ABBA Reunites for Knighthood

Sweden reassembles hitmaking quartet for honor
By Bob Cronin,  Newser Staff
Posted May 31, 2024 4:20 PM CDT
ABBA Reunites for Knighthood
The members of ABBA pose Friday at Stockholm Royal Palace.   (Henrik Montgomery/TT News Agency via AP)

Sweden honored one of its greatest cultural exports on Friday, conferring the Royal Order of Vasa on ABBA. King Carl XVI Gustaf presented the knighthood at the Royal Palace in Stockholm for "outstanding efforts in Swedish and international music," the Guardian reports. The quartet has sold more than 400 million albums and singles and remains a force, with the show "Abba Voyage" drawing crowds in London and the musical Mamma Mia! still going strong. "The order you get today is Sweden's thanks for your exceptional efforts," the king said, per the AP, before honoring "13 exceptional Swedes."

Others honored included geneticist Svante Pääbo and French-Swedish physicist Anne L'Huillier, both of whom have won Nobel Prizes, for their research. Sweden has several orders for various types of recipients; ABBA's honor had not been conferred in nearly 50 years, after the program was stopped and then restarted by Parliament. The king handed recipients the order in a red box, and Queen Silvia presented a diploma to Benny Andersson, Agnetha Faltskog, Anni-Frid Lyngstad, and Björn Ulvaeus. The honorees were nominated by the public and the government and approved by Carl Gustaf. This year is the 50th anniversary of ABBA's breakthrough when the group won Eurovision with "Waterloo." (More ABBA stories.)

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