Recently, four members Bjorn Ulvaeus, Anni-Frid Lyngstad, Agnetha Faltskog and Benny Andersson of the group ABBA received the Royal Order of Vasa in their home country of Sweden, awarded by the king and queen, for "outstanding contributions to Swedish and international musical life".
4 members of ABBA at the medal ceremony
Andersson and Ulvaeus also appeared at the ABBA Arena in London on Thursday to celebrate the second anniversary of ABBA Voyage , a music show that featured 3D images of the four members, giving the impression that they were actually performing. The two also conducted a lengthy Q&A session for the 3,000-strong audience at the event.
The special knighthood that the four members were honoured with in Stockholm had not been awarded for half a century, until it was reinstated in 2022. The members of ABBA were among the 13 individuals/organizations honoured.
The nominees were nominated by both the Swedish public and the Swedish government . The final winners will be chosen by King Carl XVI Gustaf, who knighted ABBA on Friday along with Queen Silvia. In addition to the band, two physicists who won the 2023 Nobel Prize were also knighted on the occasion.
At a Q&A in London to mark the second anniversary of ABBA Voyage , Andersson and Ulvaeus were mum on their future plans, although they were enthusiastic about the idea of the creations performing at Glastonbury. “Oh yeah, I think it’s a great idea,” said Ulvaeus, while Andersson said he would continue to accompany them if that happened.
In fact, there seems to be no new prospect for a reunion for the band since their Grammy-nominated reunion album Voyage three years ago. In a 2022 interview with Variety, Andersson firmly stated that the final chapter of ABBA's career was closed. "Never say never, that's the reality," he said. "But there's no more after this album. Voyage has a lot of achievements, but there will be no more records."
Group image recreated using 3D technology
At a Q&A in London this week, both members were quite wistful, reflecting on the past. “It’s very, very hard to put into words the feeling that we wrote these little songs and it’s being heard by millions of people,” Andersson said. “It’s very confusing, almost impossible.” Ulvaeus added: “I’ve seen the show so many times and thought we looked great there. But I don’t know what it is that really makes people want to listen to music that was made 50 years ago, 40 years ago, 30 years ago.”
While not a topic of discussion at the London event, there has been talk in the US of a third Mamma Mia! film based on the group's songs. Producer Judy Craymer told Variety in October 2023 that it was inevitable. "Universal Studios is very supportive of that project [...] Bjorn and Benny are always hard to convince, now they have ABBA Voyage and then they want to take a break. But I believe it will happen," he said.
Source: https://thanhnien.vn/abba-tiep-tuc-tai-hop-185240603091738567.htm
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