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Abba Voyage: Band make first public appearance together in 14 years on red carpet of concert premiere

All four members of Abba made their first public appearance together in 14 years last night (26 May), as they arrived on the red carpet for the premiere of Abba Voyage in London.

Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid “Frida” Lyngstad reunited for the launch of the show, which was performed by avatars – or “Abba-tars” – of the musicians.

“I dreamed of this for years,” Lyngstad told the BBC on the red carpet. “We love our music, we love to sing.”

According to reports, Benny got to his feet and clapped along for their 1976 hit “Dancing Queen”.

The foursome all went up on stage at the show’s close and were met with thundering applause from the crowd, which included celebrities Kate Moss, Jarvis Cocker and Kylie Minogue.

The 196-show concert residency is taking place at the newly built Abba Arena in London’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.

The ‘Abba-tars’ (Credit: Johan Persson)
The ‘Abba-tars’ (Credit: Johan Persson)

Abba’s digital avatars embody the stars in their 1970s heyday, performing a 22-song set of their greatest hits, backed by a real-life human band, assembled by the Klaxons’ James Righton. Read more about how the animation works here.

The show follows the release of their album Voyage, which was released in November last year and was their first new material in four decades.

Read The Independent’s five-star review of the album here.