ABBA Comeback After Literal Decades

Following a 39 year hiatus, Swedish pop group ABBA finally announces new music and a virtual reality tour. 

Consisting of Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad, the group rose to popularity by winning the 1974 Eurovision with their song “Waterloo.” The group rose to international stardom with several hit singles including “Mamma Mia,” “Chiquitita,” “Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!” and “Dancing Queen.” Their music was featured in the 2008 film Mamma Mia! and its 2018 sequel, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again. Unfortunately, the group broke up in 1982 with no plans to release music or perform again.

That seems to have changed with a mysterious announcement on Aug. 26 from a brand new Twitter page @ABBAVoyage. The account tweeted an enigmatic image of four golden rings with the date Sept. 2, 2021, emblazoned across the bottom and a link to the new ABBA Voyage website. The official ABBA Twitter had been hard at work remastering old music videos leading up to the mystery announcement. ABBA has also officially joined TikTok’s growing platform.

The account then retweeted several images of fans with ABBA Voyage billboards before announcing on Aug. 31 that there would be a Livestream on YouTube for a special announcement on Sept. 2 . 

Even pre-pandemic, ABBA had been teasing their return. At the premiere of the 2018 sequel to Mamma Mia, Ulvaeus mentioned that the group had songs in the works and was ready to be released. In 2019, the group began working on the debut of a virtual reality tour with holograms that were aptly named ‘ABBA-tars.’ Unfortunately, the untimely pandemic delayed production of the tour and songs. Now it seems the superstar group is back on track. 

Although ABBA’s peak stardom was in the 1970s, the group has retained a sort of timeless quality. Songs like “Dancing Queen,” “Chiquitita” and “Mamma Mia” still remain pop-culturally relevant through the release of the Mamma Mia movies and proliferation on apps such as TikTok. Fans eagerly await the release of new music and more news about the upcoming ABBA Voyage.