ABBA members reunite to receive top Swedish honour

The four members of iconic Swedish pop group ABBA reunited on Friday to receive one of the country’s top honours, “the Royal Vasa Order”, during a ceremony in the royal palace in Stockholm.
Agnetha Faltskog, Bjorn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Anni-Frid Lyngstad, who rarely make public appearances together and are now in their 70s, were handed their orders from King Carl XVI Gustaf “for very distinguished contributions within Swedish and international music life”, according to the Royal Court.
The hugely popular group, which formed in 1972 and split in the early 1980s, has sold an estimated 385mn records and still has legions of fans around the world with enduring hits such as Dancing Queen, Thank You For The Music and Fernando.
Sweden stopped awarding royal orders to its own citizens in 1975, as the practice was deemed anachronistic. The country continued to award royal orders to foreign citizens.
However, the country’s parliament reinstated the practice in 2022 and Friday’s ceremony marked the first time the orders were awarded to Swedes in half a century.
2024 also marks 50 years since ABBA won the Eurovision Song Contest final in Britain in 1974 with the song Waterloo, bringing them to global attention.
The musical Mamma Mia!, composed by Ulvaeus and Andersson and based on their songs, has since its first opening in 1999 been seen by more than 70mn people around the world, according to its creators. It has also led to two blockbuster movies.
Ulvaeus told Swedish TV4 after the ceremony he felt “very emotional” receiving the order especially since it originated from the Swedish public.
In total, 13 Swedes were honoured for their achievements at the ceremony, including two Nobel Prize winners: geneticist Svante Paabo and French-Swedish physicist Anne L’Huillier.