Mamma Mia! ABBA makes a comeback - DW (English)

After a 40-year hiatus, ABBA is back together again with a new album, "Voyage." The Swedish pop group is also planning a show in London.

The secret is out! After a puzzling ABBA tweet and days of suspense for die-hard fans, the Swedish cult band announced a new album after its 40-year-hiatus, and a stage show to boot.

The album Voyage will have 10 new songs. Two of them, "I Still Have Faith in You" and "Don't Shut Me Down," can already be streamed. The album comes out on November 5, 2021.

"First we did one song, then several. Then we said: why don't we make a whole album?" said ABBA member Björn Ulvaeus.

Return as holograms

And that's not all. Fans of the legendary pop group can enjoy the quartet on stage again next spring at a show in the specially built stadium in London's Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park — at least virtually.

Agnetha, Björn, Benny and Anni-Frid will not be on stage in person, but as holograms of their younger selves, what they are calling ABBAatars.

The images are amazingly realistic thanks to sophisticated technology. Over the course of five weeks, the band members performed every song to 160 cameras, every movement was recorded to create the virtual images. "The only big problem was that we had to shave our beards," Björn said.

Earlier, ABBA announced a "historic livestream" on Twitter, which had caused a lot of speculation.

In fact, the ABBA fan community had to be patient for a long time. The Swedes first announced a planned "digital entertainment experience" in 2016, but it was repeatedly postponed, most recently because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Reunion was long thought to be impossible

ABBA were part of the "super league of the music business," writes music historian Carl Magnus Palm in ABBA: Story and Songs Compact. They have sold at least 380 million albums since their breakthrough at the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest (ESC), some estimates even put it at 500 million records. After the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, Björn, Benny, Agnetha and Anni-Frid, whose initials make up the group's name, are the most successful band of all time.

Their hits are evergreens. "Waterloo," "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)", "The Winner Takes It All" and many other songs from their eight studio albums graced the charts worldwide.

• 

  10 ABBA songs you certainly already know

  'Dancing Queen'

  It is ABBA's biggest hit ever. "Dancing Queen" was the second track on their fourth album "Arrival" from 1976. The Swedish band picked up the disco sound that was trending in the US and gave it a Europop twist. "We knew immediately it was going to be massive," member Agnetha Faltskog said. It became a classic that still brings joy to any dance floor.

• 

  10 ABBA songs you certainly already know

  'Waterloo'

  The winning entry for the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest, this is the song that led to ABBA's worldwide fame. Written specifically for the contest, it was selected as the best song from the competition's history for its 50th anniversary in 2005. Referencing Napoleon's surrender at the Battle of Waterloo, it tells the story of a woman who "surrenders" to the man she loves.

• 

  10 ABBA songs you certainly already know

  'SOS'

  Released in 1975, this was ABBA's first major worldwide hit after "Waterloo." The Who's Pete Townshend called it "one of the best pop songs ever written." John Frusciante, Peter Cetera, Chris deBurgh as well as Portishead are among the musicians who later covered the catchy hit.

• 

  10 ABBA songs you certainly already know

  'Money Money Money'

  ABBA's attitude and outrageous costumes had something uniquely naive that rejoices fans of kitsch to this day. These kimonos were famously worn in the video for "Money, Money, Money." By the time this single from the album "Arrival" was released in 1976 after "Dancing Queen," ABBA was definitely very rich. That didn't matter, as everyone agreed, it "must be funny, in the rich man's world."

• 

  10 ABBA songs you certainly already know

  'Fernando'

  Released in 1976, this single became one of the best-selling tracks of all time. The song tells the story of two veteran freedom fighters from the war between Texas and Mexico meeting again: "There's no regret, If I had to do the same again, I would, my friend, Fernando..." Bjorn Ulvaeus once said he liked to write "little stories" with his songs.

• 

  10 ABBA songs you certainly already know

  'Knowing Me, Knowing You'

  "Breaking up is never easy..." This 1977 song is one their first to deal with the break-up of a relationship, years before it would become their own reality. ABBA was composed of two married couples: Agnetha Faltskog was with Bjorn Ulvaeus and Anni-Frid Lyngstad with Benny Andersson. Both of their marriages collapsed at the height of their popularity.

• 

  10 ABBA songs you certainly already know

  'The Winner Takes It All'

  Reflecting the end of a romance, this 1980 track has an aura of sadness that appeared as difficulties in the members' relationships arose. Bjorn Ulvaeus and Agnetha Fältskog announced they were divorcing in 1979, Anni-Frid Lyngstad and Benny Andersson in 1981. However, the band kept touring together. Ulvaeus, who wrote the lyrics, has often claimed the song was not based on his own experience.

• 

  10 ABBA songs you certainly already know

  'Mamma Mia'

  This 1975 chart-topper became the title of a musical based on ABBA's songs and musical romantic comedy starring Meryl Streep. "Mamma mia" is Italian which literally translates as "My mommy," but is used to express surprise or excitement.

• 

  10 ABBA songs you certainly already know

  'Chiquitita'

  The title of this 1979 song also borrows from another language, as "chiquitita" is a Spanish term of endearment for a woman meaning "little one." In contrast to ABBA's disco hits, this track opens with a lullaby feel; its chorus is powerful ear candy, "Chiquitita, you and I know..." The video shows the band members singing with a huge snowman.

• 

  10 ABBA songs you certainly already know

  'Voulez-Vous'

  This time with a title from French, "Voulez-Vous," means "do you want" and is a disco track that appeared on the 1979 album of the same name as well as on many compilation albums. ABBA never officially announced that it had dissolved, but the band stopped being active as a group in 1982. Now they've announced they would be releasing their first new material in 35 years.

  Author: Elizabeth Grenier (ct)

Despite personal crises between the band members and a hiatus that began in 1982 and lasted for four decades, their music is still a commercial success. To date, ABBA are said to have made about €2 billion ($2.4 billion) in profits.

For a long time, a reunion looked remote, as all four band members categorically rejected getting back together. In 2000, they turned down the offer of a €1 billion world tour.

Media report about a new tour

The #ABBAVoyage tweet fueled the debate about a possible comeback. The band had hinted that new songs were in the making.

In 2018, Björn said ABBA were recording two songs, "I Still Have Faith In You" and "Don't Shut Me Down," according to Britain's NME magazine. A release date was kept vague until May 2021 when Björn said the new songs would come out this year, NME reported, in turn referring to the Australian Herald Sun.

ABBA were known for their interesting stage outfits

Speculation was rife on social media. Back in 2017, Benny hinted in the Daily Telegraph that the band would go on tour again after a quarter of a century, not in person, but by putting "ABBAtars" on stage — holograms of the band members frozen in their 1970s looks.

The end of a myth?

Despite their break, ABBA never disappeared. Björn and Benny wrote musicals that were celebrated in London's West End or on Broadway in New York. Mamma Mia! has thrilled more than 60 million visitors since its premiere in 1999 and was turned into a film in 2008 starring Meryl Streep and Pierce Brosnan. It's considered one of the most successful musicals ever. With their cover versions, popular performers including Cher and Erasure also put ABBA songs back in the charts time and again.

ABBA songs are big with the LGBTQ community, too, and in 2010, 28 years after their last studio recordings, they were inducted into the legendary Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The ABBA legend continues.

This article has been translated from German.

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