Björn Ulvaeus Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

Mark Sutherland “To be or not to be, that is no longer the question,” declared ABBA co-founder and musical mastermind Benny Andersson at the start of “ABBA Voyage,” the Swedish quartet’s first “concert” in over 40 years. And if that sounds like a curiously existential way to begin a pop concert, well, this is no ordinary live show.For a start, despite Andersson’s insistence that “This is really me, I just look very good for my age,” it’s actually his de-aged, computer-generated avatar — or “ABBA-tar,” if you must — that is speaking his pre-recorded words.

ABBA fans the world over yesterday celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Swedish supergroup’s Eurovision victory in 1974, and one crowd were treated to a surprise appearance by band member Bjorn Ulvaeus.

Loreen won the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest for Sweden, ABBA’s Björn Ulvaeus addressed viewers at home with a special message on the annual show’s impact.“The lives of some of the acts that you’ve seen tonight could be about to change forever,” Ulvaeus said in a video filmed remotely, aired while votes for this year’s grand finalists were being counted. “When ABBA walked onto that stage, we couldn’t even have imagined, 50 years later, we would have a museum about us, and that we would perform as avatars in ABBA Voyage.“Our international success all began with Eurovision.

Swedish pop group ABBA have paid tribute to the “musical brilliance” of their long-standing guitarist, Lasse Wellander, following his death at the age of 70.The musician, who played on the band’s biggest albums and toured with them between 1975 and 1980, died early on Good Friday following a cancer diagnosis, a statement from his family said. Raised in the small village of Skrekarhyttan in Sweden, Lasse had his first recording session with Abba in October 1974 and continued to play on their respective solo albums following their split.

Bastille’s Dan Smith, Paloma Faith, Jimmy Somerville, Metronomy’s Joseph Mount and Damon Albarn are among the musicians featured on a new cover of the song ‘A Million Dreams’ from ‘The Greatest Showman’. The new track is being released in aid of The Brain Tumour Charity and Brainstrust, and was the idea of seven year old Ravi Adelekan – son of Metronomy bassist Olugbenga Adelekan – who was diagnosed with a brain tumour last year.Ravi’s illness was initially diagnosed as a build up of ear wax but, when an ear, nose and throat specialist requested an MRI scan, a tumour was discovered on his brain stem.

It’s official. The reviews are in and ABBA’s new concert experience, ABBA Voyage is a certified hit!The ABBA Voyage concert, which officially opened on at the purpose build ABBA Voyage Arena in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London, May 27, has received rapturous reviews from fans and critics.Kylie Minogue attended the premiere and said on Instagram, “Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! What.

ABBA’s Björn Ulvaeus has said that he thinks the legendary group’s comeback is an “immense risk”.The Swedish pop icons returned with their first album in 40 years, ‘Voyage’, last November and are due to present a string of “revolutionary” concerts at London’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park from May 27.‘Voyage’ went Platinum within just the first month of its release, while ABBA also received their first-ever Grammy nomination; their single ‘I Still Have Faith In You’ was up for this year’s ‘Record Of The Year’ prize.Additionally, the long-awaited album reached Number One in the UK and became the fastest-selling vinyl of the century.Despite this success, Ulvaeus explained in a new interview with The Sunday Times that he does have some concerns about the group making a comeback after such a long absence from music.“It’s an immense risk and most people I talk to don’t appreciate that,” he said “They say, ‘Oh, it’ll be fine.’ Sometimes I wake up at four in the morning and think, ‘What the hell have we done?'”The upcoming ‘Voyage’ concerts will see a “digital” version of ABBA performing alongside a 10-piece live band (put together with the help of Klaxons’ James Righton and featuring Little Boots) at the new purpose-built 3,000-capacity venue called ABBA Arena.Last September, the event’s producers spoke to NME about what to expect from the “magical space circus” before the release of a dazzling official trailer.Ulvaeus told The Sunday Times that he expected other musicians to be watching closely. “Lots of artists are going to be studying us, definitely, he said.

Sir Ian McKellen has joined forces with ABBA co-founder Björn Ulvaeus for one of the weirdest pairings in recent memory.

