What is the history of ABBA?

Answer 1

ABBA is an acronym - it is the first letter of each members first name: Anni-Fird Lyngstad (Called Frida), Bjorn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Agnetha Faltskog (called Anna). The group formed around 1970 in Sweden. Their manager (Stig Anderson) called them ABBA - which was at first a joke - because it was also the name of a very well-known fish canning company in Sweden. They kept the abbreviation.

They had released one record (People Need Love) that did not do well - under the name "Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Anni-Frid". After the summer of 1973 - they became known as ABBA with the 2nd B reversed and the name was copyrighted. (Yes, they did negotiate with the Swedish fish canning company for the name - as this company was unknown outside of Sweden.)

As far as hit songs - ABBA had only 1 US Billboard Number 1 song - "Dancing Queen" (1976).

If ABBA had toured more in America - they would surely have generated more number one songs - however they mainly toured in Europe and Asia.

ABBA put out a total of 8 studio albums - 1 live album - 7 compilation albums (greatest hits repackaged) and 64 singles (many were the same song in different languages - and some released after they stopped touring in 1982). Poor marketing in America kept their sales totals very low in the US, as their hit "Fernando" hit #1 in twelve countries worldwide (including the UK and Germany). It occupied the top position in Australia for 14 weeks, tying The Beatles for longest number one for "Hey Jude". But Fernando did not crack America's top 25.

The sum total of ABBA #1 hits worldwide is staggering and impossible to calculate accurately - but their record company puts the tally at 24 records that hit the #1 position somewhere in the world. The exact number can only be guessed - because the masters (final recordings used to create CD's, DVD's, videos and downloads) were once carefully watched.

On January 9, 1979, the group performed the song "Chiquitita" at the Music for UNICEF Concert held at the United Nations General Assembly in New York to celebrate UNICEF's Year of the Child. ABBA donated the copyright of this worldwide hit to UNICEF. The single was released the following week, and reached #1 in ten countries. It provided UNICEF with over $12,000,000 in funding.

*ABBA will finally be inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame on March 15, 2010. This is as it should be - as they are ranked as the number 7 highest-selling band in the history of the music business, with a world wide sales total of over 375,000,000 albums and as of 2009 they continue to sell about 3,000,000 albums each year.

They they have not performed as a group, or recorded anything new, since 1982.