ABBA

ABBA was a pop group from Stockholm, Sweden formed by Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, Agnetha Fältskog, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad (nicknamed "Frida"). In the 1960s Benny Andersson played the keyboards and sung in a pop group called The Hep Stars while Björn Ulvaeus was a member of the Hootenanny Singers, a very popular folk music group. After crossing paths and deciding to compose songs together, Hootenanny Singers’ manager, Stig Anderson, and founder of Polar Music encouraged them to write more songs and create an album which was eventually released on the Polar label. In 1969, Björn and Andersson met the women that will eventually become their fiancées. Agnetha Fältskog was a successful solo singer with a recent number one Swedish hit, "I Was So in Love". She and Björn were married in July 1971. Anni-Frid Lyngstad was a part-time cabaret singer who had recently participated in a talent competition and won. She and Andersson married in 1978.

At first the four members just collaborated musically, but in 1972 they recorded a song called ‘People Need Love’ under the group name Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Anni-Frid, the song was able to reach number 17 in the Swedish charts. Encouraged by the song’s success, next year, they submitted the song “Ring Ring” for the Eurovision Song Contest. The song came in third place but it was very popular with audiences and became a hit in several European Countries.

In 1973, following a suggestion from Stig Anderson, the group renamed to ABBA (an acronym of the members' first names). That year, the quartet submitted “Waterloo” to the Eurovision competition becoming the first Swedish act to win the contest. The record became one of the first of many international hits. Even though it failed to make it into the charts, 18 months later, they achieved another major worldwide hit with “SOS” taken from their album named ABBA. Following singles where very successful: “Mamma Mia” was able to reach top position in the UK, “Fernando” became one of ABBA’s best know tracks, and “Dancing Queen” was able to reach number one in the U.S.

In 1976 ABBA released their fourth album Arrival which featured hits like “Money, Money, Money” and “Knowing Me, Knowing You”. In 1977 the group released The Album in conjunction with ABBA: The Movie. The album was not as well received but was able to spawn some hits nevertheless; "The Name of the Game" and "Take A Chance On Me", both of which topped the UK charts. 1979 the album Voulez-Vous came to life, even if there was a decline in ABBA’s popularity in the UK and Europe it gained more attention in the U.S. The singles "Chiquitita", "Does Your Mother Know", "Voulez-Vous" and "I Have A Dream" all charted. That same year Björn and Agnetha announced their divorce. That did not mean the end of ABBA, and in 1980 they released their next album Super Trouper. Shortly after this release Andersson and Lyngstad divorced as well. At the end of the year, ABBA’s eighth album, The Visitors, was released. "One Of Us" was the biggest hit of the album. Some time after that, the group started to separate, while Benny and Björn collaborated with Tim Rice to write the musical Chess, Agnetha and Frida worked on solo albums.