Björn Ulvaeus: Last News

ABBA fans the world over yesterday celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Swedish supergroup’s Eurovision victory in 1974, and one crowd were treated to a surprise appearance by band member Bjorn Ulvaeus.

Loreen won the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest for Sweden, ABBA’s Björn Ulvaeus addressed viewers at home with a special message on the annual show’s impact.“The lives of some of the acts that you’ve seen tonight could be about to change forever,” Ulvaeus said in a video filmed remotely, aired while votes for this year’s grand finalists were being counted. “When ABBA walked onto that stage, we couldn’t even have imagined, 50 years later, we would have a museum about us, and that we would perform as avatars in ABBA Voyage.“Our international success all began with Eurovision.

Swedish pop group ABBA have paid tribute to the “musical brilliance” of their long-standing guitarist, Lasse Wellander, following his death at the age of 70.The musician, who played on the band’s biggest albums and toured with them between 1975 and 1980, died early on Good Friday following a cancer diagnosis, a statement from his family said. Raised in the small village of Skrekarhyttan in Sweden, Lasse had his first recording session with Abba in October 1974 and continued to play on their respective solo albums following their split.

Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson partied with pop supergroup ABBA in Stockholm this week.The two-time Oscar Winner and his actress and singer wife, both 66, met up with ABBA frontmen Benny Anderson, 76, and Björn Ulvaeus, 77, when they were in the Swedish capital to promote Tom's new film A Man Called Otto. Wilson posted some photos of their meetup on Instagram, giving a shoutout to the group's acclaimed virtual concert residency in London called ABBA Voyage. Starstruck: Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson, both 66, partied with pop supergroup ABBA in Stockholm this week.

Bastille’s Dan Smith, Paloma Faith, Jimmy Somerville, Metronomy’s Joseph Mount and Damon Albarn are among the musicians featured on a new cover of the song ‘A Million Dreams’ from ‘The Greatest Showman’. The new track is being released in aid of The Brain Tumour Charity and Brainstrust, and was the idea of seven year old Ravi Adelekan – son of Metronomy bassist Olugbenga Adelekan – who was diagnosed with a brain tumour last year.Ravi’s illness was initially diagnosed as a build up of ear wax but, when an ear, nose and throat specialist requested an MRI scan, a tumour was discovered on his brain stem.

It’s official. The reviews are in and ABBA’s new concert experience, ABBA Voyage is a certified hit!The ABBA Voyage concert, which officially opened on at the purpose build ABBA Voyage Arena in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London, May 27, has received rapturous reviews from fans and critics.Kylie Minogue attended the premiere and said on Instagram, “Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! What.

Mark Sutherland “To be or not to be, that is no longer the question,” declared ABBA co-founder and musical mastermind Benny Andersson at the start of “ABBA Voyage,” the Swedish quartet’s first “concert” in over 40 years. And if that sounds like a curiously existential way to begin a pop concert, well, this is no ordinary live show.For a start, despite Andersson’s insistence that “This is really me, I just look very good for my age,” it’s actually his de-aged, computer-generated avatar — or “ABBA-tar,” if you must — that is speaking his pre-recorded words.

ABBA have been pictured together as they gear up for their hologram performances.The legendary Swedish pop group reunited ahead of their virtual tour in London and is the first time the band have been pictured together in six years.The concert kicks off tomorrow (May 27) as the iconic pop stars present their album Voyage - as digital versions of themselves at the custom-built ABBA Arena in London.The highly anticipated concert will also feature a setlist of hit ABBA songs and a 10-piece live band.The iconic group is made up of four members - Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad, who are now all over 70.Speaking to DW, Björn was visibly excited about the upcoming concert, saying: "The audience agree to be in this imaginary world for a while at a concert, and they see the ABBAtars as living creatures."The ABBAtars, which are the name given to the digital holograms the group, will show the stars in late 1970s when they were at the peak of their fame.Almost four decades after they split, the group confirmed late last year that all four members were working together on new material.Their final album was released on November 5 and was the group’s first album in 40 years after they called it a day in 1982.All ten songs featured on the album were composed by ABBA’s songwriters Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus who said they are "absolutely trend-blind."The legendary group, who shot to fame after winning the Eurovision Song Contest in 1974, released three singles before Voyage but haven't performed in front of a crowd since 2016.The group admitted that they would be retiring for good after the release of their final album.Benny confirmed "this is it, it's got to be," meaning that despite their

