Though the band’s popularity may have never been greater, there will be no ABBA reunion tour. The band’s Bjorn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson recently told Britain’s Sunday Telegraph newspaper that ABBA will never perform together again.
“Money is not a factor,” Ulyaeus told the paper, “and we would like people to remember us as we were. Young, exuberant, full of energy and ambition.”
The music of the Swedish quartet has experienced a renaissance over the past 10 to 15 years, and calls for a reunion were growing almost deafening. But, ABBA made an enormous amount of money while they were a recording outfit until 1982, not to mention all the dough they pull in for the stage versions of their songs in the hit musical Mamma Mia!. The film version of the musical, set to star Meryl Streep and Pierce Brosnan, debuts this month and will overfill the band’s coffers once again.
ABBA’s hits included “Waterloo,” “Dancing Queen” and “Money, Money, Money.” They still sell nearly 3 million catalog records a year.
