50th anniversary: ABBA reunite for first performance in 30 years

All four members of legendary pop act sing ‘Me and I’ at private gala.

ABBA celebrated the 50th anniversary of their founding by performing together for the first time in 30 years, reported Rolling Stone. Artists Agnetha Faltskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Anni-Frid (Frida) Lyngstad were all in attendance at Stockholm’s Berns Salonger for a private gala honouring the influential pop group, and while discussed their careers with attendees, the quartet also sang a rendition of their 1980 hit Me and I.

At first, Lyngstad and Faltskog sang the track together as a tribute to Andersson and Ulvaeus, but soon the male half of ABBA joined in toward the end of the song to cap the reunion. The impromptu performance marked the first time since 1986 that ABBA has played music together in public.



Since then, the quartet has reunited sparingly, mostly for promotional purposes. In January, ABBA staged a rare four-member reunion at the opening of the restaurant Mamma Mia! The Party in Stockholm, a gathering that represented the first time since 2008 that the group was photographed together.

In 2010, after it was revealed that ABBA would be introduced into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Andersson announced that the quartet would not reunite at the induction ceremony for a variety of reasons, including Faltskog’s reluctance to fly. “Agnetha is not flying, so I don’t know how she’s going to get to New York,” Andersson was quoted as saying.

Despite a rumoured billion-dollar offer for a reunion tour, ABBA refused to get back together – both couples, Lyndstad and Andersson as well as Faltskog and Ulvaeus, divorced in 1980 – making their Stockholm performance all the more improbable. “It was absolutely amazing. A lot of emotions,” Lyngstad said about the reunion. “We’ve made this journey throughout our history. Benny and Björn in particular ... It’s been very nostalgic.”

While no video from the Me and I performance has emerged, a few photos of the reunited ABBA have been posted on social media.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 8^th, 2016.

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