ABBA to release 1st album in 40 years
ABBA is releasing its first new music in four decades, along with a concert performance that will see the “Dancing Queen” quartet going entirely digital.
The forthcoming album “Voyage,” to be released Nov. 5, is a follow-up to 1981’s “The Visitors,” which until now had been the swan song of the Swedish supergroup. A virtual version of the band will begin a series of concerts in London on May 27.
“We took a break in the spring of 1982, and now we’ve decided it’s time to end it,” ABBA said in a statement Thursday. “They say it’s foolhardy to wait more than 40 years between albums, so we’ve recorded a follow-up to ‘The Visitors.’ ”
The group has been creating the holographic live show, using motion capture and other techniques, with George Lucas’ special-effects company, Industrial Light & Magic.
The planned show spurred the making of the album, which features the new songs “I Still Have Faith In You” and “Don’t Shut Me Down.” It began with sessions in 2018 and was delayed by the coronavirus pandemic.
The group consisted of two married couples for most of its existence, and its name is an acronym of the members’ first names: Agnetha Faltskog, 71, Bjorn Ulvaeus, 76, Benny Andersson, 74, and AnniFrid Lyngstad, 75.
No charges for Spears:
Britney Spears will face no charges after an allegation from her housekeeper that Spears slapped a phone out of her hand, prosecutors said Wednesday. A possible misdemeanor battery charge was declined based on insufficient evidence that a crime had occurred and lack of injury to the housekeeper or significant damage to the phone, Ventura County District Attorney Erik Nasarenko said in a statement.
The woman had called authorities after the Aug. 16 dispute with Spears over veterinary care of Spears’ dog, Nasarenko said.
Not guilty plea entered for Manson:
An attorney has entered a not guilty plea on behalf of musical artist Marilyn Manson, who is accused of approaching a videographer at his 2019 concert in New Hampshire and allegedly spitting and blowing his nose on her.
Manson, whose legal name is Brian Hugh
Warner, was charged with two misdemeanor counts of simple assault stemming from the alleged altercation on Aug. 19, 2019, at the Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion in Gilford.
An arraignment hearing on the charges was scheduled for Thursday, but an attorney for Manson filed the not guilty plea and a wavier of arraignment in Laconia District Court.
NeNe Leakes’ husband dies: Gregg Leakes, 66, the husband of “The Real Housewives of Atlanta” star NeNe Leakes, has died. Publicist Ernest Dukes said Wednesday in a statement that Gregg Leakes died after a “long battle with cancer.” Dukes said Leakes died peacefully in his home while being surrounded by his children and his wife, whom he often appeared with on the Bravo reality TV show.
Sept. 3 birthdays: Actor Pauline Collins is 81. Musician Al Jardine is 79. Actor Valerie Perrine is 78. Drummer Donald Brewer is 73. Guitarist Steve Jones is 66. Actor Steve Schirripa is 64. Actor Charlie Sheen is 56. Musician Redfoo is
46. Actor Ashley Jones is
45. Actor Garrett Hedlund is 37. Singer August Alsina is 29.