Abba

COMING SOON!

After ABBA triumphed at the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest, their brand of pop stormed the charts. The dancing queens split in 1983 and have so far resisted a billion-dollar offer to reform.

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ABBA

Estimates of ABBA’s worldwide sales vary from 300 – 400 million, making them the second most successful band of all time, after The Beatles.

They were the first mainland European act to become regulars on the British, American and Australian pop charts. This helped pave the way for many other European acts and established Sweden in the mainstream music industry.

Benny Andersson
Born: 16 12 1946
Birth place: Stockholm, Sweden

Both his father and grandfather were musicians and he was introduced to the accordion at a very young age. Benny had no patience for regular music lessons, preferring to pick up the instrument and play it. With obvious musical talent, he was able to easily do this with almost any instrument. By the age of 18, Benny’s favourite was the piano. He was with girlfriend Christina Gronvall at this time and she had fallen pregnant with the first of their two children when Benny was only 15-years-old.

After graduating from high school, Benny was invited to join The Hep Stars, a popular Swedish beat group, with a huge teenage girl fan-base. It was during this time that he met fellow young songwriter Bjorn Ulvaeus.

Benny remained with The Hep Stars for a number of successful years, until they disbanded in the late 1960s. He then joined forces with Bjorn and they released an LP together.

Shortly after that, Bjorn and Benny’s girlfriends, Agnetha Faltskog and Anni-Frid Lyngstad, joined the duo. They formed the touring folk act Festfolket, which was not much of a success. The foursome then transformed into the legendary ABBA, finding international stardom and remarkable success.

Bjorn Ulvaeus
Born: 25 04 1945
Birth place: Gothenburg, Sweden

His first foray into music was with the folk music act The Hootenanny Singers, who had strong jazz and blues influences. They made their television debut in a Swedish talent contest in 1963.

Bjorn joined up with Benny Andersson to write songs. One of these, “Isn’t it Easy to Say”, was a hit for The Hep Stars, and Bjorn sometimes guested with the band when they were on tour. At one point, it was suggested that The Hep Stars and The Hootenanny Singers merge to form one band, although this never happened. Stig Anderson, manager of The Hootenay Singers and founder of Polar Music, saw Benny and Bjorn’s collective potential and encouraged them to write more songs in order to release an album. They followed his advice, and Polar Music released their album “Lycka” (“Happiness”) in 1970.

Benny and Bjorn went on to release a further six singles. They also wrote a significant amount of music for the Polar label before joining with their girlfriends, Anni-Frid and Agnetha, to form ABBA, under the management of Stig Anderson.

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