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ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates -- Perhaps it is rare to think of Tiger Woods mingling among a crowd of people wealthier than him, but there he was Sunday afternoon on the 18th green at Abu Dhabi Golf Club, as U.A.E. sheikhs worth billions tried to administer a trophy presentation.

Abba has announced plans to release a deluxe edition of its last studio album which will include the first time since 1994 that the Swedish pop music supergroup has released material previously unavailable to the public. Despite turning down numerous lucrative offers to reunite for a reunion tour, Abba has nevertheless decided to re-release an updated version of The Visitors, the group's final studio album originally released in 1981. According to Abba's official website, The Visitors Deluxe Edition will include a DVD of archive material as well as bonus tracks, including the previously unreleased demo medley ‘From A Twinkling Star...

Bookmaker posts odds of 66-1 for a royal wedding performance after Agnetha Fältskog says Abba 'could consider' re-forming for a one-off concert in 2011

Overtures of My love are coming your way , This day I have set it before you and in my will you obey , So prepare for your blessings are about to shower down , Much more in obedience shall be required of you but now you wear my crown , For my fullness you now walk in and I AM completed in you , My desires now are yours for you have broken through , So watch as I complete all your dreams and requests , For just as Joshua I have dressed you in my very best ,...

Swedish supergroup Abba may perform again nearly 30 years after they split, the former male members of the band hinted on Friday. The group, one of the most successful in history, has enjoyed continued fame since breaking up in 1982, thanks to tribute bands mimicking their satin outfits and easy-listening music and lyrics. They attracted new fans recently with the musical "Mamma Mia!" which was turned into a film. But they have persistently shunned the chance to regroup, turning down as much as 1 billion dollars to tour again in 2000. However Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus told The Times...

Ever since I saw 2008’s Mamma Mia! — an all-time great music movie, and I don’t care who disagrees — I’ve been wishing ABBA would reunite already and write some new tunes that were half as much fun as their old ones from the ’70s. Well, I might be waiting for a while on that one. But! At least I can look forward to the Benny Andersson Band’s Story of a Heart, due March 2.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame gave a big "Thank You For The Music" to ABBA on Tuesday, announcing that the Swedish pop group would be among its 2010 inductees. British rock band Genesis, reggae superstar Jimmy Cliff, rockers The Stooges, and The Hollies are also among the legends who will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at a ceremony on March 15 in New York. The new members "represent a great cross-section of artists that define the broad spectrum and history of rock and roll," Rock and Roll Hall of...

""Freedom from indoctrination ought to be a basic human right for all children," argues ABBA star Björn Ulvaeus in a passionate plea for Sweden to rethink its policy on faith-based schools."

"Freedom from indoctrination ought to be a basic human right for all children," argues ABBA star Björn Ulvaeus in a passionate plea for Sweden to rethink its policy on faith-based schools. Without thinking too much about it at the time, when I wrote the lyrics for ABBA's songs the message I wished to convey tallies well with campaigns launched recently by humanist organisations in the UK, US and Australia: "There's probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life." Earlier this month the Swedish Humanist Association (Humanisterna) launched a similar campaign. And in light of the growing influence of...

Abba duo Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus have unveiled their first new pop songs for more than 15 years. One track, Second Best To None, has been recorded by employees at the hotel Andersson owns in Stockholm. It was written for the staff as a treat and has been released as a single in Sweden. "We all had some fun doing this. They can sing," Andersson said. A second track, Story of A Heart, will appear on the first English-language album from Andersson's current band. Andersson and Ulvaeus enjoyed huge global success as the songwriters in Abba in the 1970s...

“MACHO” Vladimir Putin has come out — as a huge fan of Abba.The hard-as-nails Russian PM paid £20,000 to fly camp Abba tribute act Bjorn Again from London to Russia for a private gig this week. Here we reveal a secret dossier on him that shows this is the latest in a long line of displays that have had gaydars twitching from Beslan to Brighton. The ex-KGB man is obsessed with judo and enjoys nothing more than spending the weekend grabbing blokes around the dojo. And he is always first into a clinch with dignitaries. Notably when he rubbed noses...