ABBA’s Björn Ulvaeus has said that he thinks the legendary group’s comeback is an “immense risk”.The Swedish pop icons returned with their first album in 40 years, ‘Voyage’, last November and are due to present a string of “revolutionary” concerts at London’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park from May 27.‘Voyage’ went Platinum within just the first month of its release, while ABBA also received their first-ever Grammy nomination; their single ‘I Still Have Faith In You’ was up for this year’s ‘Record Of The Year’ prize.Additionally, the long-awaited album reached Number One in the UK and became the fastest-selling vinyl of the century.Despite this success, Ulvaeus explained in a new interview with The Sunday Times that he does have some concerns about the group making a comeback after such a long absence from music.“It’s an immense risk and most people I talk to don’t appreciate that,” he said “They say, ‘Oh, it’ll be fine.’ Sometimes I wake up at four in the morning and think, ‘What the hell have we done?'”The upcoming ‘Voyage’ concerts will see a “digital” version of ABBA performing alongside a 10-piece live band (put together with the help of Klaxons’ James Righton and featuring Little Boots) at the new purpose-built 3,000-capacity venue called ABBA Arena.Last September, the event’s producers spoke to NME about what to expect from the “magical space circus” before the release of a dazzling official trailer.Ulvaeus told The Sunday Times that he expected other musicians to be watching closely. “Lots of artists are going to be studying us, definitely, he said.

Loose Women panellist Gloria Hunniford, 81, has said that she would deny her husband permission if he asked to meet up with an old partner, calling herself “woman enough” for him.The Loose Women panellists began by discussing ABBA singer Björn Ulvaeus' divorce from his wife after 41 years of marriage, mere months after he reunited with his former bandmates including old flame Agnetha Fältskog.Kaye Adams reassured viewers that there were no suggestions that the ex-partners were getting back together but it did “get them thinking” about the concept of reuniting with exes.

Abba star Björn Ulvaeus and his wife Lena have split after 41 years of marriage.The pair announced the news in a joint statement, explaining that they have remained close friends.‘After many fine and eventful years, we have decided to divorce,’ they said.‘We remain close and good friends and will continue to celebrate our grandchildren’s birthdays and other family celebrations together.’Björn, 76, and Lena first started dating after the star’s split from Agnetha Fältskog, who he married in 1971. Björn and Agnetha split eight years later, in 1979.The singer then met journalist Lena at a party thrown by Benny Andersson and Anni-Frid Lyngstad.They later tied the knot in 1981 and share two children – Emma, 40, and Anna, 35.Björn also has two children from his marriage to Agnetha, Linda, 48, and Peter, 44.The star previously said about his wife: ‘We really fell in love with lightning.‘So strange that you are a bachelor for a week and then just fall there right away.’Last year, Abba reunited for their first album in 40 years.Abba Voyage had fans obsessed, and secured the band their first ever Grammy Award nomination.

Sir Ian McKellen has joined forces with ABBA co-founder Björn Ulvaeus for one of the weirdest pairings in recent memory.

