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Why ABBA Turned Down $1 Billion To Reunite In 2000
Business Insider ^ | 07/09/2014 | Frank Pallotta

Posted on 07/09/2014 11:09:57 AM PDT by SeekAndFind

Swedish pop group ABBA is responsible for hit songs like "Dancing Queen," "Mamma Mia," and "Money, Money, Money." Made up of two sets of then couples — Agnetha Fältskog and Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson and Anni-Frid Lyngstad — ABBA has sold over 380 million albums and singles worldwide and is the third-best-selling group of all time, behind the Beatles and Queen and ahead of the Rolling Stones.

But in 1979, at the height of their success, Fältskog and Ulvaeus divorced while Lyngstad and Andersson called it quits soon after in 1981. By 1982, the group was broken up.

In 2000, amid a revival of several of their hits, a American-British consortium offered the group $1 billion to reunite for 100 shows, but they declined the offer, according to E! Online. To put that into perspective, the group was offered more than the value of 25 different Major League Baseball teams and the GDPs of some countries. That's potentially $250 million that each member of the group refused.

"It's a hell of a lot of money to say no to, but we decided it wasn't for us," Andersson told Swedish tabloid Aftonbladet in 2000.

Andersson and bandmate Bjorn Ulvaeus both argue that popular reincarnations of their songs (many by teen group S Club 7) have been successful because the group never reunited.

"We have never made a comeback," Ulvaeus told the paper. "Almost everyone else has. I think there's a message in that."

(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Music/Entertainment; Society; TV/Movies
KEYWORDS: abba; music; reunion; stih
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1 posted on 07/09/2014 11:09:57 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
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To: SeekAndFind

“Can you hear the drums, Fernando?...”


2 posted on 07/09/2014 11:13:27 AM PDT by camle (keep an open mind and someone will fill it full of something for you)
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To: SeekAndFind

Not sure about the women...but Andersson and Ulvaeus wrote all the ABBA songs, and made tons of money off royalties, including the Mamma Mia play and movie.


3 posted on 07/09/2014 11:13:49 AM PDT by DisorderOnBorder (Haley Barbour rather work for drug cartels than Americans)
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To: SeekAndFind

Agnetha Fältskog, after many years of not being in the public eye, released a new album called “A”. In the UK, the first single “When You Really Loved Someone”

Listen to it here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-Jdw9utrfU


4 posted on 07/09/2014 11:15:22 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
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To: camle

Agnetha Fältskog, after many years of not being in the public eye, released a new album called “A”. In the UK, the first single “When You Really Loved Someone”

Listen to it here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-Jdw9utrfU


5 posted on 07/09/2014 11:15:40 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
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To: SeekAndFind
They did several entertaining things...things that I truly enjoyed.I never mistook their work for Dylan,however...and I sincerely hope that they never expected to be mistaken for Dylan.

And yes...I'm a 100% hetero guy (and always have been).

6 posted on 07/09/2014 11:18:56 AM PDT by Gay State Conservative (Rat Party Policy:Lie,Deny,Refuse To Comply)
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To: SeekAndFind
The perfect name for an ABBA cover group would be The Umlauts.
7 posted on 07/09/2014 11:25:12 AM PDT by Jeff Chandler (Conservatism is the political disposition of grown-ups.)
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To: Gay State Conservative

That’s hilarious.


8 posted on 07/09/2014 11:28:23 AM PDT by Ancient Man
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To: SeekAndFind

I may be old fashioned but I’ll take ABBA over The Beatles, Queen, Rolling Stone, Lady Gaga, Pink, Beyonce, U2, ...


9 posted on 07/09/2014 11:28:51 AM PDT by InterceptPoint (Remember Mississippi)
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To: InterceptPoint

bump


10 posted on 07/09/2014 11:30:57 AM PDT by GeronL (Vote for Conservatives not for Republicans)
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To: SeekAndFind

They dressed funny but the women could sing beautifully.

Two of many crazy outfits:
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-IzNOPiBCntI/UNMbdE7KcSI/AAAAAAAAAC0/Pw2tKNVqh5Y/s1600/abba.jpg

https://static-secure.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2014/2/16/1392577451376/Abba-014.jpg


11 posted on 07/09/2014 11:32:45 AM PDT by minnesota_bound
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To: minnesota_bound

Crazy outfits?

Back in ‘78 or so, they seemed perfectly normal costume for a disco/pop group.

Maybe you just had to be there ...

And yeah ... I liked the music. Bright and cheerful, at a time when I needed bright and cheerful.


12 posted on 07/09/2014 11:36:56 AM PDT by NorthMountain
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To: minnesota_bound

It was the tax code. Regular shirts and pants would be taxed.


13 posted on 07/09/2014 11:39:33 AM PDT by Domangart (Tho I walk Through the valley of Wall Mart, I fear no man.)
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To: SeekAndFind

I’m doomed. She caught my eye at 1:10:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6OOrleE6wfc&feature=kp


14 posted on 07/09/2014 11:49:54 AM PDT by JohnnyP
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To: Domangart

Right, they found out they could write off “theatrical costumes” so that is all they wore on stage.


15 posted on 07/09/2014 11:51:49 AM PDT by Boogieman
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To: SeekAndFind

Let me guess. They got a better offer not to reunite.


16 posted on 07/09/2014 11:57:56 AM PDT by william clark (Ecclesiastes 10:2)
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To: SeekAndFind

110% tax rate?


17 posted on 07/09/2014 12:04:26 PM PDT by UnbelievingScumOnTheOtherSide (HELL, NO! BE UNGOVERNABLE! --- ISLAM DELENDA EST)
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To: william clark

Perhaps more like lingering hard feelings: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IcS4vBisJLo (Frida “nudges” Agnetha)

Towards the end, begin 2:40 for those that want the incident, and skip most of the song and on-screen comments


18 posted on 07/09/2014 12:12:52 PM PDT by Calvin Locke
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To: william clark

Maybe one of them is pulling a David Byrne?


19 posted on 07/09/2014 12:15:06 PM PDT by Calvin Locke
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To: DisorderOnBorder

They were also responsible for the beautiful music of the play “Chess.”


20 posted on 07/09/2014 12:22:35 PM PDT by miss marmelstein (Richard Lives Yet!)
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