ABBA In-depth Biography
The most commercially successful pop} group of the 1970s, the origins of the Swedish superstars ABBA} dated back to 1966, when keyboardist and vocalist Benny Andersson}, a onetime member of the popular beat outfit the Hep Stars}, first teamed with guitarist and vocalist Bjorn Ulvaeus}, the leader of the folk-rock} unit the Hootenanny Singers}. The two performers began composing songs together and handling session and production work for Polar Music}/Union Songs}, a publishing company owned by Stig Anderson}, himself a prolific songwriter throughout the 1950s and 1960s. At the same time, both Andersson} and Ulvaeus} worked on projects with their respective girlfriends: Ulvaeus} had become involved with vocalist Agnetha Faltskog}, a performer with a recent number one Swedish hit, "I Was So in Love,"} under her belt, while Andersson} began seeing Anni-Frid Lyngstad}, a one-time jazz} singer who rose to fame by winning a national talent contest.
In 1971, Faltskog} ventured into theatrical work, accepting the role of {%Mary Magdalene} in a production of Andrew Lloyd Webber}'s Jesus Christ Superstar}; her cover of the musical}'s "Don't Know How to Love Him"} became a significant hit. The following year, the duo of Andersson} and Ulvaeus} scored a massive international hit with "People Need Love,"} which featured Faltskog} and Lyngstad} on backing vocals. The record's success earned them an invitation to enter the Swedish leg of the 1973 Eurovision} song contest, where, under the unwieldy name of Bjorn, Benny, Agnetha & Frida}, they submitted "Ring Ring,"} which proved extremely popular with audiences but placed only third in the judges' ballots.
The next year, rechristened ABBA} (a suggestion from Stig Anderson} and an acronym of the members' first names), the quartet submitted the single "Waterloo,"} and became the first Swedish act to win the Eurovision} competition. The record proved to be the first of many international hits, although the group hit a slump after their initial success as subsequent singles failed to chart. In 1975, however, ABBA} issued "S.O.S.,"} a smash not only in America and Britain but also in non-English speaking countries such as Spain, Germany and the Benelux nations, where the group's success was fairly unprecedented. A string of hits followed, including "Mamma Mia,"} "Fernando,"} and "Dancing Queen"} (ABBA}'s sole U.S. chart-topper), further honing their lush, buoyant sound; by the spring of 1976, they were already in position to issue their first Greatest Hits} collection.
ABBA}'s popularity continued in 1977, when both "Knowing Me, Knowing You"} and "The Name of the Game"} dominated airwaves. The group also starred in the feature film ABBA -- The Movie}, which was released in 1978. That year Andersson} and Lyngstad} married, as had Ulvaeus} and Faltskog} in 1971, although the latter couple separated a few months later; in fact, romantic suffering was the subject of many songs on the quartet's next LP, 1979's Voulez-Vous}. Shortly after the release of 1980s Super Trouper}, Andersson} and Lyngstad} divorced as well, further straining the group dynamic; The Visitors}, issued the following year, was the final LP of new ABBA} material, and the foursome officially disbanded after the December 1982 release of their single "Under Attack."}
Although all of the group's members soon embarked on new projects -- both Lyngstad} and Faltskog} issued solo LPs, while Andersson} and Ulvaeus} collaborated with Tim Rice} on the musical} Chess} -- none proved as successful as the group's earlier work, largely because throughout much of the world, especially Europe and Australia, the ABBA} phenomenon never went away. Repackaged hits compilations and live collections continued hitting the charts long after the group's demise, and new artists regularly pointed to the quartet's inspiration: while the British dance duo Erasure} released a covers collection, ABBA-esque}, an Australian group called Bjorn Again} found success as ABBA} impersonators. In 1993, "Dancing Queen"} became a staple of U2}'s "Zoo TV" tour -- Andersson} and Ulvaeus} even joined the Irish superstars on-stage in Stockholm -- while the 1995 feature Muriel's Wedding}, which won acclaim for its depiction of a lonely Australian girl who seeks refuge in ABBA}'s music, helped bring the group's work to the attention of a new generation of moviegoers and music fans. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide