Super troupers

1 The quartet – Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Anni- Frid Lyngstad – were formed in Stockholm, Sweden, in 1972. They shot to fame when they won the

2 Eurovision Song Contest in 1974 with Waterloo. It was Sweden’s first victory. Abba shared a name with a Swedish

3 canned herring company and had to negotiate with the fish firm for the rights. Agnetha and Björn were married, as were

4 Benny and Anni- Frid. But by 1981 both couples had divorced and a year later the group split. Abba were famed for their

5 outrageous costumes. They were also tax deductible under Swedish law – provided they didn’t wear them when they weren’t performing. Björn admitted: “Nobody

6 can have been as badly dressed on stage as we were.” They were not all Swedish

7 – Anni- Frid was Norwegian and her father a German officer in World War Two. Branded a traitor, her mother had to leave Norway for Sweden. Agnetha was briefly replaced in 1973 after

8 giving birth to her and Björn’s first child Linda. A friend of Anni- Frid, Inger Brundin, joined for performances in Germany. More than 3.5million people applied

9 for tickets to their 1977 London tour dates at the Royal Albert Hall, while their Australian TV special got better ratings than the Moon landing.

10 Abba: Gold is the second best- selling album in the UK. It is surpassed only by Queen’s Greatest Hits.

11 Led Zeppelin recorded In Through The Out Door at Abba’s studio in Stockholm. Robert Plant claimed he visited a sex club with Benny and Björn. They once got paid in oil. At the

12 height of their fame during the Cold War, the Soviet rouble became subject to restrictions so their management arranged for them to receive oil rights.

13 They didn’t have an No1 album in the US until 2008 and they topped the charts then with the soundtrack to Mamma Mia!, the Meryl Streep film adaptation of Benny and Björn’s Broadway musical.

14 Anni- Frid is a princess. After splitting with Benny, she married German Prince Ruzzo Reuss von Plauen in 1992. They lived at his castle in Switzerland until his death in 1999. Protective of their music, Abba sued The

15 KLF for using Dancing Queen without permission. The only artists they allowed to sample their music were Madonna – Gimme Gimme Gimme in Hung Up – and The Fugees – The Name Of The Game in Rumble In The Jungle.