The long-term initiative builds on work Abba Voyage has already delivered since opening in 2022, including career workshops, skills development programmes and supporting local employment.
Abba’s Frida: Benny was lucky to write for our great voices
Anni-Frid Lyngstad says the pop group’s trump card enabled the songwriter to craft difficult melodies
Published 04 June 2026 6:12pm BST
Anni-Frid Lyngstad, the Abba star, has claimed Benny Andersson, the songwriter and bandmate, was lucky that the group had “such good voices”.
Lyngstad, also known as Frida, said Andersson had an easier job writing songs for the group because of their “wide range”.
The Swedish pop group – primary co-writers Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, and singers Agnetha Fältskog and Lyngstad – are behind some of the biggest hits of the 20th century, including Dancing Queen, Waterloo and Mamma Mia.
Lyngstad, who was married to Andersson between 1978 and 1981, said: “You know what inspired me, and I think Benny was a very important thing here.
“I think he was lucky to write to such good voices, and Benny has also said it later on that when he didn’t write for Abba any longer, it was quite difficult, because Agnetha and my voice together – we had almost three octaves, so we had a very, wide range so then you can write the most difficult melodies. And we can sing it.”
Speaking alongside Lyngstad, Andersson compared writing a hit song to waiting “for a dragon to come out of the cave”, but insisted the band “worked every day”.
A poster advertising Abba Voyage in a tube station
Abba Voyage has generated more than £2bn in turnover since 2022 Credit: Universal Images Group/Getty Images
The 79-year-old said: “To write a bad song is easy, to write a good song, you need to sit down there for hours and days and weeks before something might pop up.
“We spent maybe 10 years together with Abba, and during those 10 years we recorded maybe nearly 100 songs, so that’s 10 songs per year, and we worked every day.
“That’s the reason we didn’t tour, because we knew we needed time to wait till the dragon came out of the cave.”
The pop star and songwriter said he still sat at the piano every day to try to write music, adding: “Sometimes things come out, the dragon comes out of the cave, but very rarely nowadays, but the inspiration comes when I hear myself playing something I’ve never heard before, and that I like, that gives inspiration, right?”
Asked whether the group were still friends, Lyngstad said: “We’re always friends, even if we live in different countries. They live in the same country in Sweden. I don’t any more.”
They were speaking as they launched the next phase of a music initiative with the group’s custom-built arena, Abba Voyage, in east London.
The arena is home to the group’s blockbuster digital avatar show, which has generated more than £2bn in turnover to the UK economy since its inception in 2022.
Recommended
Abba Voyage, review: A mind-blowing celebration of some of the greatest pop music ever made
Read more
The arena will also be part of a collaboration with the London Legacy Development Corporation for an expanded education programme that aims to support and create pathways into the creative industries for young people across east London.
The next phase will focus on creating deeper, longer-term opportunities for young people to access careers in music, live entertainment and the wider creative industries.
The long-term initiative builds on work Abba Voyage has delivered since opening in 2022, including career workshops, skills development programmes and supporting local employment.
Craig Hartenstine, the chief executive for Abba Voyage, said: “Since Abba Voyage opened in east London, we’ve been committed to creating meaningful opportunities for the communities around us.
“This programme is about much more than introducing young people to the creative industries. It’s about helping them build the skills and confidence that can lead to real opportunities in the future.
“We’re proud of what has already been achieved alongside our partners, and excited to deepen that impact through new mentoring, training and employment pathways in the years ahead.”
.jpg)
.jpg)
