ABBA Biography

Rock group. Original members include Agnetha Fältskog (b. Jönköping, Sweden, on April 5, 1950), Björn Ulvaeus (b. Gothenburg, Sweden, on April 25, 1945), Göran Bror Benny Andersson (b. Stockholm, Sweden, on December 16, 1946), and Anni-Frid “Frida” Lyngstad (b. Ballangen, Norway, on November 15, 1945).

All four members were experienced performers when they formed the group ABBA in 1972. Björn Ulvaeus had been with the folk group the Hootenanny Singers and Benny Andersson was part of the Hep Stars, one of Sweden's most popular acts in the 1960s. Ulvaeus and Andersson met in 1966, and they eventually left their respective bands and started working together. Agnetha Fältskog and Frida Lyngstad already enjoyed some success as a solo performers. In 1971, Fältskog and Ulvaeus married. Andersson and Lyngstad were also romantically involved. The two couples started performing together as a cabaret act.

In the 1973 the group—known then as Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Anni-Frid—competed in the preliminary round of Sweden's Eurovision Song Contest. They came in third, but their song "Ring Ring" became a hit, and was featured on their first album of the same name. The following year, the group became known simply by their first initials, ABBA, and made it to the Eurovision Song Contest finals with the pop hit, "Waterloo."; The song, which draws an analogy between romantic surrender and Napoleon's final military battle, won them the competition. The single became an international hit, landing at No. 6 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart in the United States, and becoming a No. 1 single throughout Europe and Scandinavia.

Their third self-titled release generated more hits, including "SOS" and "Mamma Mia." The group quickly proved that they excelled at making short, infectious pop songs. Behind the scenes, music publisher and producer Stig Anderson contributed lyrics to some of the band’s songs and served as their manager. In 1976, ABBA released Arrival, which featured some of their greatest hits of all time. In 1977, the song "Dancing Queen"topped the music charts around the world, and earned them yet another No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard charts. The album also included the Spanish-style ballad "Fernando," the break-up song "Knowing Me, Knowing You," and the unusually cynical "Money, Money, Money."

By the late 1970s, disco music had become hugely popular, and ABBA's dance-oriented sound fit in well with the club culture. They released ABBA: The Album in 1977, which featured two major hits: "The Name of the Game" and "Take a Chance on Me." Their sixth album, Voulez-Vous, came out in 1979 and featured the popular songs "Does Your Mother Know?" and "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)."

Around this time, the romantic relationships at the center of the group were going through some changes. Andersson and Lyngstad married in 1978 after a long engagement. The following year, Ulvaeus and Fältskog announced their divorce. The four members continued to perform together, but the split marked a change within the group — ABBA was no longer two happy couples making music together.