ABBA stars reveal ‘proudest’ career achievement

Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson reflected on the two-year anniversary of Abba Voyage

Members of Abba have revealed their proudest moments, which include a range of pivotal achievements from winning Eurovision to being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

As the Swedish pop supergroup celebrate the two-year anniversary of Abba Voyage, their London-based immersive experience that sees digital Abba-tars perform their greatest hits in a stadium setting, Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson reflected on the defining moments of their careers.

Björn, 79, admitted that the moment where it all began – Eurovision – was his proudest, because it established the band as a household name. It was 50 years ago when the quartet rrived on the stage at Brighton Dome and won the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest with their winning track “Waterloo” and soared to international pop stardom.

“The feeling afterwards that now the whole world knew about us and that we could now concentrate on the writing. It was absolutely fantastic,” said Björn of their Eurovision win, at a Q&A event with 3,000 fans in the audience, to celebrate the Abba Voyage anniversary.

Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson outside the Abba Voyage arena (Bjorn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson )

Andersson, 77, said that his most fulfilling moment was being invited into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

“Those are a few moments when you know that you’ve written a good tune. It doesn’t happen often, its maybe happened ten times in the last 40 years,” he said.

The two-year anniversary comes the same year as the band celebrate 50 years since their Eurovision win.

Some fans had hoped that the band would mark the occasion by reuniting on the Eurovision stage earlier this month, for the first time since 1982.

The hosts of Eurovision added fuel to the fire by ruthlessly teasing a potential surprise performance from an iconic band beginning with “A”.

However, many fans were left disappointed when the band’s virtual “Abbatars” performed instead.

Abba at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1974 (Getty Images)

Hosts Malin Åkerman and Petra Mede teased a performance from a Swedish super pop group “beginning with an A”, before introducing the popular pop trio Alcazar, who performed their hit “Crying at the Discoteque”. Fans instantly complained that they were duped by the gag, especially since Abba themselves had posted a TikTok just days before teasing a potential Eurovision performance.

A tribute to Abba is played at Eurovision 2024 (AFP via Getty Images)

The projection saw group members Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Anni-Frid Lyngstad perform their hit “Waterloo”, which they performed when they won the same competition 50 years ago.