The four members of ABBA reunited nearly three years after working on their latest album.
In 2021, Benny Andersson, Agnetha Fältskog, Anni-Frid Lyngstad and Björn Ulvaeus worked together on their album Voyage before launching their virtual concert series in 2022.
On Friday, May 31, all members of ABBA appeared in one frame to receive a Swedish knighthood from King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia in Stockholm. According to the Associated Press, the four members are now Commanders of First Class for "very outstanding efforts in Swedish and international music life" after receiving the Royal Order of Vasa.
Per Variety, the knighthood award was revived in 2022 after being discontinued in 1975. This led ABBA members to become the first ones to receive the order in nearly five decades.
Aside from ABBA, 13 other people were also honored with the recognition.
The band's appearance came after the "Dancing Queen" hitmakers teased they could appear at Glastonbury.
On May 27, Ulvaeus and Andersson participated in the special Q&A with Peter Paphides during which the latter shared a story he heard from Glastonbury organizer Emily Eavis.
"[She] told me that in the lead-up to last year's festival, when things were going wrong and she wasn't sure if it was going to be OK, she would play, [2021 single] 'I Still Have Faith In You', and it made it feel like it might just turn out OK," said Paphides.
Ulvaeus approved the idea of the Voyage live band performing at the event.
It resonated with what he told NME in 2023, sharing, "I don't think that's possible, yet. It might be in the future. As it is, it's too complicated because the lighting, the sound, the visuals, everything is integrated and it's so complicated."
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ABBA first reunited in 2016, announcing their performances as virtual avatars.
"The decision to go ahead with the exciting ABBA avatar tour project had an unexpected consequence. We all four felt that, after some 35 years, it could be fun to join forces again and go into the recording studio. So we did. And it was like time had stood still and that we only had been away on a short holiday," ABBA members said in a joint statement.
They all attended the premiere of the virtual concert series in London in May 2022.
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