ABBA's Agnetha back on song
It has been thirty years since one of the most successful bands in music history, ABBA, split up after a decade of intense worldwide stardom.
When ABBA split, the band’s resident golden girl Agnetha Faltskog became one of the most intriguing members of the group. For decades few saw the mysterious pop icon, who had married and then divorced fellow ABBA member Bjorn Ulvaeus at the height of the band’s success.
Now a 63-year-old grandmother, Agnetha has largely shunned the limelight, only ever granting a handful of interviews since ABBA disbanded. She retreated with her two children to an island home outside of Stockholm, living a quiet life with only occasional forays back into the music industry. In thirty years she’s released just four English-language albums, the last almost a decade ago.
In a rarely-granted in-depth interview, Sunday Night reporter Rahni Sadler travels to Sweden to discover if Faltskog really is a recluse, and hear her sing ABBA’s music again for the first time in three decades.
Sadler asks Faltskog if she still remembers the words to her ABBA hits, and before long, the singer leads a rousing singalong of the band’s 1975 Australian number one, SOS.
The notoriously private star also opens up about her life today, her marriage to Ulvaeus, her love of Australia and the highs and lows of life in ABBA.
Read Rahni Sadler's report on her time with Agnetha
“There were some years that I wanted to just be for myself and have a rest and build me up again and then it’s easily done that these rumours start,” Faltskog says, addressing the perception she’s lived her life as a recluse.
“She’s like Greta Garbo, she doesn’t want to meet anyone, she’s kind of [a] mysterious lady… it’s strange to read things about yourself when it’s not like that at all.”
Sunday Night also meets with Ulvaeus as he puts the finishing touches on a brand-new ABBA museum opening in Stockholm on May 7. Along with rare and collectible memorabilia, the museum is an interactive experience, offering fans the opportunity to record their own ABBA tracks and appear with the band via hologram.
Should ABBA reunite? Vote in the Sunday Night poll
Ulvaeus explains that he has Australia to thank for the band breaking free of their initial Eurovision ‘one hit wonder’ tag. He reveals he first fell in love with Agnetha just by hearing her sing, and says he doesn’t believe the pressures of fame were to blame for their marriage ending.
Faltskog is taking this tentative step back into the spotlight in preparation for the release of a brand-new album on May 10. Titled A, the 10-track collection is preceded by the first single When You Really Loved Someone. CLICK HERE to pre-order the album on iTunes.
CONTACT SUNDAY NIGHT
