
<p><strong>TOPLINE</strong> ABBA is releasing their first album of new material in 40 years, the Swedish pop legends announced Thursday, and will be featured in live shows—through holographic likenesses—in 2022.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">KEY FACTS</h2>



<p>The new album, titled Voyage, will go on sale November 5, the Associated Press&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/entertainment-music-arts-and-entertainment-f4476c0e734ba245e1f1854f8e1d6e00" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">reported</a>.</p>



<p>The band began recording the songs in 2018, about 35 years after they split up.</p>



<p>The live shows, in London, will be performed by holographic avatars recreating the singers as they appeared in the decade the band was active, the BBC&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-58423452" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">reported</a>.</p>



<p>The shows will begin May 27 and will be backed by a live band.&nbsp;</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-crucial-quote">CRUCIAL QUOTE</h2>



<p>“We took a break in the spring of 1982 and now we’ve decided it’s time to end it,” the group said in a statement. “They say it’s foolhardy to wait more than 40 years between albums, so we’ve recorded a follow-up to ‘The Visitors.’”</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-big-number">BIG NUMBER</h2>



<p>385 million. That’s how many albums the band was estimated&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/heatherfarmbrough/2018/05/17/new-abba-exhibition-launched-as-abba-sells-more-music-than-ever/?sh=14cb074b5dd5">to have sold</a>&nbsp;by 2018.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-background">KEY BACKGROUND</h2>



<p>Formed&nbsp;<a href="https://abbasite.com/story/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">in 1972</a>&nbsp;by&nbsp;<a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/making-sweet-music-15-groups-with-famous-relationships-10946/abba-2-92784/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">two couples</a>&nbsp;who later named the group after their initials, ABBA released 11 albums and won the 1974&nbsp;<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2018/apr/27/abba-announce-first-new-songs-for-35-years" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Eurovision</a>&nbsp;Song Contest before disbanding in 1982—before which both pairs divorced—according to the group’s website. Despite nearly four decades of not touring or producing new material, the band has remained popular, selling&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/heatherfarmbrough/2018/05/17/new-abba-exhibition-launched-as-abba-sells-more-music-than-ever/?sh=14cb074b5dd5">hundreds of millions</a>&nbsp;of albums. Theater and film adaptations have also kept their music in the public ear: In 1999, their songs were made into&nbsp;<a href="https://www.judycraymer.com/press-centre/facts-and-figures.php" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">a musical</a>, Mamma Mia!, which was in turn adapted into a movie and sequel in&nbsp;<a href="https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b8c546aef" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">2008</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/5bb094756a4e8" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">2018</a>.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-surprising-fact">SURPRISING FACT</h2>



<p>ABBA’s famously extravagant costumes were inspired in part by their home country’s tax system, according to Diane Coyle, a University of Cambridge economics professor. “In Swedish tax law you could write off the cost of your work clothing,”&nbsp;<a href="https://www.npr.org/transcripts/586151683" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">she told NPR</a>&nbsp;in 2018, “but not clothing that you could wear in the street. So they made sure that what they wore onstage was something they wouldn&#8217;t dream of wearing in the street so they could use it to reduce their tax bills.”</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-further-reading">FURTHER READING</h2>



<p><a href="https://apnews.com/article/entertainment-music-arts-and-entertainment-f4476c0e734ba245e1f1854f8e1d6e00" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">ABBA back after 40 years with new album, virtual stage show</a>&nbsp;<em>(Associated Press)</em>&nbsp;</p>



<p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/heatherfarmbrough/2018/05/17/new-abba-exhibition-launched-as-abba-sells-more-music-than-ever/?sh=14cb074b5dd5">New Exhibition Launched As ABBA Sells More Music Than Ever</a> <em>(Forbes)</em></p>



<p><strong><em>By Graison Dangor, Forbes Staff</em></strong></p>


Tag: Mamma Mia

FORBES AFRICA SOCIAL MEDIA

ABBA Announces First Album In 40 Years—And Will Play Live Shows As Holograms