Biography
Abba is one of the most popular Swedish bands ever. In the late 1960s, all the members of Abba had their solocareers in Sweden. In 1970, Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson decided to start working together on an album. Agnetha and Anni-Frid were the backing vocals. They performed together every now and then and Björn and Benny scored a number-1 hit “Hej gamle man”. The first official single of Abba, however, was “People need love” in 1972. They now called themselves Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Anni-Frid. Another single, “Nina, pretty ballerina”, was released. In 1973, the group participated in Melodifestivalen with the song “Ring ring” and became 3rd. Despite the disappointment about this, the song became an international hit all over Europe and even in South-Africa. Meanwhile, the group changed their name into Abba. They decided to participate in Melodifestivalen in 1974 again with a song that was originally called “Honey pie”, but later changed into “Waterloo”. Abba won Melodifestivalen, went to the Eurovision Song Contest in Brighton and won the contest there too. The song became an international hit in many countries and meant the final breakthrough of Abba. Hits followed like “Honey honey”, “Hasta mañana” and “King kong song”. In the UK, the follow up for their Eurovision song was “S.O.S.” in 1975, from their third album. After 1975 worldwide success came with, among others, “Mamma Mia” and “Fernando”. This last song was initially written especially for Frida’s Swedish album “Frida ensam”. However, ABBA decided to include an English version. The single grew into one of ABBA’s biggest hits. Meanwhile, a first “Greatest Hits” album was released. The hits were followed by “Money, Money, Money”, “Knowing Me, Knowing You” and “Dancing Queen” from the 1976 Arrival album.
A movie was made in 1977: “Abba: the movie”. Almost at the same time, they released a new album and again, a lot of hits: “Take a chance on me”, “Thank you for the music”, “The name of the game” and “Eagle”.
However, in 1979 Björn and Agnetha decided to divorce. Nevertheless, a new album came with the hits “Voulez-vous”, “Does your mother know” and “I have a dream”. A new tour followed, this time also through the USA. In 1980 a single “The winner takes it all” appeared, followed by the album and single “Super trouper”. In 1981, also Benny and Frida divorced.
One more album followed with songs such as “One of us” and “Head over heals”. Another album was planned, but only two singles appeared: “The day before you came” and “Under attack”. At the end of 1982 the band decided to take some rest. That was the end, although an official split up was never anounced. Agnetha and Frida worked on their solo careers, while Björn and Benny kept on composing. They wrote a.o. the musical “Chess”.
