ABBA was a Swedish band composing of Agnetha Faltskög, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Anni-Frid (Frida) Lyngstad. Their first initials combined make the name ABBA. Agnetha and Björn, and Benny and Anni-Frid were both in relationships during their time together. Before their split as a group, both couples had separated.
They were together for 10 years, from 1972 to 1982. The group has sold over 380 million records worldwide and has had major success in English-speaking countries as well as Latino markets. After the group split, Benny and Björn continued to collaborate on many of their projects, including Chess, which featured Tommy Körberg, who represented Sweden twice (in 1969 and in 1988) and Björn Skifs, who, as did Tommy, represented Sweden twice, these times in 1978 and in 1981. In 1999, the group's songs were used to create the musical Mamma Mia!, which achieved worldwide success and spawned a 2008 film version starring Meryl Streep, Amanda Seyfried, Pierce Brosnan and Colin Firth. A sequel, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, was released on July 20, 2018.
ABBA represented Sweden at the Eurovision Song Contest 1974 in Brighton with the song Waterloo, after finishing in third place in Melodifestivalen 1973 with the song "Ring Ring". They stormed to victory, giving Sweden its first win and vaulting the group towards international superstardom. ABBA is widely recognised as having achieved the most worldwide success out of all Eurovision acts following their appearance in the competition.
In 2017 they were honored with a blue plaque at the Brighton Dome to commemorate four decades since their win.[1]
In 2021, ABBA released Voyage, their first album in over 40 years. The group earned a 2022 Grammy nomination for Record of the Year for the song "I Still Have Faith In You", and was nominated for multiple awards in 2023. The ninth season of the American version of The Masked Singer dedicated an entire theme night to ABBA's music.
References[]
| Eurovision Song Contest 1974 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Participants | |||
 Carita •  Olivia Newton-John •  Peret •  Anne-Karine Strøm ft. Bendik Singers •  Marinella •  Poogy •  Korni •  ABBA •  Ireen Sheer •  Romuald •  Jacques Hustin •  Mouth & MacNeal •  Tina Reynolds •  Cindy & Bert •  Piera Martell •  Paulo de Carvalho •  Gigliola Cinquetti
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| Songs | |||
| Keep Me Warm • Long Live Love • Canta y sé feliz • The First Day Of Love • Krasi, thalassa kai t'agori mou • Natati La Khayay • Moja generacija • Waterloo • Bye Bye I Love You • Celui qui reste et celui qui s'en va • Fleur de liberté • I See A Star • Cross Your Heart • Die Sommermelodie • Mein Ruf nach dir • E depois do adeus • Sì
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