All four members of Abba have reunited in London for the first time since 1982 for the opening night of their Voyage live show.
The Swedish pop superstars – Bjorn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, Agnetha Faltskog and Anni-Frid Lyngstad – were last together in the capital for an appearance on The Late Late Breakfast show hosted with Noel Edmonds.
The highly anticipated concert features younger “Abba-tars” of the group performing songs from their back catalogue with a live 10-piece band.
Speaking on the red carpet outside a purpose-built stadium at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in east London, Faltskog said: “It’s amazing to see all the English fans.”
Lyngstad added she was most looking forward to seeing the band perform their hit Mamma Mia.
Andersson admitted he expected himself to cry during the concert, saying: “Oh definitely, all the time.”
Speaking about why she had enjoyed the project so much, Lyngstad said: “I think the most exciting thing about this project was to come together as a group again after so many years not doing anything as a band together.”
Ulvaeus praised Abba’s British fans for their support throughout their career.
On why they had chosen the UK for the project, he said: “The UK has always been close to our hearts and the Brits have always taken us to their heart, and also the infrastructure for a huge project like this is here in London – so many reasons.”
Asked whether this could be the start of a movement for other bands, he replied: “It could be, yes.”
The “Abba-tars” were created through months of motion-capture and performance techniques with the four band members and an 850-strong team from Industrial Light and Magic, the company founded by George Lucas, in its first foray into music.
The pop group were catapulted to worldwide success after winning the Eurovision Song Contest with Waterloo when the event was held in Brighton in 1974.
They have since sold more than 400 million albums and singles.
The popular quartet parted ways after last performing together in 1982 following a successful 10-year stint.
In 2018 they announced they had recorded new material and it arrived in November.
