ABBA Credits the Gays for Their Return to Music

ABBA is just here to make music for the gays.

The band which consists of Agnetha Faltskog, Bjorn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad are collectively gay icons and they know it.

In an interview with Gay Times, Ulvaeus spoke about the groups return to music, noting that they were "very proud" of the outpouring of love to ABBA from LGBTQ+ fans, "We found out quite early that Dancing Queen had become an anthem and we were very proud that we've been chosen by the community," he told the outlet.

"As a Swede, long before most others, we had a much more open society and open attitudes. This is, in a way, a liberating anthem and it makes me proud. It's a wonderful thing, it really is," Ulvaeus continued.

ABBA'S "Dancing Queen" has long topped the gay anthem charts, and remains one of the most ubiquitous gay anthems of our time.

The Swedish group disbanded in 1982, and made a comeback last year in which they recorded two new songs titled "I Still Have Faith in You" and "Don't Shut Me Down." Later that year Andersson announced ABBA was still working on the songs and possibly writing a third one, in addition to a TV special called ABBA: Thank You for the Music, An All-Star Tribute.

Ulvaeus noted in the interview that the gay community had a large part in the group's return after nearly 40 years.

"It was the gay community who underpinned the comeback," he said. "People started recording, and one of the first bands that did it and was very important for us was Erasure. They did 'Take A Chance On Me.'"

Ulvaeus continues: "Then we felt that we had the full support, and it made a lot of difference."

But the love goes both ways. The composer cited queer icons George Michael and Freddy Mercury as his inspirations. "There's nobody who sings with more light touch and kind of bounces on the rhythms in that way," he said of Michael. "It's so easy for him... it's nothing! I like that kind of deceptive way. Of course, it's not easy and only he could do it."

ABBA's first two songs from their comeback, "I Still Have Faith in You" and "Don't Shut Me Down," are set to release this November.

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