ABBA
Agnetha Faltskog, Bjorn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Anni-Frid Lyngstad, better known to the world by the acronym of their first names ABBA, took the world by storm after winning the Eurovision Song Contest on April 6th 1974 in Brighton, England.
The song which catapulted them as international superstars, "Waterloo", was not the first song the group had released. In the spring of 1972 they recorded the song, "People Need Love" which gave them some success in Sweden. In 1973 they finished third in the Swedish selections for the Eurovision Song Contest with "Ring Ring", which went on to become a hit across Europe.
Following on their recent success, they entered the Eurovison selections again the following year with "Waterloo". The song won beginning their worldwide path to fame.
Is was to be another year before ABBA had another top 10 hit with "SOS" reaching number 6 and "Mamma Mia" reaching number 1 at the end of 1975. In total ABBA gained number 1 hits world wide, 9 number 1 hits in the UK alone.
A total of 8 albums were recorded, their first one, "Ring Ring" reaching number 2 in Sweden and the other 7 reaching number 1 in countries around the globe.
After a total of 10 years as world superstars, ABBA decided to take a break, never officially announcing a break up. Agnetha and Frida started recording solo albums whilst Benny and Bjorn started writing songs for the musical Chess.
During the 80's, not much was heard of ABBA, although their music still received radio air play. It was not until the 90's and Erasure releasing an EP of ABBA song's, with an hilarious cross dressing rendition of "Take A Chance On Me" did their music start to make a resurgence.
In 1992 & 1993 "ABBA Gold: Greatest Hits" and "More ABBA Gold: More ABBA Hits" were released, proving that they still had a worldwide fan base both new and old. In 1994 The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of The Desert and Muriel's Wedding featured songs by ABBA, reigniting worldwide interest the supergroup and their music.
In 1999, Mamma Mia - The Musical, opened in London and later around the world. It was to be a worldwide success. In 2005, all four members of ABBA appeared for the first time since 1982 at the Stockholm premiere of Mamma Mia - The Musical. In 2008 Mamma Mia became a film Starring Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan, Julie Walters and Colin Firth. This again brought ABBA together again on 4th July 2008.
For 38 years ABBA has entertained the world with their music. As one of their song puts it,"Thank You For The Music".