Thank You For The Music! Remembering ABBA’s rise to fame and top hits

They ruled the charts from 1973 to the early 1980s and now ABBA are making a long-awaited return to the spotlight, as they record new music together for the first time in 35 years.

The iconic Swedish band, made up of Agnetha Faltskog, Benny Andersson, Bjorn Ulvaeus and Anni-Frid Lyngstad, will release two new songs ahead of their upcoming virtual tour that features digital avatars of themselves singing on stage.

But where did it all begin?

The group began performing separately in the late 1960s, before Benny and Bjorn joined forces following success in band The Hootenanny Singers – eventually creating their own duo.

Having met their spouses, Anni-Frid and Agnetha, around the same time, both women started joining them in the recording studio and offering backing vocals. The band eventually formed in the early 1970s, using the first letters of each of their names to create their band name – and they had their first hit with ‘Ring Ring’ in 1973.

However, they really shot to stardom after winning the 1974 Eurovision song contest with their tune ‘Waterloo’. The single shot to #2 on the British Charts and #4 in Australia. They went on to release eight studio albums and 73 singles, many of which reached number one in countries around the world.

Read more: Mamma mia! ABBA record first new song in 35 years

British listeners didn’t take to the Swedes immediately, with ‘I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do’ and ‘SOS’ only reaching the top 40, but the US quickly got caught up in the ABBA craze and they were followed closely by a legion of fans in Australia.

In January 1976, ‘Mamma Mia’ returned the group to the top in the UK, and on March 4 that year ABBA paid their first visit to Australia. The welcome they received took them by surprise, moving Anni-Frid and Agnetha to tears.    

After this brief visit to Australia, ABBA managed to keep five singles and two albums in the UK charts at the same time. ‘Fernando’ was at #1, ‘Ring, Ring’ was at #4, ‘Rock Me’ was at #5, ‘Mamma Mia’ was at #20 and ‘SOS’ was at #22. ‘Fernando’ stayed at the top for an amazing 15 weeks.    

Central to their image were their flamboyant outfits, huge heels, flares and capes regularly seen on stage and they were called a “breath of fresh air” at the time.

Read more: Remembering Abba-mania: How four Swedes conquered Australia

The record for most weeks at #1 in Australia was held by The Beatles with ‘Hey Jude’, which was top for 16 weeks. In the album charts, though, ‘Abba’ was #1 and ‘The Best Of Abba’ was at #2. 

Marriage troubles between both couples erupted in the late ’70s and early ’80s, with both relationship breakdowns highly publicised at the time – and putting a lot of pressure on them as a group.

They broke millions of hearts across the world when they announced they were breaking up in 1982, when blonde beauty Agnetha walked away and ended their run as one of the world’s most successful and beloved pop groups.

Their final public performance together was on the British TV programme The Late, Late Breakfast Show on December 11, 1982. Bjorn spoke out about their song ‘The Day Before You Came’ at the time, and said: “We might have continued for a while longer if that had been a number one.”

At the time, in-fighting and tension due to Anni-Frid and Benny’s divorce as well as Björn and Agnetha’s 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.”

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.

Are you an ABBA fan? What is your favourite song?