Entertainment
Why did ABBA break up and which couples were married?
ABBA are back with new music after 40 years away (Picture: Getty)
At their peak, ABBA were untouchable; they had been dominating the charts and shaping the sound of pop music for a decade.
Which is why it was it remained a mystery to many why they went away in 1982, abandoning a proposed follow-up album to their successful eighth studio album, The Visitors.
They never really went away, with their music still popular today and the likes of Mamma Mia (both the movies and stage show) helping them find new audiences across the generations, but fans never got closure on why the band quietly went on a break and didn’t reunite for nearly 40 years.
Their new ABBA Voyage concert and album is the first time fans have had the original foursome back together since 1982.
So, what happened to ABBA?
Why did ABBA break up?
ABBA never officially broke up. There was never an announcement heralding the end of the band, but for many, the writing was on the wall.
As well as the dissolvement of marriages between the band members, both Anni-Frid and Agnetha had started to pursue solo albums by the early 1980s.
In 1982, during ABBA’s last year as a working band, Frida recorded and released her first post-ABBA solo album, Something’s Going On.
At the end of 1982, Agnetha also began doing work outside of ABBA, duetting with Swedish singer (and former ABBA backing vocalist) Tomas Ledin on a song called Never Again and releasing a solo album, Wrap Your Arms Around Me.
Benny and Bjorn always remained close, turning their attention to writing the score for musicals including Chess.
Appearing on Apple Music on Thursday, September 2, Bjorn shared his thoughts on why the band initially went their separate ways in 1982.
ABBA has harnessed the power of technology to create a hologram tour concert, launching in 2022. (Picture: PA)
‘We ended for creative reasons,’ he told Zane Lowe.
‘We ended because we felt the energy was running out in the studio, because we didn’t have as much fun in the studio as we did this time. And that’s why we said, “Let’s go on a break.”’
He continued: ‘We never said, “This is it. We’ve split and we’ll never reunite again.” We never said that. We just said back then that we’d go on a break. And this break has now ended.’
Which ABBA couples were married?
Agnetha Fältskog and Björn Ulvaeus were married for nine years, between 1971 and 1980.
They share two children together, Linda Elin Ulvaeus, 48, and son Peter Christian Ulvaeus, 43.
Bjorn and Agnetha were married for nine years (Picture: Getty)
The pair have both been open about their relatively amicable split, and how the end of their marriage inspired one of their biggest hits, The Winner Takes It All.
In an interview with the Daily Mail back in 2013, Agnetha revealed the track was her favourites of the band, adding: ‘Björn wrote it about us after the breakdown of our marriage. The fact that he wrote it exactly when we divorced is touching really.’
‘It was fantastic to do that song because I could put in such feeling. I didn’t mind sharing it with the public. It didn’t feel wrong. There is so much in that song. It was a mixture of what I felt and what Björn felt, but also what Benny and Frida went through.’
Benny and Frida were dating before she joined the band. (Picture: Getty)
Elsewhere, the other two initials that made up ABBA were Benny and Anni-Frid (who often went by Frida).
The pair were married for three years, between 1978 and 1981.
They first met in 1969, where both had separately been involved in performing at Melodifestivalen, the Swedish qualifiers for the Eurovision Song Contest.
The pair began dating not long after, and were engaged by 1971, when Benny helped produce Anni-Frid’s first solo album, Frida.
After some reluctance, Anni-Fri joined her fiancée’s group in 1972, creating ABBA.
The pair eventually got married in 1978, but announced their split just one year before ABBA’s 40-year-hiatus begun.
MORE : Abba superfan spent £50,000 on collection that was too big for exhibition
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