ABBA will never perform live "again", according to their business partner.
Gorel Hanser says the Swedish superstars – Agnetha Faltskog, Bjorn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Frida Lyngstad – who recently confirmed they are set to release their first new music in 35 years later this year, have only produced more material for their forthcoming "avatar tour".
Gorel told the Daily Star newspaper: "They will not be performing as a group again.
"Bjorn and Benny talked about maybe it would be good to have a couple of new songs included in this show … and then they wrote some new songs for this show."
As well as the song ‘I Still Have Faith in You’ – which is set to debut on a BBC documentary special in December – the ‘Dancing Queen’ hitmakers have also recorded a track called ‘Don’t Shut Me Down’, which is reportedly set to be premiered on their hologram tour.
She added: "They have always done it their own way. They did it today the way they always did. The way Benny writes music."
The ‘Waterloo’ stars – who have been the subject of reunion rumours since they split up in 1982, following 10 years together – revealed last week they’d worked together on the new tracks.
In a statement on their Facebook page, they announced: "It was like time had stood still and that we have only been away on a short holiday. An extremely joyful experience.
"It resulted in two new songs, and one of them ‘I Still Have Faith In You’ will be performed in a TV special produced by NBC and the BBC aimed for broadcasting in December. We have may come of age, but the song is new, and it feels good. Agnetha, Benny, Bjorn, Anni-Frid – Stockholm, Sweden, 27 April 2018. (sic)"
The group – who shot to fame after winning ‘The Eurovision Song Contest’ in 1974 – will be giving fans the chance to see their biggest hits and new songs performed on their digital tour by computer-generated ‘Abbatars’.
The run of dates are being lined up for 2019 or the year after.
Talking about the process of making the computer-generated holograms, songwriter Bjorn said previously: "They photographed us from all possible angles, they made us grimace in front of cameras, they painted dots on our faces, they measured our heads. Apparently a cranium doesn’t change with age the way the rest of your body falls apart."
ABBA won’t perform live again
