn't the One Who Said Goodbye , as well as the European charting singles The Last Time and Let It Shine The album was extremely successful in Sweden, where it spent eight weeks at number one and was awarded double platinum Shortly after some minor European promotion for the album in early , Fältskog withdrew from public life and halted her music career In , she released her autobiography, As I Am, and a compilation album featuring her solo hits alongside some ABBA classics In , she made a successful comeback, releasing the critically acclaimed album My Colouring Book, which debuted at number one in Sweden achieving triple platinum status , number six in Germany, and number in the UK, winning a silver award, and achieving gold status in Finland The single If I Thought You'd Ever Change Your Mind a cover of the Cilla Black s song became Fältskog's biggest solo hit in the United Kingdom, reaching number The single peaked at number two in Sweden and was a hit throughout Scandinavia and Europe A further single, When You Walk in the Room , was released but met with less success, only peaking at number in the United Kingdom In January , she sang a live duet on stage with Swedish singer Tommy Körberg at the after party for the final performance of the musical, Mamma Mia!, in Stockholm, at which Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus were also present In , Lyngstad had been asked and chosen to be the chairperson for the environmental organisation Artister för miljön Artists for the Environment in Sweden She became chairperson for this organisation from to To mark her interests for the environment, she recorded the Julian Lennon song Saltwater and performed it live in Stockholm She arranged and financed summer camps for poor children in Sweden, focusing on environmental and ecological issues Her environmental work for this organisation led up to the decision to record again The album Djupa andetag Deep Breaths was released towards the end of and became a success in Sweden, where it reached number one The lyrics for the single from this album, Även en blomma Even a Flower , deal with environmental issues In , Lyngstad recorded a song called The Sun Will Shine Again , written especially for her and released with former Deep Purple member Jon Lord The couple made several TV performances with this song in Germany Lyngstad lives a relatively low profile life but occasionally appears at a party or charity function On August , she married Prince Heinrich Ruzzo Reuss von Plauen, of the German Reuss family Von Plauen died of lymphoma in at the age of In addition to losing her husband, Lyngstad had also lost her daughter Lise Lotte in a car crash a year earlier On November , Lyngstad's th birthday, Universal released the Frida Box Set, consisting of the solo albums she recorded for the Polar Label Also included is the / hour documentary Frida – The DVD On this DVD, which covers her entire singing career, the viewer is guided by Lyngstad herself through the years from her TV debut in Sweden in to the TV performances she made in Germany in Many rare clips are included in the set and each performance is explained by Lyngstad herself The interview with Lyngstad was filmed in the Swiss Alps in summer Lyngstad returned to the recording studio in to record vocals for the Cat Stevens song Morning Has Broken , for Swedish guitarist Georg Wadenius's October album Reconnections The album, which featured other guest vocalists, reached number in the Swedish charts citation needed In May , Fältskog released a solo album entitled A through the Verve music label In a promotional interview, Fältskog explained that the album was unplanned and it was after she heard the first three songs that she felt that she had to do this record the album She also revealed that she completed singing lessons prior to recording A, as she felt a bit rusty in her throat Fältskog stated that she would not be undertaking any tours or live performances in support of the album, explaining I'm not that young anymore I don’t have the energy to do that, and also I don’t want to travel too much The title of the album was conceived of by the studio production team In she recorded an album of s covers who had the most impact on her teenage years as a music contender A has been very successful, earning her Gold Records in UK where it peaked at number six, Australia, Germany and Sweden In both UK and Australia it was in the top albums of Resurgence of public interest edit The same year the members of ABBA went their separate ways, the French production of a tribute show a children's TV musical named Abbacadabra using ABBA songs spawned new interest in the group's music After receiving little attention during the mid to late s, ABBA's music experienced a resurgence in the early s due to the UK synth pop duo Erasure, who released a cover extended play featuring versions of ABBA songs which topped the charts in As U arrived in Stockholm for a concert in June of that year, the band paid homage to ABBA by inviting Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson