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- THEN AND NOW: The singers of ABBA
THEN AND NOW: The singers of ABBA
Talia Lakritz
- ABBA, one of the most successful pop groups in history, is reuniting after 40 years.
- Their album "Voyage" will be released November 5, and a hologram concert will premiere next spring.
- Agnetha Fältskog, Anni-Frid Lyngstad, Björn Ulvaeus, and Benny Andersson all released solo albums after the band broke up.
Agnetha Fältskog was one of the lead singers of the Swedish group.
Fältskog, who sang lead vocals on ABBA classics like "Chiquitita" and "SOS," was married to bandmate Bjorn Ulvaeus, but they divorced in 1980.
After the band broke up in 1982, she began acting and starred in the 1983 comedy "Raskenstam." She also launched a solo music career, releasing four albums throughout the 1980s.
Fältskog retreated from public life after a series of personal tragedies, but she began making appearances and releasing music again in the early 2000s.
Fältskog went through another divorce in 1993, and her mother died by suicide a year later.
She took a 17-year break from music until the release of her single "If I Thought You'd Ever Change Your Mind" in 2004. She released her latest album, "A," in 2013, and it was well-received.
"A is a triumphant return to form by a woman presumed lost to music forever. And now that she has returned, an Abba reunion no longer seems impossible," wrote Will Hodgkinson at The Times of London in 2013.
Anni-Frid Lyngstad was the other lead singer of the group.
Lyngstad, who sang lead vocals on songs including "Money, Money, Money" and "Fernando," was married to bandmate Benny Andersson. They divorced in 1981.
After ABBA, Lyngstad released two English solo albums, "Something's Going On" produced by Phil Collins in 1982, and "Shine" in 1984. She then stepped back from music for most of the 1990s, focusing on environmental issues and charity work.
Lyngstad married a prince and largely retired from music.
Lyngstad became a princess when she married Prince Heinrich Ruzzo of Reuss, Count of Plauen, in 1992. He died in 1999, and her title was changed to Dowager Princess of Reuss.
She currently lives in Switzerland with her British partner, William Henry Smith, who has a title of his own as the 5th Viscount Hambleden.
She has dabbled in entertainment again over the past two decades, including an appearance in a BBC radio play in 2011. As for music, she's released a handful of guest singles, such as a re-recording of "Adante, Adante" with jazz trumpeter Arturo Sandoval in 2018.
Björn Ulvaeus served as one of ABBA's singers, songwriters, and instrumentalists.
He and bandmate Benny Andersson composed ABBA's hit songs together. Ulvaeus also wrote "The Winner Takes It All" about his divorce from Fältskog.
Six months after their divorce was finalized, he married journalist Lena Källersjö. They have two children together.
After ABBA, Ulvaeus dove into musical theater, composing the musical "Chess" and helped bring "Mamma Mia!" to the stage and screen.
"Chess" opened in London's West End in 1986. Ulvaeus also reunited with Andersson to compose the Swedish musical "Kristina Från Duvemåla," which opened in Sweden in 1995.
He helped develop the original "Mamma Mia!" musical and was an executive producer of the "Mamma Mia!" film and its sequel, "Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again."
He also advocates for songwriters in the age of streaming as president of the International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers.
Benny Andersson was the other half of the band's successful songwriting duo, as well as its pianist.
Andersson sang lead vocals on only one ABBA song, "Suzy-Hang-Around" in 1974. He and Lyngstad divorced in 1981, and the band broke up shortly after, but he continued writing musicals with Ulvaeus and released a solo album of Swedish folk music in 1987.
He also remarried shortly after his divorce — he and TV presenter Mona Nörklit wed in 1981 and have a son together.
He served as an executive producer on both "Mamma Mia!" films, and he fronts his own Swedish band called Benny Anderssons Orkester.
Since 2001, Benny Anderssons Orkester has released several albums, most recently in 2019. He and Ulvaeus continue to collaborate in the band, with Andersson writing music and Ulvaeus writing lyrics.
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