ABBA, the Swedish pop group behind the glorified hits “Chiquitita,” “Dancing Queen” and “Mama Mia,” reunited in an impromptu performance on Sunday to jubilantly celebrate the quartet’s 50th anniversary.
Former ABBA members Agnetha Faltskog, Bjorn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Anni-Frid “Frida” Lyngstad appeared in a party at the Berns Salonger hotel in Stockholm, Sweden.
The two female singers performed “Me and I,” their adored hit from the 1980 album “Super Trouper,” and male singers Ulvaeus and Anderson joined them on stage.
According to The Telegraph and Swedish news site Expressen, the crowd of fans present was overjoyed to see the quartet reunite.
ABBA. #björnobenny #b&b50 #thankyouforthemusic
A photo posted by Per Sundin (@perurban) on Jun 5, 2016 at 3:41pm PDT
Female vocalist Anni-Frid Lyngstad, who is residing in Switzerland with her English boyfriend Henry Smith, narrated to Expressen, “It was absolutely amazing. A lot of emotions. We’ve made this journey throughout our history. Benny and Bjorn in particular. It’s been very nostalgic.”
This was the band’s only reunion since their break-up in 1982-1983 and their ‘final bow’ in a 1986 TV show performance honoring their manager, Stig Anderson.
In a report by BBC, the four ABBA members firmly and repeatedly turned down offers to perform, despite being offered $1 billion (46 billion PHP) to perform at the time of the ABBA fever hype and polished success of the “Mama Mia” musical in 2000. All four members were present during the premiere of the Mama Mia musical in 2005 and the opening of the ABBA restaurant, while three of the four members appeared during the launch of the ABBA museum in Stockholm in 2013. Gianna Francesca Catolico