Abba’s Anni-Frid Lyngstad has said she was “surprised” when her bandmates Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus said in a recent interview that the band’s new album ‘Voyage’ would be their last.Last week, of course, Abba released their first new album for almost 40 years, and next year they will launch a new live show in which the four members of the band will be represented by digital avatars.So, while it seems unlikely that the real Abba will perform together on stage again any time soon, what are

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorIn the decades after ABBA — one of the most popular and influential groups in the history of the world — announced their breakup in 1983, journalists grew so tired of receiving the same skeptical answers about the group reuniting that they largely stopped asking.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorIn an understated, very Swedish way, ABBA co-founder and CISAC president Bjorn Ulvaeus is apoplectic.We’re talking about the soaring value of song catalogs — a boom that has seen Bob Dylan sell his catalog for nearly $400 million, and Hipgnosis Songs spending more than $2 billion on acquisitions in just over three years, with another billion-plus on tap.

ABBA have discussed how they were treated as the “enemies” of progressive music in their home country of Sweden during their 1970s heyday.The band, who announced their reunion this summer for a “revolutionary” residence of live shows in London and a new album called ‘Voyage’ (out November 5), gained worldwide success across the globe, but left many at home feeling less than satisfied.“You know, in Sweden, there was this progressive movement in music, and we were the enemies,” Björn Ulvaeus

ABBA’s Björn Ulvaeus has said that the music industry today places “very little” value on songwriters.Speaking in the context of the ongoing streaming rates for musicians and writers, Ulvaeus said the industry placed little value on songwriters thanks to the low returns streaming brings.Speaking to Music Week, he added: “If there are 15 of them [songwriters] and one stream pays $000.something, they have to drive a taxi,” he said, joking that songwriting “teams” that are prevalent in the industry

They’re back! Forty years after going their separate ways, ABBA, the  Swedish supergroup who became a worldwide phenomenon, has reunited to release new music and to promote a long-planned virtual  concert. The band, which has sold over 400 million albums, released two new  songs on September 3 – I Still Have Faith in You, and Don’t Shut Me  Down – both of which appear on their upcoming album Voyage, set for  release on November 5. Band members Bjorn Ulvaeus, 76, Benny Andersson, 74, Anni-Frid 

After a 39-year hiatus from their musical career, ABBA is back and will be releasing brand new music next Friday.

ABBA.It will be the first time the Swedish group have released new music in 40 years. The last album the group released was ‘The Visitors’ in 1981.Speaking to The Herald Sun, Ulvaeus said: “There will be new music this year, that is definite, it’s not a case anymore of it might happen, it will happen.”He also went on to reveal more about the group’s time back in the studio.He added: “We’re really, really good friends.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorIn connection with an authoritative new report from Midia Research showing how songwriters are being dramatically short-changed by the streaming economy, ABBA’s Björn Ulvaeus says that “songwriters are last in line for streaming royalties.”In an op-ed that recently appeared in the U.K.

Celebrity birthdays for the week of April 25-May 1:April 25: Actor Al Pacino is 81. “Dancing With the Stars” judge Len Goodman is 77. Bassist Stu Cook of Creedence Clearwater Revisited is 76.

ABBA’s Björn Ulvaeus has said a fairer payment model needs to be in place for songwriters.Writing in The Guardian, Ulvaeus said a new royalties model is needed if the industry is to see any kind of “risk-taking” or “creativity” from artists whose writing, he says, is being affected by the pressures of the “dysfunctional” current model.Ulvaeus said: “The dominant currency in streaming is individual songs; data shows that when people use a streaming platform such as Spotify, they search more for

MUNICH — German concert promoter CTS Eventim and ABBA co-founder Björn Ulvaeus are joining forces for the dinner theater franchise Mamma Mia! The Party. CTS Eventim has now acquired 49 percent of the production from the previous minority shareholders, while Ulvaeus remains the majority shareholder with 51%. The show combines dining and the classic songs of ABBA with in

By Variety Staff

Björn Ulvaeus, a co-founder of ABBA who wrote the group’s hits with his bandmate Benny Andersson, was today (May 29) named the president of CISAC, the global confederation of authors societies.

Björn Ulvaeus, a co-founder of ABBA who wrote the group’s hits with his bandmate Benny Andersson, was today (May 29) named the president of CISAC, the global confederation of authors societies.

By Jem Aswad

The 2020 Eurovision Song Contest was, well, not much of a contest. Blame the coronavirus pandemic for that.For the first time in its history, the annual songwriting competition was shelved.