ABBA members to launch ‘new digital experience’ next year

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New York (AP) – The members of ABBA are reuniting for a “new digital experience” next year.

The iconic Swedish pop band made the announcement recently but didn’t offer much in the way of details.  They said they are teaming up with Universal Music Group and entertainment mogul Simon Fuller (“American Idol,” Spice Girls) to “create an original entertainment experience … that will enable a new generation of fans to see, hear, and feel ABBA in a way previously unimagined.”

The four members of Swedish pop group ABBA, from left, Benny Andersson, Agnetha Faltskog, Bjorn Ulvaeus and Anni-Frid Lyngstad are shown together in this March 14, 1980 file photo. (AP Photo/Tsugufumi Matsumoto)
The four members of Swedish pop group ABBA, from left, Benny Andersson, Agnetha Faltskog, Bjorn Ulvaeus and Anni-Frid Lyngstad are shown together in this March 14, 1980 file photo. (AP Photo/Tsugufumi Matsumoto)

“We are exploring a new technological world that will allow us to create new forms of entertainment and content we couldn’t have previously imagined,” Fuller said in a statement.

ABBA’s Benny Andersson described the virtual experience as “a time machine that captures the essence of who we were …and are.  We’re inspired by the limitless possibilities of what the future holds and love being a part of creating something new and dramatic here.”

ABBA includes Andersson, Agnetha Faltskog, Bjoern Ulvaeus and Anni-Frid Lyngstad.  The group formed in Stockholm in 1972 and after winning the Eurovision Song Contest in 1974 the quartet went on to become one of the best selling pop music acts in history.  They last performed together 35 years ago.  The four members made a rare joint appearance in January for the opening of a Stockholm restaurant inspired by the “Mamma Mia!” musical.

Lyngstad said fans around the world always ask about a reunion, and said: “So I hope this new ABBA creation will excite them as much as it excites me.”