A tribute band that has performed for three decades and acquired its own worldwide fame arrives in the North East next week.
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Bjorn Again will bring its Thank ABBA For The Music Tour to Wangaratta Performing Arts Centre on Saturday, March 23.
Founded by John Tyrrell and Rod Stephen in 1988, Bjorn Again takes pride in being openly endorsed by members of the 1970s pop quartet from Sweden.
ABBA's Benny Andersson indicated this when confirming the original members would never re-form.
"Fans had better make the most out of Bjorn Again because that’s the closest they are going to get to seeing ABBA," he said on London radio.
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From its first show in Melbourne on May 6, 1989, the tribute band has presented more than 7000 concerts in about 100 countries.
The venues have included the Sydney Opera House, Wembley Stadium and the Royal Albert Hall, with the group providing tour support to the Spice Girls, Shania Twain and Metallica.
Bjorn Again aims for musical excellence, authentic voices, costumes, energetic on-stage performances, and, of course, their Swenglish accents.
ABBA rose to fame in 1974 by winning the Eurovision Song Contest with Waterloo and went on to sell an estimated 375 million albums.
The name is an acronym of the first name initials of the four members, Agnetha Fältskog, Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus and Anni-Frid Lyngstad.
They were particularly popular in Australia, with Fernando spending about 16 weeks at number one in the charts in 1976.
Folklore says more Australians watched the ABBA TV special that year than the first moon landing in 1969.
Bjorn Again performs all the biggest ABBA hits including Waterloo, Fernando, SOS, Money Money Money, Does Your Mother Know, Take a Chance On Me and the popular Dancing Queen.
Their performances have included the world premiere of Australian film Muriel's Wedding at the Cannes Film Festival in 1994 and the wedding of actor Russell Crowe in 2003.
Appropriately, the tribute act sang at the opening of the ABBA Museum in Melbourne in 2010.
Ulvaeus told Tyrrell in person ABBA would not reunite, despite many offers.
"We will never appear on stage again," Ulvaeus said.
"There is simply no motivation to re-group.
"Money is not a factor and we would like people to remember us as we were - young, exuberant, full of energy and ambition."
The Lowdown
WHAT: Bjorn Again Thank ABBA For The Music Tour
WHEN: Wangaratta Performing Arts Centre, March 23, 8pm
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