Young embrace icons as their new music zips to top of charts
ABBA fever has gripped the UK – with the band’s new music soaring to the top of the charts.
New songs I Still Have Faith In You and Don’t Shut Me Down went to No1 and No2 on iTunes.
And their new album Voyage, which is out in November, is the fastest-selling pre-order of any record so far this year in the UK. It has already received more than 500,000 pre-orders to date.
The music video for I Still Have Faith In You has already been streamed 4.5 million times.
The songs were played 3.8million times on Spotify within hours of their release.
One source said: “These numbers are phenomenal but then the band are a phenomenon so is it any wonder?”
Music insiders say it is the young as well as older fans who are helping to drive the figures.
Spotify said 18 to 24-year-olds stream the band the most, with Dancing Queen the most popular.
The group are hugely popular on TikTok, where young fans post videos of themselves lip-syncing to their hits. Their profile on the platform has chalked up one million followers in just four days.
The band’s last album – 1981’s The Visitors – went to No1 on the in the charts and the group split the following year.
The 1970s Swedish supergroup – Agnetha Faltskog, 71, Bjorn Ulvaeus, 76, Benny Andersson, 74, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad, 75 – this week said it was “joyful” to be back together again.
Benny has told how on the day of rehearsals he realised he had not asked Agnetha or Anni-Frid if they could still sing.
He said: “It’s hard to say what’s been the most joyful thing for me. I think hearing Frida and Agnetha singing again is hard to beat.”