Former Abba singer Agnetha stages comeback
AFP
STOCKHOLM- Agnetha Faeltskog, former singer of legendary Swedish pop group Abba, will release her first album in nine years in May, her record company said Monday.
"I never thought I would sing again, but when I heard the first three songs I couldn't say no," said the Swedish songstress, sometimes described in the media as being a recluse.
![Former Abba singer Agnetha stages comeback Former Abba singer Agnetha stages comeback](https://en.hdhod.com/photo/art/default/5309009-7922802.jpg?v=1363070319)
"A" will be released on May 13 and includes the first track co-written by the star in decades, as well as a duet with British singer Gary Barlow of Take That.
"I hadn't written music in a very long time but when I sat down at the piano it came to me very naturally," the 62-year-old singer said in a statement.
On all the new tracks, Faeltskog collaborated with Swedish songwriter and producer Joergen Elofsson, who has penned hits for artists including Britney Spears, Kelly Clarkson and Celine Dion.
"She's a musician, a songwriter and singer who hasn't done that for a while. We saw her open up, become much happier, with music again in her life," he said.
Abba, one of the most popular and enduring bands of all time, formed in 1970 and shot to fame after winning the Eurovision contest in 1974.
The band, which has sold more than 378 million records to date, split up in 1982 and has never reunited.
A museum dedicated to the group will open in Stockholm this spring.
"This is a Cinderella story worth telling," former member Bjoern Ulvaeus told reporters last year.
Since the group disbanded more than 30 years ago, fans have never ceased speculating over an Abba reunion. But in the wake of the success of "Mamma Mia!" -- the musical and film based on their hits -- Ulvaeus vowed the group would never perform together again.
"We will never appear on stage again," he told Britain's Daily Telegraph in 2009, adding that he wanted fans to remember the band as "young, exuberant, full of energy and ambition".
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