Mamma mia! ABBA reunited on Sunday, June 5, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the beloved Swedish pop group, and they performed together for the first time in 30 years. Two of the members, Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson, threw a private party to honor the exact date they met five decades ago, according to the Swedish outlet Expressen.
The two women of the quartet, Anni-Frid (Frida) Lyngstad and Agnetha Faltskog, also attended and took the stage at Berns Salonger in downtown Stockholm. The ladies of the group started to perform their 1980 song “Me and I,” dedicating it to Ulvaeus and Andersson. Soon, the two men jumped on stage to join them, reuniting the whole group for the first time in three decades. One of the most successful recording acts of all time, ABBA broke up in 1982, and the impromptu performance marked the first time ABBA has played music together since 1986.
Making the reunion even more unusual, ABBA is made up of two former couples. Andersson, 69, and Lyngstad, 70, were married, but divorced in 1981. Ulvaeus, 71, and Faltskog, 66, were also married and divorced in 1980. They share two children, Linda, 43, and Peter, 38. All four have since been remarried to other people.
During the night, Swedish radio DJ Claes af Geijerstam also put together a video montage of Ulvaeus and Andersson’s career highlights, including winning the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest with “Waterloo,” the first of many international hits for the supergroup. Fellow Swedish pop singer Niklas Strömstedt even shared a photo of the special evening on Instagram with the four group members on stage.
The “Dancing Queen” hitmakers are rarely seen together in public. Back in January, the band reunited for the restaurant opening of Mamma Mia! The Party in Stockholm, and were photographed together for the first time since 2008, according to Entertainment Weekly. The ABBA-inspired dining spot was opened by Ulvaeus with the blessing of the rest of the group.
