ABBA respond to rumours of reuniting for Eurovision 2024

nme.com:

ABBA have responded to rumours that they are planning to reunite for next year’s edition of the Eurovision Song Contest in their native Sweden.After previous victor Loreen won the competition with her song ‘Tattoo’ earlier this month, rumour spread online that it was all part of a plan to have ABBA reform to mark 50 years of their own Eurovision win as the contest returns to their home country as the 2024 host nation.

Now, they have shot down the chances of it happening – even just for one evening.“I don’t want to,” Benny Andersson told the BBC, “and if I don’t want to, the others won’t.

It’s the same for all four of us – someone says, ‘no’ – it’s a no.”Bandmate Björn added: “We can celebrate 50 years of ABBA without us being on stage.”This comes as the first anniversary approaches of ABBA’s ambitious ‘Voyage’ virtual concert experience in London – having recently welcomed their millionth visitor, all without the band having to physically perform in front of a live audience.The show sees CGI reincarnations (or ‘ABBA-tars’) based on the movements and performance of the living Swedish pop legends.

These are then painstakingly presented to appear to be playing live with the appearance of the band in their ’70s prime, backed by a full live band present in the room.The last new music from band came on the 2021 accompanying ‘Voyage’ album containing the two singles ‘I Still Have Faith In You’ and ‘Don’t Shut Me Down’.