Abba’s Anni-Frid Lyngstad struggles to grasp it isn’t really her singing as an avatar.
The 77-year-old singer was part of the group’s Abba Voyage shows at a purpose-built arena in Stratford, east London, which have will celebrate its first anniversary with a special performance on Friday (26.05.23) after being seen by more than a million fans.
She told The Sun’s Bizarre column: “It’s hard to fully grasp that it isn’t me and yet it is me.
“I can certainly see myself in the digital figure, the gestures, the facial expressions, the eyes that express all sorts of feelings. It’s absurd but it’s real.”
Frida’s bandmate Benny Andersson, 78, added about the shows: “Did we expect the response to be so intense? No. We didn’t know at all.
“And do you know what? It’s always been that way, from day one.
“You start with a song and beyond that you have no control. Will people like it as much as we do? Will people ignore it?
“People will tell you that they know – people in the business. But no one ever knows. And it was the same with this.”
Abba said after the show launched they were planning to use their concert holograms for “exciting new things” in future.
The group – which also features Agnetha Fältskog, 73, and 78-year-old Björn Ulvaeus – were quoted in the Daily Star newspaper as saying: “If you are an Abba fan, who loyally has stuck with us for many years, our hope is that you will see the Abba-tars as agents in the new story, which may lead to exciting new things in the future.”
The comment prompted speculation the holograms could appear in everything from pop-up musical projections to advertisements.
Even though the upcoming holographic show is “performed” by their avatars on stage, all four members of Abba are expected to attend the premiere.
Abba, who reunited in 2016, originally consisted of couples Agnetha and Björn, and Benny and Anni-Frid.
But the band went their separate ways in 1982, just years after both duos separated.
Agnetha and Björn split officially in 1980, while Benny and Anni-Frid announced their divorce in 1981.
After a week of their divorce, Björn had a new partner and Agnetha was in counselling.
In 2013, she opened up about her emotions singing in Abba’s ‘The Winner Takes it All’, which was written during her and Björn’s split.
She said: “Björn wrote it about us after the breakdown of our marriage.
“The fact he wrote it exactly when we divorced is touching really.
“I didn’t mind. It was fantastic to do that song because I could put in such feeling.
“I didn’t mind sharing it with the public. It didn’t feel wrong. There is so much in that song.
“It was a mixture of what I felt and what Björn felt but also what Benny and Frida went through.”