to join them on stage for a rendition of Dancing Queen , playing guitar and keyboards September saw the release of ABBA Gold Greatest Hits, a new compilation album The single Dancing Queen received radio airplay in the UK in summer to promote the album The song returned to the Top of the UK singles chart in August that year, this time peaking at number The enormous interest in the ABBA Gold Greatest Hits compilation saw the release of More ABBA Gold More ABBA Hits in In , two Australian cult films caught the attention of the world's media, both focusing on admiration for ABBA The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert and Muriel's Wedding The same year, Thank You for the Music, a four disc box set comprising all the group's hits and stand out album tracks, was released with the involvement of all four members By the end of the twentieth century , American critic Chuck Klosterman wrote a decade later, it was far more contrarian to hate ABBA than to love them ABBA were soon recognised and embraced by other acts Evan Dando of The Lemonheads recorded a cover version of Knowing Me, Knowing You Sinéad O'Connor and Boyzone's Stephen Gately have recorded Chiquitita Tanita Tikaram, Blancmange and Steven Wilson paid tribute to The Day Before You Came Cliff Richard covered Lay All Your Love on Me , while Dionne Warwick, Peter Cetera, and Celebrity Skin recorded their versions of SOS U S alternative rock musician Marshall Crenshaw has also been known to play a version of Knowing Me, Knowing You in concert appearances, while legendary English Latin pop songwriter Richard Daniel Roman has recognized ABBA as a major influence Swedish metal guitarist Yngwie Malmsteen covered Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! A Man After Midnight with slightly altered lyrics Two different compilation albums of ABBA songs have been released ABBA A Tribute coincided with the th anniversary celebration and featured songs, some of which were recorded especially for this release Notable tracks include Go West's One of Us , Army of Lovers Hasta Mañana , Information Society's Lay All Your Love on Me , Erasure's Take a Chance on Me with MC Kinky , and Lyngstad's a cappella duet with The Real Group of Dancing Queen A second track album was released in , entitled ABBAMANIA, with proceeds going to the Youth Music charity in England It featured all new cover versions notable tracks were by Madness Money, Money, Money , Culture Club Voulez Vous , The Corrs The Winner Takes It All , Steps Lay All Your Love on Me , I Know Him So Well , and a medley entitled Thank ABBA for the Music performed by several artists and as featured on the Brits Awards that same year In , an ABBA tribute group was formed, the ABBA Teens, which was subsequently renamed the A Teens to allow the group some independence The group's first album, The ABBA Generation , consisting solely of ABBA covers reimagined as s pop songs, was a worldwide success and so were subsequent albums The group disbanded in due to a grueling schedule and intentions to go solo In Sweden, the growing recognition of the legacy of Andersson and Ulvaeus resulted in the B & B Concerts, a tribute concert with Swedish singers who had worked with the songwriters through the years showcasing not only their ABBA years, but hits both before and after ABBA The concert was a success, and was ultimately released on CD It later toured Scandinavia and even went to Beijing in the People's Republic of China for two concerts In , ABBA was reported to have turned down an offer of approximately US$ , , , one billion US dollars to do a reunion tour consisting of concerts For the semi final of the Eurovision Song Contest, staged in Istanbul years after ABBA had won the contest in Brighton, all four members made cameo appearances in a special comedy video made for the interval act, entitled Our Last Video Ever Other well known stars such as Rik Mayall, Cher and Iron Maiden's Eddie also made appearances in the video It was not included in the official DVD release of the Eurovision Contest, but was issued as a separate DVD release, retitled The Last Video at the request of the former ABBA members In , all four members of ABBA appeared at the Stockholm premiere of the musical Mamma Mia! On October , at the th anniversary celebration of the Eurovision Song Contest, Waterloo was chosen as the best song in the competition's history On July , all four ABBA members were reunited at the Swedish premiere of the film Mamma Mia! It was only the second time all of them had appeared together in public since During the appearance, they re emphasized that they intended never to officially reunite, citing the opinion of Robert Plant that the re formed Led Zeppelin was more like a cover band of itself than the original band Ulvaeus stated that he wanted the band to be remembered as they were during the peak years of their success Posing together with the actors from the motion picture Mamma Mia! The Movie on July , are the original ABBA members Far left, Benny Andersson Fifth from left, Agnetha Fältskog, with her