Editing ABBA (section)

==== Break and reunion ====
ABBA never officially announced the end of the group or an indefinite break, but it was long considered dissolved after their final public performance together in 1982. Their final public performance together as ABBA before their 2016 reunion was on the British TV programme ''[[The Late, Late Breakfast Show]]'' (live from Stockholm) on 11 December 1982. While reminiscing on "[[The Day Before You Came]]", Ulvaeus said: "we might have continued for a while longer if that had been a number one".<ref>{{cite news| via=YouTube| url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBG4H6M8alw| title=ABBA The History 1999 Documentary| date=22 August 2008 | access-date=9 April 2015| archive-date=3 January 2016| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160103201211/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBG4H6M8alw| url-status=live}}</ref>

In January 1983, Fältskog started recording sessions for a solo album, as Lyngstad had successfully released her album ''[[Something's Going On]]'' some months earlier. Ulvaeus and Andersson, meanwhile, started songwriting sessions for the musical ''Chess''. In interviews at the time, Björn and Benny denied the split of ABBA ("Who are we without our ladies? Initials of [[Brigitte Bardot]]?"), and Lyngstad and Fältskog kept claiming in interviews that ABBA would come together for a new album repeatedly during 1983 and 1984.{{citation needed|date=July 2023}} Internal strife between the group and their manager escalated and the band members sold their shares in [[Polar Music]] during 1983. Except for a TV appearance in 1986, the foursome did not come together publicly again until they were reunited at the Swedish premiere of the ''[[Mamma Mia! (musical)|Mamma Mia!]]'' musical on 14 February 2005. The individual members' endeavours shortly before and after their final public performance coupled with the collapse of both marriages and the lack of significant activity in the following few years after that widely suggested that the group had broken up.

In an interview with the ''[[Sunday Telegraph]]'' following the premiere, Ulvaeus and Andersson said that there was nothing that could entice them back on stage again. Ulvaeus said: "We will never appear on stage again. [...] There is simply no motivation to re-group. Money is not a factor and we would like people to remember us as we were. Young, exuberant, full of energy and ambition. I remember [[Robert Plant]] saying [[Led Zeppelin]] were a [[cover band]] now because they cover all their own stuff. I think that hit the nail on the head."<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2008/07/05/bmabba105.xml | location=London | newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph]] | title=ABBA's Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson: We Will Never Reform | first=Chris | last=Hastings | date=5 July 2008 | access-date=9 July 2021 | archive-date=5 December 2008 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081205111139/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=%2Farts%2F2008%2F07%2F05%2Fbmabba105.xml | url-status=dead }}</ref>
However, on 3 January 2011, Fältskog, long considered to be the most reclusive member of the group and a major obstacle to any reunion, raised the possibility of reuniting for a one-off engagement. She admitted that she has not yet brought the idea up to the other three members. In April 2013, she reiterated her hopes for reunion during an interview with ''[[Die Zeit]]'', stating: "If they ask me, I'll say yes."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.vg.no/musikk/artikkel.php?artid=10102871 |title=Agnetha åpner for ABBA-gjenforening – VG Nett |website=Vg.no |date=26 April 2013 |access-date=18 September 2013 |archive-date=29 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029202459/http://www.vg.no/musikk/artikkel.php?artid=10102871 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In a May 2013 interview, Fältskog, aged 63 at the time, stated that an ABBA reunion would never occur: "I think we have to accept that it will not happen, because we are too old and each one of us has their own life. Too many years have gone by since we stopped, and there's really no meaning in putting us together again". Fältskog further explained that the band members remained on amicable terms: "It's always nice to see each other now and then and to talk a little and to be a little nostalgic."<ref name="Dave">{{cite news|author=Itzkoff, Dave|date=5 May 2013|title=A Dancing Queen Extends Her Reign|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/06/arts/music/agnetha-faltskog-of-abba-back-with-a-new-album.html|url-status=live|access-date=17 February 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140828191655/http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/06/arts/music/agnetha-faltskog-of-abba-back-with-a-new-album.html|archive-date=28 August 2014}}</ref> In an April 2014 interview, Fältskog, when asked about whether the band might reunite for a new recording said: "It's difficult to talk about this because then all the news stories will be: 'ABBA is going to record another song!' But as long as we can sing and play, then why not? I would love to, but it's up to Björn and Benny."<ref name=Guardian2014 />