Abba reform! The reunion they said would never happen
Swedish supergroup set to return with two new songs and a tour where they don’t even have to show up
ABBA are making a musical comeback after 35 years, surprising the world with the announcement that they have recorded two new songs.
The Swedish supergroup delighted fans yesterday with news of the reunion. The band never split officially but have not worked together since 1983.
“We all four felt that, after some 35 years, it could be fun to join forces again and get into the recording studio. So we did. And it was like time had stood still and that we only had been away on a short holiday. An extremely joyful experience!” they said in a statement.
The first of the songs, I Still Have Faith In You, will be broadcast for the first time during a BBC television special in December.
There is a catch. Those hoping to see Benny Andersson, Bjorn Ulvaeus, Anni-frid Lyngstad and Agnetha Faltskog performing live are in for a disappointment.
The songs will be performed by a virtual reality version of the band using digital avatars – dubbed Abbatars – created for a show that will tour the world next year.
The band turned down a $1billion offer to reform in 2000, and have not had a change of heart. They sang one song on stage in 2016, but it was for a private party.
Last year, Ulvaeus explained why they would not tour: “The simple answer is because we don’t want to. It would be such hassle. It would be enormous.
“It would be like robbing yourself of perhaps two or three years out of your life when I could be paddling on my surf ski in the archipelago of Stockholm instead.”
Görel Hanser, their manager, under- lined that message yesterday. “No, you cannot expect them to join forces on stage again. They will not do that,” she said.
Hanser said of the new music: “The sound will be familiar, but also modern.” The recording session “was like old times. Easy as anything. It didn’t feel weird that they hadn’t been in the studio together for 35 years.”
The band took a break in 1983 for Andersson and Ulvaeus to work on Chess, the musical which rather neatly returns to London’s West End next week.
The marriages within the group – Faltskog and Ulvaeus, Lyngstad and Andersson – broke up, but they are now all on friendly terms.
Time away from the spotlight only enhanced their popularity. Their greatest hits album, ABBA Gold, is one of the UK’S biggest-sellers of all time. Mamma Mia!, the jukebox musical, was a runaway hit in theatres and on the big screen.
Along with the Australian film Muriel’s Wedding it introduced their music to a new generation. A Mamma Mia! sequel hits cinemas in July.
In a recent interview, Andersson explained the appeal of the virtual reality tour.
“It will be like you’re in 1977, with a live band, live backing vocals, great set design with lights and sound, everything will be like a live concert. But we will be there in the form of holograms and digital avatars.
“Our voices will be taken from the records. If you’re sitting up in the arena. You’ll see us up there. It’s quite exciting.”
And for a band with an average age of 71 and no desire to slog through an international tour, there are distinct advantages.
“We can be on stage while I’m home walking the dogs. I don’t have to leave my house,” Andersson said.