Here we go again! Iconic Swedish band Abba has announced they’re releasing new music for the first time in 35 years, after swearing they’d never perform live together again.
The group made the announcement on social media on Friday, revealing they’re set to release two new songs ahead of their upcoming virtual tour that features digital avatars of themselves singing on stage.
Abba broke up in 1982 when blonde beauty Agnetha Faltskog walked away from the band and ended their run as one of the world’s most successful and beloved pop groups. Now, Agnetha, Benny Andersson, Bjorn Ulvaeus and Anni-Frid Lyngstad say going back to the studio together was “an extremely joyful experience”.
“The decision to go ahead with the exciting ABBA avatar tour project had an unexpected consequence,” the band said. “We all four felt that, after some 35 years, it could be fun to join forces again and go into the recording studio. So we did. And it was like time had stood still and that we only had been away on a short holiday. An extremely joyful experience!”
They added, “We may have come of age, but the song is new. And it feels good.”
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Although they haven’t performed together in decades, Abba has remained in the spotlight throughout their hiatus and gained a whole new generation of fans thanks to the Mamma Mia! movie, starring Meryl Streep and Colin Firth, and the popular Broadway show of the same name.
Diehard Abba fans are already sharing their excitement on social media, with the band’s reunion announcement gaining thousands of comments from young and old.
“This is so exciting!!! I am a huge ABBA fan since I was 6!!! All my life, and I brought my love of your songs to my daughters,” one woman wrote. “Your music is part of the “soundtrack” of my life and now of my daughter’s as well.”
It’s a feeling many Boomers can relate to having grown up in an era when Abba ruled the airwaves. They first shot to stardom after winning the 1974 Eurovision song contest with their tune ‘Waterloo’ and hit after hit followed. They went on to release eight studio albums and 73 singles, many of which reached number one in countries around the world.
Fans were devastated when they split, but in-fighting and tension due to Anni-Frid and Benny’s divorce as well as Björn and Agnetha marriage break down had become too much for the group to handle.
Benny later admitted that his alcohol addiction played a part in their demise, telling Express, “When it’s about the difficult battle against addiction, it doesn’t matter who you are.
“I wasn’t feeling well without alcohol, so I knew that I was in trouble. I sought help and I got it.”
Despite the ups and downs of their careers, the band appears to have put any bad blood behind them ahead of their futuristic BBC-produced TV special set to air in December.