ABBA, 1970.
Photo: Michael Ochs Archives. All rights reserved.
ABBA released a playlist of their favorite band love songs for Valentine’s Day. You can hear songs like “Lay All Your Love On Me”, “I Still Have Faith In You” or “My Love, My Life”:
There is also a video accompanying the release of the playlist, which features the two former ABBA couples – Agnetha Fältskog and Bjorn Ulvaeus, as well as Benny Andersson and Anni-Frid Lyngstad.
The Story Behind The Winner Takes It All
Today Faltskog and Ulvaeus, as well as Andersson and Lyngstad go their separate ways, at least in love matters. However, ABBA were once one of the few bands made up of two married couples. In 1979, the stress of tour life is said to have led to the breakup of Fältskog and Ulvaeus. While Andersson and Lyngstad “just grew apart” around 1980, as Andersson recounts. Some of the songs from back then speak for themselves. For example, The Winner Takes It All (1980). A song Ulvaeus wrote after his marriage to Fältskog failed. The lyrics say: “Deep down you must know that I miss you. But what can I say, it is what it is.”
Musically, the Swedes initially wanted to continue despite their respective separations. “We considered whether it was possible to remain united as a band despite all the things we’ve been through. In the end we decided to give it a try,” says Andersson. A new album was to follow in 1982. Back in the studio, however, the four band members realized they couldn’t make it. After the two divorces it hurt too much. The band split up that same year.
A successful comeback
It was a long time before the members of ABBA went into the studio together again. In 2021 the time had finally come: With “Voyage” a new album by the band was released after almost forty years. Just like back in the 1970s, the Abba work made it to the top of the charts in several countries. In addition, the Swedes were able to look forward to the first Grammy nomination of their career in the same year.
From May 2022 you can see ABBA live again, or at least their virtual images. ABBA members will take the stage as hologram avatars at the ABBA Voyage show, accompanied by a live band. Maybe the spectacle will soon take place in a hotel residence in Las Vegas.