Abba’s Anni-Frid Lyngstad has said she was “surprised” when her bandmates Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus said in a recent interview that the band’s new album ‘Voyage’ would be their last.Last week, of course, Abba released their first new album for almost 40 years, and next year they will launch a new live show in which the four members of the band will be represented by digital avatars.So, while it seems unlikely that the real Abba will perform together on stage again any time soon, what are the chances that they might make more new music for those avatars to play? Speaking to Zoe Ball on her BBC Radio 2 breakfast show yesterday, Lyngstad said: “I have learnt to say ‘never say never'”.That ‘never say never’ phrase also came up in an

ABBA sing about their failed marriages on their final ever album, which is their first in 40 years. The record, titled Voyage, is out Friday and features a string of references to the bittersweet relationships between Agnetha Faltskog and Bjorn Ulvaeus, who were married from 1971 to 1980, and Benny Andersson and Anni-Frid Lyngstad, who wed in 1978 and divorced in 1981.

ABBA have confirmed that they will be retiring for good after they release their ninth album Voyage next month.The album is due to be released on 5 November and is the group’s first new material in 40 years after they called it a day in 1982.All ten songs featured on the album are composed by ABBA’s songwriters Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus who said they are “absolutely trend-blind”.Meaning that they have ignored the trends in pop music over the decades in an attempt to capture ABBA’S original vibe and signature sound that their fans fell in love with them for.Sadly for fans, Benny recently confirmed "this is it, it's got to be," meaning that despite their previous disbandment in 1982, the group will not reform again.The group, who shot

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorIn the decades after ABBA — one of the most popular and influential groups in the history of the world — announced their breakup in 1983, journalists grew so tired of receiving the same skeptical answers about the group reuniting that they largely stopped asking. Which made it all the more surprising in 2018 when the group’s co-founders, Bjorn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson, confirmed that they had reunited with singers (and ex-wives) Agentha Falkskog and Anni-Frid Lyngstad and recorded two new songs and were preparing some kind of virtual concert experience.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorIn an understated, very Swedish way, ABBA co-founder and CISAC president Bjorn Ulvaeus is apoplectic.We’re talking about the soaring value of song catalogs — a boom that has seen Bob Dylan sell his catalog for nearly $400 million, and Hipgnosis Songs spending more than $2 billion on acquisitions in just over three years, with another billion-plus on tap. And yet throughout the industry, the songwriter is at the proverbial bottom of the financial totem pole.“It’s immoral!,” Ulvaeus exclaims.

ABBA have discussed how they were treated as the “enemies” of progressive music in their home country of Sweden during their 1970s heyday.The band, who announced their reunion this summer for a “revolutionary” residence of live shows in London and a new album called ‘Voyage’ (out November 5), gained worldwide success across the globe, but left many at home feeling less than satisfied.“You know, in Sweden, there was this progressive movement in music, and we were the enemies,” Björn Ulvaeus reflected to The Guardian in a new interview about the band’s career.“Personally I didn’t pay attention to all that – it didn’t mean shit to me, even if they hated us,” he added. “Because we got so much response from the whole world.

ABBA’s Björn Ulvaeus has said that the music industry today places “very little” value on songwriters.Speaking in the context of the ongoing streaming rates for musicians and writers, Ulvaeus said the industry placed little value on songwriters thanks to the low returns streaming brings.Speaking to Music Week, he added: “If there are 15 of them [songwriters] and one stream pays $000.something, they have to drive a taxi,” he said, joking that songwriting “teams” that are prevalent in the industry now would earn little in the way of royalties.“I would have become a civil engineer because I was going to be educated at university,” he added, saying if the rates were the same when he started writing, he would have not gone into

They’re back! Forty years after going their separate ways, ABBA, the  Swedish supergroup who became a worldwide phenomenon, has reunited to release new music and to promote a long-planned virtual  concert. The band, which has sold over 400 million albums, released two new  songs on September 3 – I Still Have Faith in You, and Don’t Shut Me  Down – both of which appear on their upcoming album Voyage, set for  release on November 5. Band members Bjorn Ulvaeus, 76, Benny Andersson, 74, Anni-Frid  “Frida” Lyngstad, 75, and Agnetha Fältskog, 71, had rejected past offers  to regroup, including an offer in 2000, which was rumoured to be in  excess of one billion dollars, for a 100 show world tour.

ABBA is getting ready to make a major announcement.