ABBA to reunite for collaborative “entertainment experience”

Iconic Swedish pop group ABBA will reunite 35 years after their last public performance to deliver a “new entertainment experience.”

The four members of ABBA have partnered with Universal Music Group and renowned entertainment entrepreneur Simon Fuller for a new venture that will “utilise the very latest in digital and virtual reality technology.”

While only a limited amount of details have surfaced thus far, the collaboration will take place in 2018 with further details emerging in 2017.

Fuller is responsible for creating the Idol franchise and has managed numerous successful artists including The Spice Girls and Amy Winehouse. For several years, the entrepreneur has reportedly been investing in virtual reality technologies and developing hyper-realistic digital humans in the entertainment field.

“The creativity and ideas flowing from the members of ABBA over the past few months have filled me with great excitement,” said Fuller. “We are exploring a new technological world, with Virtual Reality and Artificial Intelligence at the forefront, that will allow us to create new forms of entertainment and content we couldn’t have previously imagined.”

All four members of ABBA will take part in the upcoming project in order to maintain authenticity and ensure that the original vision of the band is preserved.

“We’re inspired by the limitless possibilities of what the future holds and are loving being a part of creating something new and dramatic here,” said Benny Andersson, one the four members of ABBA.

Frida Lyngstad added: “Our fans around the world are always asking us to reform and so I hope this new ABBA creation will excite them as much as it excites me!”

ABBA’s music was successfully adapted into a theatre production, Mamma Mia! The Musical over 25 years ago. According to the show’s website, Mamma Mia! has seen by more than 60 million people in 300 cities around the world since the opening in London 1999, including sold out productions in China, Korea, Japan and the Philippines.

This included a positive reception in Australia, with the band’s Gold: Greatest Hits album achieving 17x Platinum with 1,190,000 sales in the country. Furthermore, their 1976 TV show Best of ABBA was the highest rating show on Australian television to date, amassing a greater audience than that of the moon landing.