ABBA

Abba formed in 1971 in Sweden.  They were easily the most successful commercial band of the '70's and revived again in the '90's when their Gold album topped the charts around the world.  ABBA's wholesome image made them international pop stars.  Even Nelson Mandela once stated ABBA was his favorite band. 

Abba's success shot them to the top of the charts, but also to the second place spot as the most profitable corporation on the Stockholm Stock Exchange.  The massive financial success led to the death and kidnapping threats that prompted their disbanding in 1982.

Bjorn Ulvaeus and Benny  Anderson's singles, Fernando and Money, Money, Money, 1976 and Knowing Me Knowing You in 1977, often topped European charts.  U.S. success was limited to several hit albums and three top 10 singles.  Waterloo was number 6 in 1974, Dancing Queen was number 1 in 1977, and Take a Chance on Me was number 3 in 1978.

Each member was a solo artist in Sweden before ABBA was formed in 1973.  Waterloo won the prestigious Eurovision Song Contest in 1974, a year after they began recording in English.

ABBA (acronym of their first initials) tours were limited initially because of the difficulty of re-creating the group's densely layered, richly produced sound live.  They had their first international tour in 1977 and appeared in the United States two years later.

Longtime live-lovers Benny and Anni-Frid were wed in 1978 and divorced in 1981.  Both have children from teenage marriages.

Two years earlier, Bjorn and Agnetha's marriage of six years had also ended in divorce.  ABBA's public image remained harmonious.  By then the group had sold an estimated 100 million records worldwide. 

In 1982, Phil Collins produced Frida's post-ABBA solo debut, Something's Going On, which featured "I Know There's Something Going On", a top 20 hit. 

In 1985, her duet with B.A. Robertson, Time, was a minor United Kingdom hit.  Anderson and Ulvaeus cowrote with British lyricist Tim Rice, the London and Broadway musical Chess, from which One Night In Bangkok became a number 3 hit for Murray Head in 1985. 

Agnetha "Anna" Faltskog has also released solo albums and had several minor United Kingdom hits.  Her Can't Shake Loose hit was number 29 in 1983.

In more recent years, ABBA's appeal has manifested itself in the Australian ABBA impersonators, Bjorn Again, Erasure's number 1 United Kingdom cover ABBA-esque, and the A Teens, four Stockholm based singing and dancing teens who deal in pop updates of Bjorn and Benny's most beloved material. 

Featuring 22 ABBA songs, Mamma Mia!, created by Andersson and Ulvaeus, became a hit musical in London in 1999, reaching the United States in 2001.  In 2009, it hit the big screen, becoming a hit movie in the U.S.