MAMMA MIA! HERE WE GO AGAIN

ABBA ARE BACK! MARION McMULLEN LOOKS AT THE SWEDISH SUPERSTARS’ RETURN

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Abba are bringing out their first studio album in nearly 40 years . They recorded the 10-track Abba Voyage when they reunited to film a digital concert performance of the same name which will feature “Abba-tar” versions of themselves.

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Bjorn Ulvaeus met Benny Andersson, below, in Sweden in 1966 when they wrote their first song together called Isn’t It Easy To Say. They met Agnetha Faltskog and Anni-Frid (Frida) Lyngstad three years s later. Bjorn and Agnetha married in 1971 and Benny and Frida in 1978. Both couples divorced in the 1980s.

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The group entered the Melodifestivalen, which determines Sweden’s selection for the Eurovision Song Contest, in 1973 with the song Ring Ring and finished third. The single and album of the same name though went on to become the biggest hits of the year in Sweden and also in several other European countries.

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The quartet changed their name to Abba, an acronym of their first names, in 1974 and entered Melodifestivalen again with Waterloo.

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Waterloo won the Eurovision finals in Brighton in 1974 even though the UK gave the Swedes zero points. Their musical conductor dressed as Napoleon for the competition, but Benny and Bjorn were almost stopped by a security guard while making their way to the stage to collect their awards because they failed to recognise the newly crowned champs.

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Abba were particularly popular in Australia, where a 1976 TV Special by the band picked up more viewers than the Moon landings. The UK cultivated a similar obsession and a two-date show at London’s Royal Albert Hall in 1977 attracted 3.5 million ticket applications – enough to fill the venue 580 times.

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The group was wildly successful commercially, selling more than 400 million albums and singles during their career. Their last studio album, The Visitors, was released in 1981, but they continue to win new generations of fans.

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The musical Mamma Mia! based on the songs of Abba, premiered in London in 1999 before opening open on Broadway two years later. Meryl Streep, Dame Julie Walters and Pierce Brosnan starred in the 2008 film adaptation, above, a and Cher appeared in i the 2018 sequel.

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Despite going their separate ways in the 1980s, the Swedish band never officially broke up. Benny and Bjorn worked together on projects including the hit musical Chess with Tim Rice. Bjorn said: “We just said back then that we’d go on a break. And this break has now ended.”

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The Abba Voyage album will be released on November N b5 5. It has already broken Universal Audio’s pre-order record with 80,000 orders. The digital concert opens on May 27 next year at the 3,000-capacity Abba Arena at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London.