ABBA halts promotion of new show after two die at tribute concert

Swedish pop group Abba (L to R) Bjorn Ulvaeus, Agnetha Faltskog, Anni-frid Lyngstad and Benny Andersson, is on stage, Nov. 18, 1976, in Gothenburg. Image: EPU/AFP

Swedish pop sensation ABBA announced Wednesday that they were pausing promotion of an upcoming show for 24 hours, after two died in a dramatic fall at a tribute concert.

The world-famous quartet is preparing to release a new album, “Voyage,” on Friday, 40 years after the group split up.

But on Tuesday night, an 80-year-old man fell seven storeys to his death at a concert hall in Uppsala in a presumed accident, killing another attendee.

The venue north of Swedish capital Stockholm was to host a tribute show for an audience of around 1,000 called “Thank you for the music,” honoring the works of Bjorn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson, the two male members of ABBA.

“In the light of the tragic news at the tribute concert in Sweden last night, we have decided to hold off on releasing our concert trailer until tomorrow,” a post from the ABBA Voyage Twitter account said.

In addition to the release of its new album announced in early September, the Swedish cult band is currently building a venue in London that will host a show which includes digitized “avatars” of the four band members, scheduled for May 2022.

The exact form of these avatars, designed by a special effects company that worked on the Star Wars films, is still shrouded in mystery, but the band insists that they will not be mere holograms.

The “ABBAtars” will represent Agnetha Faltskog, Bjorn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Anni-Frid Lyngstad as they looked in 1979. JB

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