Bjorn reacts to seeing his digital ABBA-tar perform at 'Voyage' concert
ABBA watched the show from the crowd
Last updated 25th May 2022
ABBA are due to begin their highly anticipated 'ABBA Voyage' tour on Friday 27th May, and ahead of the concert starting, ABBA secretly sat at the back of the crowd watching their ABBA-tars on stage for the first time and seeing their fans' reactions.
Bjorn Ulvaeus told The Mirror: "We were sitting away back in the darkness, so nobody saw us. Benny was there and Frida, we just looked at ourselves and thought, ‘What the hell is this. How did this happen?’"
The show took place on Monday 23rd May at the custom-built venue in London's Olympic Park, and was the first time the group got to watch their fans react to their digital selves. Bjorn commented: "It was unbelievable. For the time fans are in the arena, they believe we are real and are on stage. They’re at a concert with ABBA.
"We’re playing tricks with people’s minds and they’re willing to let us."
The digital ABBA-tars have been created with the help of George Lucas' visual effects company, and will show Bjorn, Anni-Frid Lyngstad, Agnetha Faltskog, and Benny Andersson as their 1977 selves.
Ahead of the concert experience starting, ABBA shared new photos of their ABBA-tars, showing just how realistic they are as well as some of their costumes for the show which have been created by legendary fashion designers like Dolce & Gabbana. These digital figures will take to the stage to perform ABBA's biggest hits.
The 77-year-old also revealed that he got emotional watching his younger-self performing, saying: "It was a special moment for me and my entire family who are coming over to watch. Many are too young to have seen me on stage. It was very emotionally charged to say the least."
The premiere will take place on Friday, and its thought that all four members will be present. The 'ABBA Voyage' shows will run from 27th May to 2nd October.
Take a look through some of ABBA's biggest moments:
Career beginnings: How did ABBA meet?
Each member of ABBA was already a musician by the time they came to meet. Benny and Björn's paths had crossed in their former bands, Benny met Anni-Frid at Melodifestivalen 1969 - the national annual festival to select Sweden's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest. Björn and Agnetha met whilst filming a Swedish TV special in May 1969, and once Benny and Björn began working more frequently together, their wives got involved too... And the rest is history.
The couples went on holiday together in 1970, and gave an impromptu group performance to United Nations soldiers - this gave them the inspiration to start making music together. Benny and Björn submitted songs to be considered for Melodifestivalen on their manager Stig Anderson's advice, and after two rejections for the 1971 contest, their song 'Säg det med en sång' ('Say It with a Song') came third, and became a national hit sang by Lena Anderson.
1973: Official naming, Eurovision attempt and debut album
They submitted a third song to Melodifestivalen, 'Ring Ring', which came third in the contest, and released their debut album of the same name. At this time, they were still credited as Björn Benny & Agnetha Frida, and manager Stig then christened the band ABBA, using the first letters of their first names. Submitting 'Waterloo' to Melodifestivalen for a fourth time proved to be a winner - not only at the festival but at the Eurovision Song Contest too.
1974: ABBA win Eurovision with 'Waterloo'
Beating off all the competition, ABBA won the Eurovision Song Contest in 1974, which subsequently launched their career internationally. 'Waterloo' peaked in the charts of countries all around the world, including the UK, and their second album also called 'Waterloo' was released, featuring single 'Honey Honey'.
Later in 1974, the band embarked on their first major tour, which wasn't as successful as they'd hoped, and released third album ABBA in 1975 - spawning singles 'Mamma Mia', 'SOS' and 'I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do'. It peaked at Number 1 in Sweden, and got to Number 13 in the UK.
ABBA's Agnetha Fältskog and Anni-Frid Lyngstad
Agnetha Fältskog and Anni-Frid Lyngstad were half of ABBA, one of the biggest pop acts ever and one of the best-selling groups of all time. They released hits including 'Mamma Mia', 'Dancing Queen' and 'Waterloo'.
