ABBA aimed high. It wanted to perfect pop music and ended up reinventing it while becoming one of the most influential, popular, and long-lasting bands of all time. The Swedish sensation made pop that brims with emotion, delivering nine No. 1 hits, including the immortal “Dancing Queen” and “Mamma Mia,” “SOS” and “Take a Chance on Me.” There’s been stage, screen and the soundtrack to so much life. But the blueprint for success took a toll. ABBA’s work played out against years of love and pain, fan frenzy and flops. LIFE: ABBA tells the story of a band climbing towering peaks and tumbling down hills over and over again, across two marriages and four intertwined careers, and squeezing that glory and chaos into an enduring pop-music revolution.
LIFE ABBA
Digging the Dancing Queens (and Kings) • Revered by rock stars, politicians, and music lovers the world over, ABBA have become essential. But in the band and out, adoration often mingled with aversion.
BJÖRN & BENNY, ANNI-FRID & AGNETHA • ABBA arrived after each member spent a decade writing their own music and struggling to move beyond Sweden’s borders.
FACING THEIR WATERLOO • ABBA encountered an immediate battle: Their quest for international acclaim began in Sweden. By 1975, a breakthrough single brought big success in Europe and beyond.
The Man Behind the Looks • It should come as no surprise that fashions so wild were the work of a zoologist turned costume designer.
ARRIVAL • By the end of 1975, ABBA’s popularity was surging again. The band became a global phenomenon, and America was poised to take a chance.
ABBA vs. the Critics • From Stockholm to Los Angeles, ABBA took a beating. But as the band’s catalog has aged, ABBA aficionados have come to outnumber the detractors.
WHEN ALL IS SAID AND DONE • A new decade brought the end of an era for ABBA and marked the last time the band would appear together in public for years.
ABBA’s Greatest Hits and Deep Cuts • ABBA had chart-toppers around the world. But behind the classics, there was, and is, more to explore.
THANK YOU FOR THE MUSIC • Once again, ABBA became ubiquitous—still not together as an active band, but present in the extraordinary legacy of their songs.
HERE WE GO AGAIN • After years of downplaying (and even declining) a return, ABBA’s voyage continues, now with a chart-topping album and a concert series in London.
Life Abba
Photo Credits
On the Road
Don’t miss a moment!
THANK YOU FOR THE MUSIC • The story of ABBA is the story of climbing towering peaks and tumbling down hills—across two marriages and four intertwined careers—and building a pop-music revolution. It’s all here: the glory, the chaos, the global fan frenzy, the split, the rebirth, and the songs that last forever.
