ABBA’s groundbreaking Voyage show has been hailed as a technological marvel, a surreal, euphoric reinvention of the concert experience where time is irrelevant, and the 1970s never ended. Since its launch in May 2022, the immersive spectacle has drawn over three million fans to London’s custom-built arena, where de-aged “ABBA-tars” perform alongside a full live band in what has become an eerily effective resurrection of the group’s imperial-era selves.
But now, a question has emerged that cuts through the sequins and spectacle: what happens when one of the real ABBA members dies?
Speaking to Times Radio, Björn Ulvaeus, the group's ever-measured spokesman and creative anchor, was asked this unexpectedly existential question. His answer? Refreshingly honest and completely unprepared.
“That’s a question I’ve never had before... I honestly don’t know, hadn’t thought about that. It’s good you raise that question — I’ll talk to the others about that as we need to decide beforehand between us if it’s OK for all four of us to go on after we’re gone.”
The implications are vast. If the Voyage project is built on the living approval and active involvement of all four members — Björn, Benny, Agnetha, and Frida — can it ethically or artistically continue without them?
The band’s legacy is already stacked. ABBA were Eurovision royalty in 1974 with Waterloo, global chart-dominators with hits like Dancing Queen and Super Trouper, and posthumous pop culture deities thanks to Mamma Mia! and its billion-dollar stage and film empire.
Their 2021 comeback album Voyage, their first in nearly 40 years, sparked the current live digital show, a blend of emotional nostalgia and digital sorcery that walks a fine line between homage and hologram.
But with death looming, as it does for us all, ABBA may soon be forced to confront whether the immortality offered by their “ABBA-tars” is truly theirs to control, or just another construct of an industry that moves on, no matter who is left behind.
