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Bjorn Ulvaeus: Life after ABBA
Courtesy of CNNJust one four-letter word will remind us of Bjorn Ulvaeus, and that word is ABBA
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Courtesy of CNN
Just one four-letter word will remind us of Bjorn Ulvaeus, and that word is ABBA.
After hanging up his stage suits more than two decades ago, the genius behind ABBA's timeless hits has kept out of the limelight, staying busy backstage of several musicals and becoming an activist for a Swedish organization. Which all shows that life is not only about money, money, money for Bjorn.
Turning down a billion-dollar offer in 2000 to re-form, Bjorn and his best friend Benny Andersson - the other "B" in ABBA - insist the group will never get back together again, not even for one last tour.
"Definitely not," Bjorn says of that possibility. He pauses and adds, "I think we have no musical motivation anymore. Money is not the factor."
And for Bjorn, it would be funny for people to see two old men and two old women singing and dancing on stage.
"I simply want people to remember us as who we were - young, ambitious and energetic," the 64-year-old says.
Young and energetic would be what people remember most of the Swedish fabulous four, who shot to international stardom after winning the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest. The four - Bjorn and ex-wife Agnetha Faltskog, and Benny and ex-wife Anny-Frid Lyngstad - topped the charts worldwide from the mid-1970s to the early 1980s.
Before forming ABBA, Bjorn was a member of the popular folk band The Hootenanny Singers. While touring with the band in the 1960s, he met and became friends with Benny, who was then a member of The Hep Stars. The duo began writing and performing with Anni-Frid and Agnetha in the early 1970s and shortened their names to their first initials - ABBA.
Bjorn married Agnetha in 1971; they divorced nine years later after having two children, Peter and Linda, the only of Bjorn's children to following his musical calling. In 1981, Bjorn remarried, to music journalist Lenna Kallersjo, with whom he has two daughters Emma and Anna. Benny and Anni-Frid married in 1978, only to split up in 1981.
It's more than 25 years now since the group broke up in 1982, but their catchy and simple songs such as "Mamma Mia!", "Dancing Queen", "I Have A Dream" and "Money Money Money" remain part of pop culture, with even teens humming their tunes.
"We're all still best friends now," he says of his relationship with the rest of group's members. "Well, we don't get together much, but we still visit each other like during our grandchildren's birthdays and Christmas."
Benny remains Bjorn's closest friend, with the two working on several musicals such as Kristina fran Duvemala and Mamma Mia!, which made billions of dollars across the world.
"We're currently working to revive Chess," says Bjorn of his 1986 musical. "*For that musical* I composed the song *One Night in Bangkok' - that's in Bangkok, not Jakarta, OK?" he jokes.
Bjorn finds being involved in musicals very rewarding.
"Every time I sit in the audience and watch a show that I have been involved with, it is such an amazing feeling to see all those people around me, knowing they are actually watching and enjoying something I have written," says the Gothenburg-born musician.
"That is such a feeling of pure joy that never goes away and that's why I guess I'm so attracted to work in the theater."
Given the success of his musicals, it's hard to believe that Bjorn once turned down the offer of reworking their songs for Mamma Mia! But, he says, at the time, they didn't see how their songs would make a good musical. But when writer Catherine Johnson came up with a brilliant story - and script - Bjorn and Benny couldn't refuse.
With Bjorn and Benny as composers, Mamma Mia! opened in London's West End in 1999, going on to enjoy international success. In 2008, a movie with the same title was released, starring Meryl Streep, Colin Firth and Pierce Brosnan.
One thing Bjorn says he never expected are the tributes from other musicians and people generally, saying he is flattered by groups such as Bjorn Again and A*Teens that have revived ABBA's music and spirit. Not to mention that stars such as Madonna and The Fugees also sampled their songs.
"I have no idea how and why that happened," Bjorn humbly says.
To his greater surprise, a museum in Stockholm dedicated to ABBA will open soon. Until then, fans all over the world can satisfy their longing for their idol by watching Bjorn on CNN International's My City, My Life, which can be viewed at www.cnn.com/mycitymylife.
In My City, My Life, Bjorn takes viewers on a journey around Stockholm - the city he knows best - and shares his deepest feelings about it.
"Stockholm is unique in the world that it's built on, I think, 14 islands," Bjorn says. "There's no other city like that."
As someone who grew up in a small town like Gothenburg, Bjorn felt nothing but amazement when he first set foot in the Swedish capital.
"There are days when I walk through the center of Stockholm when I get this sudden feeling of happiness - a sense of belonging and at the same time gratitude that I'm so privileged that I can live my life in my city."
Also in Stockholm, Bjorn has had the chance to develop his interest in politics. An active member of the Swedish Humanist Association, he speaks out against the danger of religion reentering European politics.
"My concern is to keep religion and the state separated. I don't think that religion and politics go together," Bjorn says. "When you see political decisions colored by religion, decisions that affect us all ... I thought: *I do not want to go back to medieval times'."
As he speaks in detail about his campaign to separate politics and religion in Sweden, it's hard to believe that British newspaper The Daily Mail reported last year that Bjorn was suffering from memory loss and couldn't remember most of the important events in his life.
The news had fans praying for his recovery. But Bjorn answers The Jakarta Post's question during the phone interview about that with a laugh.
"No, that was totally not true!" he chuckles. "That was a matter of misunderstanding *my interview excerpts*. There was no memory loss. Please tell this to all my fans. I'm all right."
Well, that's one piece of good news. Because if he's all right, we might get another masterpiece.
