Features
The Return Of ABBA?
The four founding members of ABBA are working together once again – but the new project is not a typical reunion tour. With more details yet to come, the Swedish pop band announced today that it is preparing to launch a “new digital experience.”
ABBA has teamed up with entrepreneur/artist manager/TV producer Simon Fuller and Universal Music Group in a collaboration that Universal says “marks a key ‘ahead of the curve’ step towards fully realizing the possibilities of virtual reality – and in the process transforming the face of popular entertainment.”
Fuller apparently knows his stuff when it comes to virtual reality. An announcement from Universal Music points out, “for the past several years, his businesses have been quietly investing in virtual reality technologies and developing hyper-realistic digital humans in the field of entertainment.”
Photo: AP Photo/file
With close associates celebrating their victory in the Eurovision Song Contest in Brighton, England.
Fans have been waiting for an ABBA reunion tour for more than three decades. Anni-Frid “Frida” Lyngstad, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Agnetha Fältskog got fans hopes up earlier this year when they sang the song “Me and I” at Stockholm’s Berns Salonger during a private party in June celebrating the 50th anniversary since Ulvaeus and Andersson met. ABBA last performed together in 1982 for a broadcast of a British TV show, a year after the release of the band’s eighth and final album, The Visitors.
The members of ABBA have signed on to be involved throughout the creation process of the new entertainment experience.
“We’re inspired by the limitless possibilities of what the future holds and are loving being a part of creating something new and dramatic here,” Andersson said. “A time machine that captures the essence of who we were. And are.”
Lyngstad adds, “Our fans around the world are always asking us to reform and so I hope this new ABBA creation will excite them as much as it excites me!”
Universal Music says more details will be revealed next year. The Guardian reports that the launch of the “virtual and live experience” is planned for 2018.