When Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, Agnetha Fältskog and Anni-Frid Lyngstad formed ABBA in Stockholm in 1972, they could not have been aware of just how important and influential their music would become. The Swedish pop group rose to fame at 1974’s Eurovision Song Contest. Between 1974 and 1982, ABBA topped music charts around the world, and their music has continued to be popular up to the present day.
ABBA never officially announced their split. So, when they appeared on the popular British TV show The Late, Late Breakfast Show, live from Stockholm, on 11 December 1982, no one knew it would be the last time the supergroup would perform live together.
The Non-public Reunion of 2016
Today, the closest you can get to seeing ABBA live is to watch a tribute act. Thankfully, there are lots of successful ABBA tribute groups around the world that keep the magic alive. You will often find them playing at venues like casinos. And if you cannot get tickets for those events, you can always pretend you are there via listening to an ABBA live album while playing your favourite casino games at an online live casino. Still, since the early 1980s, fans throughout the world have been hoping that Sweden’s biggest band would reunite. It has yet to come to fruition, but hopes were raised in 2016 when the four members of ABBA did actually get together to perform a live song. However, it was not a public event. They performed the song The Way Old Friends Do at a private party at Berns Salonger in Stockholm to mark the 50th anniversary of songwriters Björn and Benny meeting.
New ABBA Songs for the 21st Century
Despite huge demand for ABBA to reunite over the years, the band has still never performed live in public since they split up, and all members have repeatedly said they have no plans to play live again. However, in 2018, out of the blue came the news that ABBA would be getting back together to record some new songs for the first time. The Swedish quartet recorded two songs, Don’t Shut Me Down and I Still Have Faith In You. It is exciting enough to hear that brand-new songs have been produced, even though they have not yet been released. But things get even more exciting when you learn that the new tracks were created to feature in a virtual ABBA tour!
The ABBAtar Tour and TV Special
The ABBAtar hologram tour will feature the four members of the group as digitally-recreated holograms, modelled on how the band looked back in 1979. Since work on the ABBAtar tour began, five brand new songs have now been completed. But both the song releases and the tour have been delayed, as they were due in 2020. Fans the world over are now eagerly anticipating news of when the hologram tour will actually take place. Furthermore, it has been announced that the holograms of Björn, Benny, Agnetha and Anni-Frid will perform at a new televised event. The American-British show, called ABBA: Thank You for the Music, An All-Star Tribute was due to be released in 2020 but has also been delayed. The TV event will include the hologram avatars singing the new song I Still Have Faith in You, as well as numerous big-name acts performing classic ABBA songs like Waterloo, Dancing Queen, and The Winner Takes It All.
So, although ABBA remains adamant that they will never perform live again, fans will at least be able to see their hologram counterparts perform. And seeing as ABBA’s creative projects have gradually increased in recent years, who knows, maybe the greatest Swedish pop group of all time will one day get back together to perform live in public.