hand on Anni Frid Lyngstad's shoulder Second from right, Björn Ulvaeus The compilation album ABBA Gold Greatest Hits, originally released in , returned to number one in the UK album charts for the fifth time on August On August , the Mamma Mia! The Movie film soundtrack went to number one on the US Billboard charts, ABBA's first US chart topping album During the band's heyday the highest album chart position they had ever achieved in America was number In November , all eight studio albums, together with a ninth of rare tracks, was released as The Albums It hit several charts, peaking at number four in Sweden and reaching the Top in several other European territories In , Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, in collaboration with Universal Music Group Sweden AB, released SingStar ABBA on both the PlayStation and PlayStation games consoles, as part of the SingStar music video games The PS version features ABBA songs, while songs feature on the PS version On January , Fältskog and Lyngstad appeared together on stage to receive the Swedish music award Rockbjörnen for lifetime achievement In an interview, the two women expressed their gratitude for the honorary award and thanked their fans On November , PRS for Music announced that the British public voted ABBA as the band they would most like to see re form On January , ABBAWORLD, a room touring exhibition featuring interactive and audiovisual activities, debuted at Earls Court Exhibition Centre in London According to the exhibition's website, ABBAWORLD is approved and fully supported by the band members Mamma Mia was released as one of the first few non premium song selections for the online RPG game Bandmaster On May , Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! was added as a non premium song selection for the Bandmaster Philippines server On November , Ubisoft released a dancing game called ABBA You Can Dance for the Wii citation needed In January , Universal Music announced the re release of ABBA's final album The Visitors, featuring a previously unheard track From a Twinkling Star to a Passing Angel A book entitled ABBA The Official Photo Book was published in early to mark the year anniversary of the band's Eurovision victory The book reveals that part of the reason for the band's outrageous costumes were the Swedish tax laws at the time that allowed the cost of brazen outfits that were not suitable for public display to be deducted against tax Artistry edit Recording process edit ABBA were perfectionists in the studio and would work on tracks tirelessly until they got them right, rather than leaving them and coming back to them later The band would create the basic rhythm track with a drummer, guitarist and bass player All the other arrangements – vocals, other instruments – would be overlaid onto this basic track The vocals would then be added, and orchestra overdubs were usually left until last The women of the band would contribute ideas at the studio stage Benny and Björn would play them the backing tracks and they would make comments and suggestions According to Agnetha, the women had the final say in how the lyrics were shaped Frida says When we gather around the piano to get our voices tuned up, we often come up with things we can use in the backing vocals After all the vocals and overdubs had been done, the band would take up to five days to mix a song Fashion, style, videos, advertising campaigns edit ABBA was widely noted for the colourful and trend setting costumes its members wore The reason for the wild costumes was Swedish tax law The clothes could be deductible only if they could not be worn other than for performances Choreography by Graham Tainton also contributed to their performance style The videos that accompanied some of the band's biggest hits are often cited as being among the earliest examples of the genre Most of ABBA's videos and ABBA The Movie were directed by Lasse Hallström, who would later direct the films My Life as a Dog, The Cider House Rules and Chocolat ABBA made videos because their songs were hits in many different countries and personal appearances were not always possible This was also done in an effort to minimize travelling, particularly to countries that would have required extremely long flights Fältskog and Ulvaeus had two young children and Fältskog, who was also afraid of flying, was very reluctant to leave her children for such a long time ABBA's manager, Stig Anderson, realized the potential of showing a simple video clip on television to publicize a single or album, thereby allowing easier and quicker exposure than a concert tour Some of these videos became classics because of the s era costumes and early video effects, such as the grouping of the band members in different combinations of pairs, overlapping one singer's profile with the other's full face, and the contrasting of one member against another In , ABBA participated in a high profile advertising campaign by the Matsushita Electric Industrial today's Panasonic , which was designed to promote the brand National This campaign