ABBA members Agnetha Faltskog, Bjorn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Anni-Frid Lyngstad have reportedly reunited to film for their 2022 ABBAtar hologram tour, expected to earn each of them £3million.
Sources claim the band, who rose to global fame in the 70’s, recently teamed up in secret at west London‘s Ealing Studios to work on their hotly-anticipated project.
Ahead of performances which will mark their 50th anniversary, the Swedish quartet are set to release five new songs for the first time in nearly four decades next year.
Comeback: ABBA’s Agnetha Faltskog, Bjorn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Anni-Frid Lyngstad (L-R in the 70s) have reportedly reunited to film for their 2022 ABBAtar hologram tour
Insiders said: ‘ABBA have kept everything about their reunion shrouded in mystery but this has really been a long time coming.
‘They announced the tour in 2016 and although it’s been a slog to get to this point, it is now full steam ahead and the show is taking shape. Agnetha, Bjorn, Benny and Frida have all recorded bits and pieces and they have enjoyed taking a trip down memory lane with it all.
‘They are all getting a nice cheque out of it, so it will be worthwhile, but they’ve got more than enough money from their music, so it’s not about that’, they added to The Sun.
Return: Sources claim the band, who rose to global fame in the 70’s, recently teamed up in secret at Ealing Studios to work on their hotly-anticipated project (pictured in the 80s)
50th anniversary: The Swedish quartet are set to release five new songs for the first time in nearly four decades next year (Benny, 73, pictured L in the 70s, R in 2019)
In the studio: Band member Bjorn, 75, (pictured L in 70s, R in 2019) said the songs ‘should have been out at the end of last year’ but the pandemic has delayed the release
MailOnline has contacted ABBA’s representatives and a spokesperson for Ealing Studios for further comment.
In 2014, singer Anni-Frid, 74, addressed claims about her and her co-members Agneta, 70, Björn, 75, and Benny, 73, turning down $1 billion to reunite on tour.
The musician told Ireland’s national broadcaster RTE: ‘No amount of money would change our minds.
‘Maybe we sometimes say it would be good to do a song together again, just a recording and nothing else, but I don’t know if that will happen – so don’t say that we will!’
The chart-topping group announced in 2018 they were planning to record new tracks, and it has now been confirmed that they have more songs than originally planned.
Despite the news, they had to delay the releases, which includes I Still Have Faith In You and Don’t Shut Me Down, due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Speaking on podcast Reasons To Be Cheerful, radio presenter Geoff Lloyd explained: ‘I got to spend an hour with Bjorn Ulveaus from ABBA via Zoom. They’ve recorded five new songs.
Famous face: At 70, Agnetha is the youngest member of the group (pictured L in the 70s, R in 2013)
Shut down: In 2014, Anni-Frid (L in the 70s, R in 2010), 74, addressed claims about her and her co-members Agneta, 70, Björn, 75, and Benny, 73, turning down $1 billion to reunite on tour
‘They should have been out at the end of last year. They’re going to get these holograms out on tour.
‘Because of technical difficulties and the pandemic, it’s delayed things. But he promised me that the new ABBA music will be out in 2021.’
In a statement announcing the new songs, ABBA said at the time: ‘The decision to go ahead with the exciting ABBA avatar tour project had an unexpected consequence.
‘We all four felt that, after some 35 years, it could be fun to join forces again and go into the recording studio.’
The Waterloo group went their separate ways in 1982 at the height of their career, and during their final years Bjorn divorced bandmate Agnetha whilst Benny and Frida split up, too.
They performed together for the first time in decades in 2016 at a private event, which marked the 50th anniversary of the first meeting between songwriters Bjorn and Benny.
Drama: The Waterloo group went their separate ways in 1982, and during their final years Bjorn divorced bandmate Agnetha, whilst Benny and Frida split up, too (pictured in 1974)