ABBA  

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"Abba" redirects here. For other uses, see Abba (disambiguation).

ABBA was a Swedish pop music group that topped the charts worldwide from the mid-1970s to the early 1980s. The name "ABBA" is an acronym, formed from the first letters of each of the four member's given name: Agnetha Faltskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad.^[1] At one time, Andersson was married to Lyngstad, and Ulvaeus was married to Faltskog, but both couple divorced at the height of their popularity.

Fast Facts ABBA Origin Stockholm, Sweden Genre(s) Pop Glam rock Europop/Disco Synth-pop Soft rock Years active 1972 – Early 1983 Label(s) Polar (Sweden) Polydor (GER) Philips Atlantic (United States) Universal (USA) Epic Vogue (France) Discomate RCA PolyGram Carnaby Sunshine Ariston/Dig It Associated acts Hep Stars, Hootenanny Singers, Benny Anderssons Orkester Website www.abbasite.com   Former members Agnetha Fältskog Björn Ulvaeus Benny Andersson Anni-Frid Lyngstad

ABBA: Faltskog, Andersson, Ulvaeus, and Lyngstad (clockwise from left)

The story of ABBA from start until today (in Swedish) (Video credit: Brightnights)

2.   In June 1966, Björn Ulvaeus of the Hootenanny Singers and Benny Andersson of the Hep Stars met while their two bands were on the road in southern Sweden. Sharing the passion for writing, they both found in the other a composing partner. Hootenanny's manager, Stig Anderson, saw potential in the collaboration and subsequently became the manager of ABBA. During the 1969 Melodifestivalen — the Swedish Eurovision Song Festival finals — Andersson met vocalist Anni-Frid Lyngstad, and they soon became a couple. Around the same time, Ulvaeus, met vocalist Agnetha Fältskog.

3.   The personal relationships and Andersson and Ulvaeus' songwriting collaboration led quite naturally to the formation of ABBA in 1972. The foursome's breakthrough came with winning the Eurovision Song Contest for Sweden with "Waterloo" on April 6, 1974. During the next eight years, ABBA gained immense international popularity, employing catchy song hooks, simple lyrics, and a Wall of Sound achieved by overdubbing the female singers' voices in multiple harmonies. As their popularity grew, they were sought after to tour Europe, Australia, and North America, drawing crowds of near-hysterical fans ("ABBAholics"), notably in Australia. Touring, however, became a contentious issue, being particularly unpopular with Faltskog, but they continued to release studio albums to great commercial success. In all, ABBA produced eight studio albums. After ABBA broke up in 1982, Andersson continued writing music with Ulvaeus.

4.   ABBA remains a fixture of radio playlists and is one of the world's best selling bands, having sold over 400 million records world wide ^[1] and still selling two to three million records a year.^[1] As a matter of fact, ABBA Gold: Greatest Hits, a compilation album that was released in September 1992, became the most popular ABBA release ever, selling more than 26 million copies to date and setting chart longevity records. ABBA was also the first pop group from mainland Europe to enjoy consistent success in the charts of the English-speaking countries, mainly the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Ireland, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand.

5.   The music of ABBA has been rearranged into the successful musical Mamma Mia! that has toured worldwide and a movie version was released in July 2008. All four of the former members of ABBA were present at the Stockholm premieres of both the musical (2005) and the film (2008). During their appearance for the film premiere, the ex-ABBA members reemphasized that they intended never to officially reunite as they believe that a reunion would not satisfy ABBA's many fans, even though there are legions of them around the world clamouring for one.  more... at Chronology