The ABBA Story

The ABBA story has a number of lucky occurrences and fortunate meetings. Everything combined to create one of the most fantastic music success stories the world has ever seen.

Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson

It all began on a June evening in 1966 in the city of Linköping, Sweden. 21 year old Björn Ulvaeus was on tour with a very popular folk music group called the Hootenanny Singers. Benny Andersson was a year younger and was playing with the Hep Stars, one of the major Swedish bands of the 1960’s.

After a concert the two met and soon decided to start collaborating. The very first song that Björn and Benny composed together was entitled “Isn’t It Easy To Say”. It was released in 1966 on the Hep Stars self titled album.

By the end of the decade the two young songwriters were working regularly together. By that time Benny had left the Hep Stars and Björn’s group the Hootenanny Singers concentrated solely on recording. At the time the two young men had no idea of the incredibly successful career that lay ahead of them.

Stikkan Anderson and Polar Music

In 1963 legendary lyricist and music publisher Stig "Stikkan” Anderson (1931-1997) had started his record company, then called Polar Records. The first group he signed to a contract was the Hootenanny Singers. Stikkan offered Björn a job as a producer who in turn suggested that Benny be hired as well.

Under Björn and Benny’s direction a number of very popular artists were introduced to the Swedish market, like singer and songwriter Ted Gärdestad and singer Lena Andersson. During this period the song writing duo of Björn and Benny produced an album entitled “Lycka” (“Happiness”), which was released in 1970.

Agnetha Fältskog and Anni-Frid Lyngstad

Björn met Agnetha Fältskog (born 1950) at a television taping in 1969. Agnetha was a successful solo recording artist who had released her first single several years earlier. At about the same time Benny met Norwegian jazz singer Anni-Frid Lyngstad (born 1945). In 1970 they formed a show group called “Festfolk”, which was not so successful.

However things soon changed and in the summer of 1972 they found themselves on the Swedish sales charts with the song “People Need Love”. By now the group had changed its name to “Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Anni-Frid”. Over time their collaboration led to marriage, Björn and Agnetha wed in 1971 and Benny and Anni-Frid in 1978.

Eurovision Song Contest

In Lugano, Switzerland the first Eurovision Song Contest was held in May 1956 to which seven countries each had contributed a song for a competition. Since then the competition is an annual event and today it has grown into a huge extravaganza encompassing Europe and beyond.

Europe wakes up to “Ring Ring”

Björn, Benny and Stikkan were asked to contribute a song for the 1973 Eurovision Song Contest. Their entry was entitled “Ring Ring” and finished in third place in “Melodifestivalen”, Sweden’s preliminary competition to choose the song to represent the country in the main Eurovision Song Contest. This gave Björn, Benny, Agnetha and Anni-Frid valuable experience and showed them what it was like to suddenly find themselves in the media spotlight.

After their success in “Melodifestivalen”, “Ring Ring” was released on a single and on an album. Both tracked high on the Swedish pop charts and the single did well in other parts of Europe.

Waterloo – the international breakthrough

Fresh from their success with “Ring Ring” the group decided to contribute another song for the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest. By now the group had changed names again to ABBA, an acronym of the members´ initials. Inspired by the glam rock scene popular in the UK they wrote the song “Waterloo”.

That song was the winning entry of the Swedish preliminary competition “Melodifestivalen” for 1974. The Eurovision Song Contest that year was held in Brighton in the UK. Even though 17 countries were in competition ABBA felt well prepared and ready to take on Europe.

On April 6, 1974, dressed in their now classic satin outfits and platform shoes, ABBA took the stage in front of millions of television viewers throughout Europe. Two hours later ABBA became the first Swedish group to win the Eurovision Song Contest.

Watch ABBA perform "Waterloo" in the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest >>

“Waterloo” quickly climbed the record charts and was soon on top of the important British charts. This was ABBA’s first trip to No 1 on the charts in the UK but in the years to come they would find themselves there a further eight times. The song reached an impressive No 6 on the Billboard charts in the USA. Back home in Sweden the album was an enormous success.

Mamma Mia No 1 in the UK

After the success of “Waterloo” it was another 18 months before ABBA hit the world charts again with “SOS”. And with “Mamma Mia” they once again reached the top position of the British pop charts.

The group had built a following of millions of fans worldwide, and especially in Australia where the continent was experiencing full fledged ABBA fever. In the years that followed ABBA reached No 1 on the Australian pop charts six times.

Fantastic global success

In 1976 ABBA had become one of the world´s most successful pop groups. This was largely due to the two compilation albums “Greatest Hits” and “The Best of ABBA”. They were released in the UK and Australia where they still are among the best selling albums ever. In addition to “Mamma Mia”, the singles “Fernando” and “Dancing Queen” climbed the charts all over the world. In April of 1977, “Dancing Queen” reached No 1 on the Billboard charts in the USA.

ABBA’s fourth album entitled “Arrival” was released in 1978. From it came the singles “Money, Money, Money” and “Knowing Me Knowing You”, which also made their way up the top of the charts. The group began a tour around Europe and Australia. It was a rousing success, and the group played to sold out arenas at every stop.

On the Australian tour a movie was filmed called “ABBA – The Movie”. It premiered in December of 1977 in conjunction with the group’s fifth album, “ABBA – The Album”. Two of the songs “The Name Of The Game” and “Take A Chance On Me” became No 1 hits on the British charts and in many other countries.

Touring the USA

After the American success of “Dancing Queen” on the Billboard list, in the spring of 1978 ABBA decided to go on a promotional tour of the USA. This led to the single “Take A Chance On Me” making it to No 3 on the charts, and “ABBA – The Album” made the Top 20 list.

On returning to Stockholm, the group went to the newly opened Polar Studio to record its sixth album, “Voulez-Vous” that was released in April of 1979. It included the single “Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)”, which came out later that same year when ABBA went on a tour around the USA, Canada and Europe. This was followed by another collection of hits, “Greatest Hits Vol. 2”, which also enjoyed large international success.

The tour continued in March 1980 with a trip to Japan. This would be the group’s last live concerts. The rest of that year was spent recording their seventh album, “Super Trouper” that included the hit single “The Winner Takes It All”. This put ABBA on top of the British charts for the ninth time.

The Visitors – the final album

In February 1981 Benny and Anni-Frid decided to end their marriage, just as Björn and Agnetha had done two years earlier. However, they continued to work together and by the end of the year they released their eighth album, “The Visitors”. The members felt that the group’s energy had started to wane. For some time Björn and Benny had been thinking about writing a musical called “Chess” and Agnetha and Anni-Frid wanted to return to their solo careers. At the end of 1982 they decided to take a break.

The music lingers on

Since their break-up the group has not reunited, except for a performance on a show dedicated to Stikkan Anderson that was aired on Swedish Television on January 16, 1986. Despite more than 25 years since the release of their final studio album, ABBA’s music is still very popular with people of all ages. The musical “Mamma Mia!”, which is based on Björn and Benny’s songs, premiered in London in 1999, and it has since been enjoyed by over 30 million people around the world.

Record sales

ABBA has sold nearly 370 million records worldwide, a fantastic number probably surpassed only by Elvis Presley and The Beatles. They continue to sell several million records every year making ABBA one of the world’s best selling groups.

Albums

ABBA released a total of eight studio albums during their career. The group’s last single, “Under Attack”, one of two newly written songs, was included on a new compilation album called “The Singles: The First Ten Years”, and came out in the UK in December 1982.