From left, Bjorn Ulvaeus, Agnetha Faltskog, Anni-frid Lyngstad and Benny Andersson pose during the Eurovision Song Festival, in 1974.
From left, Bjorn Ulvaeus, Agnetha Faltskog, Anni-frid Lyngstad and Benny Andersson pose during the Eurovision Song Festival, in 1974.
From left, Bjorn Ulvaeus, Agnetha Faltskog, Anni-frid Lyngstad and Benny Andersson pose during the Eurovision Song Festival, in 1974.
From left, Bjorn Ulvaeus, Agnetha Faltskog, Anni-frid Lyngstad and Benny Andersson pose during the Eurovision Song Festival, in 1974.

Opinion

Four of Them

All four Abba members were back on stage together for the first time in three decades

National Editorial

June 07, 2016

  • English
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Mamma Mia! look who’s back. The four members of the Swedish pop group Abba sang together on stage on Sunday for the first time since the 1980s. They performed to commemorate the first meeting of songwriting duo Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson five decades ago.

The band rose to prominence after they won the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest. Their legacy is remarkable, particularly when you consider that they did not belong to the English-speaking world.

But that may also explain their enduring appeal: Abba’s music was not rooted in any particular country and their lyrics did not follow the typically riotous expressions of 1970s rock ’n’ roll. Instead, they fashioned an image that was decidedly European and sounded like nothing (for those who heard it the first time) we’d heard before. This was, to borrow from their back catalogue, the Name of the Game and explains why we continue to say Thank You for the Music.

Music