The group made a spectacular return to music in 2021 with the release of their final album 'Voyage', and their world-renowned concert experience - titled ABBA Voyage - which features digital recreations, or avatars, of theirselves which have certainly wowed fans.
1979: Agnetha and Björn's divorce plus sixth album ‘Voulez-Vous’
Sadly, Agnetha and Björn called time on their marriage in 1979. Although fans began to panic that this could spell the end of ABBA, the former couple remained amicable and the band released their sixth album 'Voulez-Vous' in April that year, featuring songs 'Chiquitita', 'Does Your Mother Know' and 'I Have a Dream'. They released their second compilation album 'Greatest Hits Vol. 2', which also had brand new song 'Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)'.
They went on tour again in September 1979, with six sold out nights at London's Wembley, and in 1980 travelled to Japan where they had a strong fanbase for some further concerts. ABBA scored their eighth Number 1 UK single in 1980 with 'The Winner Takes It All', which is widely thought to be about Agnetha and Björn's split, but they've both categorically denied this. It appeared on the band's seventh album 'Super Trouper', released the same year.
1981: Anni-Frid and Benny divorce, and ABBA release their eighth and final album
Sadly, Anni-Frid and Benny's marriage lasted only two years longer than their bandmates', and they divorced in February 1981. That year, both men in the band remarried, and they released their eighth and final album, 'The Visitors'. It featured songs 'When All Is Said and Done', 'One of Us' and 'Slipping Through My Fingers', and the album as a whole dealt with the themes of relationships ending but in an optimistic way.
1982: Final performance and unofficial split
The band tentatively began work on a ninth album in 1982, but the recording sessions did not pan out as they'd hoped, and only three songs were recorded. After a break, they returned to the studio with a new idea - releasing a compilation album of all their singles from throughout the years. Entitled 'The Singles: The First Ten Years', it was released in November 1982, and the following month saw the band's final ever performance which was transmitted to the UK and shown on TV through a live link from Stockholm.
Although an official split was never announced, the band is thought to have unofficially broken up after this performance. Agnetha and Anni-Frid enjoyed solo success, and Benny and Björn continued to write music together - eventually working with lyricist Tim Rice for musical project Chess. They also created Abbacadabra, a children's musical which appeared on French TV featuring 14 ABBA songs. ABBA reunited in 1986, recording a video of themselves performing an acoustic song in tribute to their manager, Stig Anderson, for a Swedish TV show in honour of him.
1999: Mamma Mia! The Musical opens
A jukebox musical based on ABBA songs premiered in 1999 entitled Mamma Mia!, featuring some of the band's biggest hits over the years like 'Super Trouper', 'Lay All Your Love on Me', 'Dancing Queen', 'Knowing Me, Knowing You', 'Take a Chance on Me', 'Thank You for the Music', 'Money, Money, Money', 'The Winner Takes It All', 'Voulez-Vous', 'SOS' and 'Mamma Mia'. Produced by Judy Craymer, it is the seventh longest-running show in West End history and ninth in Broadway history.
2008: Reunion at the Mamma Mia! film premiere
In 2008, a film of the Mamma Mia! musical was released, starring Amanda Seyfried, Meryl Streep, Colin Firth, Pierce Brosnan, Stellan Skarsgard, Julie Walters and Christine Baranski among others, and was hugely successful. Based on the musical of the same name, the film became the fifth highest-grossing film of 2008, and was the fastest-selling DVD of all time in the UK.
All four members of ABBA turned up to the film premiere in London, being only the second time that each of them had been together since their unofficial split in 1982.
2010: ABBAWORLD exhibition
The ABBAWORLD exhibition opened at the Earls Court Exhibition Centre in London in January 2010. Fans could walk through 25 rooms with 'interactive and audiovisual activities' as well as 20 costumes worn by the group including their iconic outfits from the 1974 Eurovision win, and was "approved and fully supported" by all four of the band's members. There were rooms which allowed fans to get on stage with 3D holograms of the band, an ABBA quiz and visitors could even film themselves to be included in an ABBA music video.
