Abba
Many can name each of the four members of the Beatles, Mamas and the Papas, and CSN&Y, but what about one of the most successful groups of the 70s? ABBA was formed when Björn Ulvaeus, who had been singing and playing guitar with the Hootenanny Singers, asked his friend Benny Andersson, who had been playing keyboards for The Hep Stars, to get together to make a new group with Björn’s wife, Agnetha Fältskog. To make the fourth Benny asked his friend, Anni-Frid Lyngstad, a Norwegian to join them. With the first letter of each of their names, and managed by Stig Anderson, who is also credited as a collaborator on some of their songs including "Dancing Queen" and "Waterloo", ABBA amazingly had thirteen singles reach the UK’s top five pop chart between 1975-1980. Their start, though, came with a failure. In their first attempt at recognition they were given only third place by the Swedish selection committee for the Eurovision song contest of 1973. The following year they won the right to represent Sweden, and then won the contest with "Waterloo". Soon, they would be competing with Volvo as Sweden’s top export earner, with hits such as "S.O.S.", "Fernando", "Knowing Me, Knowing You", and "Take a Chance on Me". Even though they were one of the world’s most successful groups, they still played weddings – at least the wedding of the King of Sweden to Silvia Sommerlath for which they performed the most appropriate "Dancing Queen". Benny and Björn wrote a musical, The Girl with the Golden Hair, that was never completed; however, one of the songs from the projected show, "Thank You for the Music", is now featured in the stage production of ABBA’s music, Mamma Mia. Their song "Chiquitita" was written for a UNICEF concert and all of the song’s residuals have been donated in perpetuity to the United Nations Childrens’ Fund. Benny and Anni-Frid, who had been a couple for most of the band’s rise to fame, finally married in 1978, the same year that Björn and Agnetha separated. The band’s last tour was in 1979, although their hit "Super Trouper" came out in 1980. Benny and Anni-Frid divorced in 1981; ABBA disbanded in 1982. Two years later, Benny and Björn had another international hit with "One Night in Bangkok" from the musical Chess, for which they composed the music to Tim Rice’s lyrics.
