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Formed 1971, Sweden

Easily the most commercially successful group of the Seventies, Abba became the focus of a revival in the early Nineties, when their Abba Gold topped charts around the world. Their wholesome image and buoyant, catchy records made the group international pop stars (Nelson Mandela once declared Abba his favorite pop group) and the second most profitable corporation on the Stockholm stock exchange. Ironically, it was their massive financial success that, according to group members, led to the death and kidnapping threats that prompted their disbanding in 1982.

Though Bjorn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson’s hook-laden singles ("Fernando" and "Money, Money, Money," 1976; "Knowing Me, Knowing You," 1977) often topped European charts, U.S. success was limited to several hit albums and three Top Ten singles: "Waterloo" (#6, 1974), "Dancing Queen" (#1, 1977), and "Take a Chance on Me" (#3, 1978).

Each member was a solo star in Sweden before Abba (an acronym of their first initials) coalesced in 1973. "Waterloo" won the prestigious Eurovision Song Contest in 1974, a year after they began recording in English. Abba tours were limited initially because of the difficulty of recreating their densely layered, richly produced sound live. Nevertheless, they mounted their first international tour in 1977 and appeared in the U.S. two years later. Longtime live-in lovers Benny and Anni-Frid (who both have children from teenage marriages) were wed in 1978; they divorced in 1981. Two years earlier, Bjorn and Agnetha’s marriage of six years had also ended in divorce. Abba’s public image, however, remained harmonious. By then they had sold an estimated 100 million records worldwide.

In 1982 Phil Collins produced Frida’s post-Abba solo debut, Something’s Going On, which featured "I Know There’s Something Going On," a Top Twenty hit. In 1985 her duet with B. A. Robertson, "Time," was a minor U.K. hit. Andersson and Ulvaeus cowrote with British lyricist Tim Rice the London and Broadway musical Chess, from which "One Night in Bangkok" became a #3 hit for Murray Head in 1985. Agnetha "Anna" Faltskog has also released solo albums and had several minor U.K. hits; her "Can’t Shake Loose" hit #29 in 1983.

Abba’s enduring -- and most U.S. critics might claim, inexplicable -- appeal manifested in the Australian Abba impersonators Bjorn Again, Erasure’s #1 U.K. cover EP Abba-esque, and Roxette’s adding "Money Money Money" to their live set. U2 performed "Dancing Queen" on their Zoo Tour, with Bjorn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson joining them onstage in Stockholm in 1993.