Former Russian president and apparent avid Abba-fan Vladimir Putin paid £20,000 ($29,000) to fly an Abba cover band from the UK to Russia to perform a private concert for him at a remote resort. "It was the most bizarre gig I have ever done," said Jennifer Robb of the Björn Again Abba-cover band to the Daily Telegraph newspaper. Plans for the concert, which took place on January 22nd at Lake Valdai resort, nine hours outside Moscow began taking shape sometime before Christmas when Björn Again founder Rod Stephens received a mysterious phone call. "The voice on the end of the...

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has been unmasked as a secret Abba fan - so much so that he summoned the tribute band Bjorn Again to his homeland for a private concert. Only nine people were at the gig, an operation so cloak and dagger that net curtains were erected between the stage and the seating to protect the privacy of Mr Putin and a female companion. In what could deal a fatal blow to his hardman image, the politician belted out the lyrics to Honey Honey and danced with Kremlin officials to Super Trouper, as Kalashnikov-wielding guards patrolled the...

The two women members of 1970s hit group ABBA have rejected long-standing rumors that they are bitter enemies. In a rare joint interview published Friday, Agnetha Faltskog, 58, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad, 63, took a chance to set the record straight. "A lot has been written about how Agnetha and I fought and quarreled with each other. There is absolutely no truth in that," Lyngstad was quoted as saying by tabloid Aftonbladet. "Of course we competed, but to good effect." Lyngstad and Faltskog formed ABBA together with male members Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus. The band has sold more than 370...

Many of us Europeans wish to see McCain as the next president of the United States of America, even though we who do may not constitute a majority. While electing the next president itself, naturally, is a solely American business, I think it's worth pointing out that many aware and well educated Europeans DO NOT support Obama even though he, undeniably, is the the favourite candidate of most PC European politicians and journalists - and most of our politicians and journalists are appallingly PC. The article by Swedish politician Mathias Sundin: "As Americans everywhere prepare to go to the polls,...

LONDON (Hollywood Reporter) - No matter how many blockbusters there are, Universal's screen version of the global hit stage musical "Mamma Mia!" is the most fun to be had at the movies this or any other recent summer. Teenage boys may be glued to the latest action adventure, but the rest of the family will have a rollicking good time dancing in the aisles to Swedish pop group ABBA's irresistible songs. It's a delightful piece of filmmaking with a marvelous cast topped by Meryl Streep in one of her smartest and most entertaining performances. After its world premiere in London...

MADRID (Reuters) - A former drummer for 1970s Swedish pop group ABBA, Ola Brunkert, has been found dead after an apparent accident in his house in Mallorca, Spanish police said on Monday. Brunkert bled to death from a throat wound which police suspect was caused after he accidentally smashed a pane of glass, a spokeswoman for the Civil Guard police said, adding that authorities were awaiting the result of an autopsy.

APPLETON, Wisconsin (Reuters) - Would Abba take a chance on him? Republican presidential front-runner John McCain is not so sure and said he opted against playing the 1977 hit "Take a Chance on Me" by the Swedish group at his campaign rallies because of licensing and other concerns. "It's more difficult to play 'let's take a chance on me' than I thought," the four-term Arizona senator told reporters aboard his campaign plane. "It gets expensive in a big hurry and if you're not careful you can alienate some Swedes," he joked. "If word gets out to Stockholm that we're using...

STOCKHOLM (AFP) - The world's first museum dedicated to the legendary Swedish disco group ABBA will open its doors in Stockholm in June 2009, the initiators of the project said on Wednesday We're going to open the ABBA museum from June 3 to 7, it will be an inaugural week," Ulf Westman, the mastermind behind the plan with his wife Ewa Wigenheim-Westman, told reporters. "It will be an international museum with a lot of technological and multimedia aspects," he said, explaining that visitors would be invited to take part in various forms of activities related to the group's heyday in...

Sweden's first museum dedicated to Abba has come a step closer to realization, after the group behind the plan found a location on the quayside in the heart of Stockholm. The new museum, due to open to visitors in spring 2009, will be housed in a former customs office, after a deal was reached with Stockholm City Council, which owns the building. The story of the Swedish band - the third most successfull musical act of all time, after the Beatles and Elvis - will be told through exhibitions on three floors. The museum promises to go easy on dusty...