ABBA Named Swedish Knights for Their Contribution to World Culture
By royal designation, the Swedish supergroup ABBA has finally received recognition for their musical contribution to Sweden and international culture with a knighthood for their pop career that began at Eurovision.
Sweden has said thank you for the music to its most famous pop exporters: ABBA. The supergroup has been honored with one of the country’s most prestigious awards, the Order of the Vasa. This is the first time it has been awarded in almost half a century, in recognition of ABBA’s “very outstanding efforts in both Swedish and international musical life.” The group, made up of Agnetha Faltskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad, shot to international stardom by winning the Eurovision Song Contest in 1974 with their infectious love song “Waterloo.”
Cultural Commanders
The Eurovision victory turned ABBA into a pop phenomenon and undoubtedly the most successful group to win the pancontinental music competition. ABBA’s melodic disco pop has sold hundreds of millions of records worldwide. The musical ‘Mamma Mia!’, based on their songs, has celebrated 25 years and spawned two movies.
Although the Swedish band members have not performed together live in four decades, they released a comeback album, ‘Voyage,’ in 2021 and a year later the ‘ABBA-tars’ digital hall opened in London.
The royal recognition as a “Commander of the First Class” is one of several Swedish orders, including the Royal Order of the Seraphim granted to heads of state and foreign royalty, and the Royal Order of the Polar Star awarded to foreign citizens and stateless individuals. The Order of the Vasa, granted in recognition of personal efforts for Sweden or Swedish interests, as well as satisfactory performance of public duties and tasks, was inactive until late 2022 when it was reactivated after regulations reopened the Royal Orders to Swedish citizens.
Earlier this year, candidates were proposed by the public and the Swedish government, and King Carl XVI Gustaf approved the nominees which included the four members of ABBA.
This year’s Eurovision edition happened to be held in Sweden and was won by Swiss singer Nemo, with ‘The Code,’ an operatic pop-rap ode to the singer’s journey towards adopting a non-sexist identity.