The four members of Swedish pop group ABBA, who triumphed at the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest with the peppy love song ‘Waterloo,’ have received one of the most prestigious knighthoods in Sweden at a ceremony on Friday.
Agnetha Faltskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Anni-Frid Lyngstad were awarded the royal Order of Vasa as ‘Commander of the First Class’ for ‘very outstanding efforts in Swedish and international music life.’
This was the first time in 50 years that the first Order of the Vasa was handed out.
The order, which is given in recognition of personal efforts for Sweden, as well as the successful performance of public duties, had been dormant until late 2022, when it was reactivated after regulations opened the Royal Orders to Swedish citizens again.
Earlier this year, candidates were nominated by the public and the Swedish government, with King Carl XVI Gustaf approving the nominees that included the ABBA quartet.
The monarch handed out orders to ’13 exceptional Swedes,’ including two 2023 Nobel Prize winners: French-Swedish physicist Anne L’Huillier, and Svante Pääbo, who won the coveted award in physics and medicine.
The ceremony took place at the Royal Palace in Stockholm.
The Eurovision victory in 1974 turned ABBA into a pop juggernaut. This year, the band is celebrating 50 years since their Eurovision win, which set their successful music career in motion.
ABBA’s melodic disco pop has sold hundreds of millions of records worldwide. The stage musical ‘Mamma Mia!’ based on its songs is 25 years old and spawned two movies.
The Swedish band members have not performed together live for four decades, but released a comeback album, ‘Voyage,’ in 2021.
Meanwhile, the Abba Voyage concert opened in London in 2022, an immersive experience with ‘Abbatars’, or augmented reality versions of the band, performing their greatest hits on stage.