A public reunion of Abba members in Sweden last month might prove to be the “last occasion” they reunite, a member of the group has said.
Agnetha Faltskog, Bjorn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Anni-Frid Lyngstad were made Commander of the First Class of the prestigious Order of the Vasa, the first time it had been given in almost 50 years, at the end of May.
They picked up their honours from Sweden’s King Carl XVI Gustaf following a nomination process involving the public and the Swedish government.
Ulvaeus told an episode of the podcast Rosebud With Gyles Brandreth, released on Friday, that “it was a great honour” but it is not a knighthood, so he will not be known as Sir Bjorn.
Recalling the moment, he added: “We stood there quietly, accepting it out of the king’s hand and him saying a few words, it was a very quiet and very elegant ceremony.
“All four of us of course were there… in public (we see each other) very rarely, and Frida (Lyngstad, also known as Reuss) said to me afterwards, ‘this might be the last occasion’.
“Very sad, and I thought about that afterwards, but we’re not getting any younger.”
For more than four decades, Abba have not performed together but they released the album Voyage in 2021, and brought projected versions of themselves to the stage for the virtual concert series Abba Voyage, which began in May 2022.
They also did not reform during the 50th anniversary of their win at the Eurovision Song Contest, and their digital Abba-tars instead played as an interval act during the competition through a recording from London.
Andersson and Ulvaeus also took to the specially made arena in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park to mark two years of Abba Voyage in London in May.
In April, Ulvaeus joined the cast of the London musical Mamma Mia!, which uses Abba music, to celebrate its 25 years in the West End by speaking to the audience.
This also marked the Swedish band triumphing with their song Waterloo in Brighton on April 6 1974.
The musical show premiered in London on the same day in 1999.
