After teaming up for a successful comeback album in 2021, all four members of ABBA reunited once more as they were knighted at a royal ceremony in Stockholm on Friday, May 31.
Bjorn Ulvaeus, Anni-Frid Lyngstad, Agnetha Faltskog and Benny Andersson posed together as they received the Royal Order of Vasa, establishing them as Commanders of the First Class, for “very outstanding efforts in Swedish and international music life.” They were knighted by Swedish royalty, King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia.
“The order you get today is Sweden’s thanks for your exceptional efforts,” the king, 78, said, according to Sky News.
The group was all smiles as they posed together for pictures and accepted the honor, which was presented in a red box, at the Royal Palace.
This year’s 13 honorees were the first to receive Swedish knighthood since 1974. Royal orders were previously restricted to foreigners only but the Riksdag, the country’s parliament, agreed to reinstate the honor for citizens at the end of 2022.
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Candidates were nominated by both the general public and the Swedish government with nine selected to receive the royal order alongside ABBA, including two Nobel Prize-winning physicists.
ABBA recently received five Grammy nominations for their reunion album, Voyage, which was released in November 2021 to rave reviews. It was the group’s first record of new material in 40 years.
In celebration of the album, the group announced ABBA Voyage, a virtual concert residency that features avatars of the members as they appeared in 1979. The show uses re-recorded vocals and is accompanied by a live instrumental band on stage. Andersson, 77, and Ulvaeus, 79, appeared at the ABBA Arena in London last week to celebrate the concert’s two-year anniversary. Lyngstad, 78, and Faltskog, 74, were not in attendance.
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ABBA — an acronym of the first letters of each group member’s first name: Agnetha, Björn, Benny, Anni-Frid — launched at the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest, where they won with their song “Waterloo.” In the years since, they’ve become one of the most successful pop groups of all time, selling millions of albums featuring hits like “Dancing Queen” and “Super Trouper.”
In 1999, their music was adapted into a stage musical, Mamma Mia!, which was made into the successful 2008 film starring Meryl Streep and Amanda Seyfried. A 2018 sequel, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, also featured ABBA’s music.
