Sweden awards Abba export prize, says “Thank you for the music”
STOCKHOLM (REUTERS) – Supergroup Abba won Sweden’s music export award on Wednesday (March 23) for their contribution to Swedish music 2021, during which they reformed and released their first new material in 40 years to the surprise and delight of fans.
The group – Agnetha Faltskog, 71, Bjorn Ulvaeus, 76, Benny Andersson, 75, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad, 76 – stormed to the top of the charts around the world last year with their new album.
“This year marks 50 years and over 400 million records have been sold since Abba was formed,” the Swedish government said in a statement.
“The fact that Agnetha, Björn, Benny and Anni-Frid started in 1972 was the first big step in the history of Swedish music’s global success. Thank you for the music !.”
The government noted that Abbas’ latest album Voyage topped the charts in 18 countries, was this year’s bestseller in Germany and reached the band’s highest position in the United States.
Voyage was the fastest-selling album in the UK since the turn of the century.
Abba became internationally famous after winning the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest with the song Waterloo.
With hits such as Money, Money, Money and Dancing Queen, they were a global music phenomenon before they split in the early 1980s when the marriage between the two couples that made up the band dissolved.
Despite persistent rumors, it took four decades for the band to reform with the new album born out of a project to launch a new Abba concert show – also called Voyage – featuring digital representations of the four band members created by motion-capture technology.
The music export prize was established in 1997 and is awarded to artists who have been internationally successful, helped Swedish music exports and contributed to a positive image of Sweden during the previous year, according to the government.