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ABBA Celebrate 50th Anniversary With First Performance in 30 Years

All four members of legendary pop act sing “Me and I” at private gala, their first performance since 1986

Jun 07, 2016
ABBA vaunted to success after winning Eurovision. The group is shown here at the song contest in 1974. Michael Ochs Archives/Getty

ABBA vaunted to success after winning Eurovision. The group is shown here at the song contest in 1974. Michael Ochs Archives/Getty

ABBA celebrated the 50th anniversary of their founding by performing onstage together for the first time in 30 years.

Agnetha Faltskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Anni-Frid (Frida) Lyngstad were all in attendance at Stockholm’s Berns Salonger Sunday for a private gala honoring the influential pop group, and while the quartet stood onstage together to discuss their career with attendees, ABBA sang a rendition of their 1980 hit “Me and I,” Sweden’s Expressen reports.

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 onstage 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 Mamma Mia! The Party in Stockholm, a gathering that represented the first time since 2008 that the group was photographed together, EW writes.

In 2010, after it was revealed that ABBA would be inducted 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 told Rolling Stone at the time.

Despite a rumored billion-dollar offer for a reunion tour, ABBA have refused to get back together ”“ both couples, Lyndstad and Andersson as well as Faltskog and Ulvaeus, divorced in 1980 ”“ making their Sunday performance all the more improbable.

“It was absolutely amazing. A lot of emotions,” Lyngstad told Expressen of 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.

ABBA. #björnobenny #b&b50 #thankyouforthemusic

A photo posted by Per Sundin (@perurban) on

 

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