ABBA has denied rumors that they will reunite for next year’s Eurovision Song Contest in Sweden to celebrate 50 years since their own Eurovision win. Band member Benny Andersson said that if he didn’t want to perform, the others wouldn’t either. However, the band’s virtual concert experience, ABBA Voyage, has proved popular with a million visitors since it launched in London last year. The show features CGI versions of the band, known as ABBA-tars, performing with live musicians. While the band has said that their Voyage album is their last, member Björn Ulvaeus is open to future projects that make use of new technologies.
As per NME, ABBA has responded to rumors about their reunion for the Eurovision Song Contest in their home country of Sweden. After Loreen won the competition with her song ‘Tattoo’ earlier this month, rumors spread online that ABBA would reform to mark 50 years of their own Eurovision win. However, the band has shot down the chances of it happening, even just for one evening.
Benny Andersson, one of the band members, told the BBC, “I don’t want to, and if I don’t want to, the others won’t. It’s the same for all four of us – someone says, ‘no’ – it’s a no.” Björn, another bandmate, added, “We can celebrate 50 years of ABBA without us being on stage.”
ABBA’s last new music came on the 2021 accompanying ‘Voyage’ album, which contained two singles, ‘I Still Have Faith In You’ and ‘Don’t Shut Me Down.’ When asked if there was a hope for more new music from the band, Ulvaeus told NME last month: “No, ‘Voyage’ the album was the last you’ll ever hear from us.” However, he remained open to the idea of the band returning for more projects like the live show, making the most of new emerging technologies.
The ‘Voyage’ virtual concert experience in London will soon celebrate its first anniversary. The show sees CGI reincarnations (or ‘ABBA-tars’) based on the movements and performance of the living Swedish pop legends. These are then painstakingly presented to appear to be playing live with the appearance of the band in their ’70s prime, backed by a full live band present in the room.
Ulvaeus also shot down the chances of the ABBA-tars appearing at Glastonbury, telling NME, “I don’t think that’s possible, yet. It might be in the future. As it is, it’s too complicated because the lighting, the sound, the visuals, everything is integrated and it’s so complicated.”
Despite ABBA’s reluctance to reunite for Eurovision 2024, fans can still enjoy their ‘Voyage’ virtual concert experience. The band’s innovative use of technology has allowed them to continue performing, even without physically being on stage. As Ulvaeus said, “there will be new exciting formats in the future that we know very little about right now,” hinting at the possibility of more ABBA projects to come.