2016: ABBATAR tour announced
In 2016, ABBA announced via a statement on their website that they would be going ahead with a virtual tour, saying, 'The decision to go ahead with the exciting Abba avatar tour project had an unexpected consequence. We all felt that, after some 35 years, it could be fun to join forces again and go into the recording studio. So we did. And it was like time had stood still and we had only been away on a short holiday. An extremely joyful experience!'
The four of them will apparently appear as computer generated versions of their younger selves from the 70s. Although the crew were reportedly supposed to begin work on the tour in 2020, everything has been delayed due to the global pandemic.
2018: Release of Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again
After the success of the first film, it was no surprise that a sequel was made! Following the life of Donna Sheridan as a young woman and how she came to meet the three potential fathers of her daughter, Sophie, this film had more creative license than the first as it was not based on anything. The soundtrack album hit the Number 1 spot on the UK albums chart and has been certified Platinum. Judy Craymer has also spoken out about a potential third film, making it a trilogy... Watch this space!
2020: Björn confirms the new music is still on the way
Although progress was delayed due to the global pandemic, Björn confirmed that new music was still on the way. Speaking to journalist Geoff Lloyd, Björn apparently confirmed that five new songs will be released very soon, as Geoff spoke out on his podcast, "I got to spend an hour with Björn Ulveaus from ABBA via Zoom. They've recorded five new songs. They should have been out at the end of last year.
"They're going to these holograms out on tour. Because of technical difficulties and the pandemic, it's delayed things. But he promised me that the new ABBA music will be out in 2021." It's understood that one of the songs is called, 'I Still Have Faith in You', and the other 'Don't Shut Me Down'.
2021: ABBA announce 'ABBA Voyage' album
On 2nd September 2021, it was announced that ABBA were officially releasing new music in 2021. Released on 5th November, their latest album is called 'Voyage', and the tracks 'I Still Have Faith in You' and 'Don't Shut Me Down' were released in the lead up to the full album coming out.
2021: ABBA 'Voyage' is announced with virtual tour
The group also announced that ABBA would be heading on a virtual tour hosted at a custom-built venue in London, starting in May 2022. The show sees digital versions of ABBA as their 1977 selves, called ABBAtars perform their greatest hits.
2022: BRIT Award nomination
In 2022 ABBA were nominated for the International Group Award at The BRIT Awards, marking their first nomination at the ceremony in 45 years.
This was their second nomination at The BRITs, as they were also put forward for International Album in 1977.
2023: ABBA Voyage extended to 2024
The opening night for 'ABBA Voyage' took place on 26th May 2022, and in May 2023 tickets went on sale up until May 2024!
On the opening night back in 2022, Bjorn Ulvaeus, Anni-Frid Lyngstad, Benny Andersson, and Agnetha Faltskog appeared all together in public for the first time since the Mamma Mia! premiere in 2008.
Speaking about watching his 1977 self perform as a digital ABBA-tar, Bjorn said: "It was a special moment for me and my entire family who are coming over to watch. Many are too young to have seen me on stage. It was very emotionally charged to say the least."
2024: ABBA documentary announced
A documentary celebrating 50 years since ABBA's iconic Eurovision Song Contest win arrived on BBC One and iPlayer in May 2024 ahead of the Eurovision Song Contest, marking 50 years since their iconic win. Titled ABBA: Against The Odds, the documentary told the story of ABBA's incredible rise to fame.
2024: ABBA receive the Royal Order of Vasa
ABBA reunited in full in May 2024 to receive an incredibly prestigious award in their native country of Sweden, with Björn Ulvaeus, Anni-Frid Lyngstad, Agnetha Fältskog and Benny Andersson coming together at the Stockholm Royal Palace. The group received the Royal Order of Vasa as Commander of the First Class for their "longevity and successful engagement within the performing arts".
The concert experience is in support of ABBA's latest album 'Voyage', which came out in November 2021. After 39 years apart, the group delighted fans with the news of their reunion and new music, although they later confirmed that this would be their last album and tour together.
You can hear all of ABBA's biggest tracks on Greatest Hits Radio.
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