ABBA was a Swedish Pop act formed in Stockholm in 1972 which consisted of Anni-Frid Frida Lyngstad, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Agnetha Fältskog. They became one of the most commercially successful acts in the history of pop music, topping the charts worldwide from 1972 to 1982. Benny Andersson, born on 16 December 1946 in Stockholm, Sweden, at the age of eighteen became the member of a popular Swedish pop-rock group, The Hep Stars, that performed covers of international hits.  The Hep Stars were known as The Swedish Beatles. Björn Ulvaeus , born on 25 April 1945 in Gothenburg, Sweden) also began his musical career at the age of eighteen as a singer and guitarist, when he fronted The Hootenanny Singers, a popular Swedish folk-skiffle group. Ulvaeus started writing English-language songs for his group, and even had a brief solo career alongside. Agnetha Fältskog (born 5 April 1950 in Jönköping, Sweden) had a #1 record in Sweden when she was 17, and was soon noted by the critics and songwriters as a talented singer/songwriter of schlager style songs. Fältskog's main inspiration in her early years were singers like Connie Francis. Along with her own compositions, she recorded covers of foreign hits and performed them on tours in Swedish folkparks. Anni-Frid Frida Lyngstad , born on 15 November 1945 in Bjørkåsen in Ballangen, Norway sang from the age of thirteen with various dance bands, and worked mainly in a jazz-oriented cabaret style. She also formed her own band, the Anni-Frid Four. In the summer of 1967, she won a national talent competition with the song En ledig dag (A Day Off), included in the EMI compilation Frida 1967-1972.

An attempt at combining their talents occurred in April 1970 when the two couples Fältskog and Ulvaeus, Lyngstad and Andersson went on holiday together to the island of Cyprus. What started as singing for fun on the beach ended up as an improvised live performance in front of the United Nations soldiers stationed on the island. Andersson and Ulvaeus were at this time recording their first album together, Lycka, which was to be released in September 1970. together on a regular basis at the Swedish folkparks during the summer of 1971. Fältskog released her fourth album in 1971 and married Ulvaeus on 6 July 1971. Andersson, Ulvaeus, and Fältskog started performing together on a regular basis at the Swedish folkparks during the summer of 1971. The first signs of foreign success came as a surprise, as the Andersson and Ulvaeus single She's My Kind of Girl was released by Epic in Japan in March 1972, giving the duo a Top 10 hit. The foursome decided to record their first album together in the autumn of 1972, and sessions began on 26 September 1972.  For 1973, the band and their manager Stig decided to have another try at Melodifestivalen, this time with the song Ring Ring.

In early 1973, Stig Anderson, tired of unwieldy names, started to refer to the group privately and publicly as ABBA. . ABBA is an acronym formed from the first letters of each group member's first name: Agnetha, Björn, Benny and Anni-Frid.The first 'B' in the logo version of the name was mirror-image reversed on the band's promotional material from 1976 onwards and became the group's registered trademark.

In November 1974, ABBA embarked on their first European tour, playing dates in Denmark, West Germany, and Austria. It was not as successful as the band had hoped, since most of the venues did not sell out. Due to a lack of demand, they were even forced to cancel a few shows, including a sole concert scheduled in Switzerland.  January 1975, was different. They played to full houses everywhere and finally got the reception they had aimed for. Live performances continued during the summer of 1975. The group's next album, Arrival, a #1 bestseller all over Europe and Australia, represented a new level of accomplishment in both songwriting and studio work. In January 1977, ABBA hit the road. The group's status had changed dramatically and they were clearly regarded as superstars. In December 1977, ABBA followed up Arrival with the more ambitious fifth album The Album, The group's sixth album, Voulez-Vous, was released in April 1979, the title track of which was recorded at the famous Criteria Studios in Miami, U.S. with the assistance, among others, of recording engineer Tom Dowd.
At the height of their popularity, both relationships were suffering strain which led ultimately to the collapse of the Ulvaeus-Fältskog marriage (in 1979) and the Andersson-Lyngstad marriage (in 1981). All four members made their last public appearance, as four friends more than as ABBA, in January 1986, when they recorded a video of themselves performing an acoustic version of Tivedshambo, which was the first song written by their manager, Stig Anderson. After ABBA broke up early 1983, Andersson and Ulvaeus achieved success writing music for the stage while Lyngstad and Fältskog pursued individual solo careers with varying success.