Pop Foto, February 1982: Why doesn't ABBA want to perform any longer?

This article was published in Dutch magazine Pop Foto, shortly after The Visitors was released.Being able to see ABBA perform live, that’s any ABBA fan’s biggest wish. Probably it will remain a wish from now on. Because ABBA definitely doesn’t have any plans in that direction.

It’s now in the shops for two months, the fantastic new ABBA-album ‘The Visitors’. Millions of copies have been sold already, like any other album by the Swedish foursome. Still, ‘The Visitors’ is clearly different from the other ABBA-albums. “We made our earlier albums for everyone, people from eight years old to eighty,” blonde Agnetha revealed recently in an interview with Polydor’s press-officer, ABBA’s Dutch record company. “That’s why we wanted to do something completely different this time. We recorded ‘The Visitors’ more for ourselves. And about ourselves. But that’s nothing new, because all our albums are autobiographical. Everything Björn and Benny write about, has happened for real. Otherwise, Frida and I would not be able to sing those songs. Now we’re totally behind the lyrics.”

“Of course things didn’t become more fun because of the divorces, but that’s not a reason for us to quit.” With this statement, Agnetha definitely dismissed all the rumours that ABBA wouldn’t last for much longer. “Creating music is and remains a hobby for all four of us, and so is ABBA. But not more than that either. We only see each other in the studio and every now and then when new pictures have to be taken. Because it sure isn’t easy to socialize with each other now. It’s not necessary either to see each other privately. Why should we? None of us have felt the need for that after the divorces. That’s also the reason why we won’t undertake any tours anymore, because then we would be in each other’s company constantly. But we will keep on recording music, approximately one album each year. Furthermore,” Agnetha concludes the conversation, “I’m much too busy raising my daughter Linda. She’s now twelve years old and I think she needs serious and good guidance at this age. And that would be impossible if I were busy making music all day. Although ABBA is my biggest hobby, my family still comes first.”