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(AP) Bjorn Ulvaeus and Anni-Frid 'Frida' Synni Lyngstad, former members of the Swedish pop group ABBA, sit by their outfits from the 1974 winning Eurovision song contest performance of 'Waterloo' in Brighton, at the ABBA World exhibition in Earls Court London, Tuesday, Jan 26, 2010.
Whether or not you agree that ABBA is deserving of a place in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, it hardly matters to the 70's mega pop group. The band has its own museum to boast now called "ABBA WORLD".
ABBA will be inducted into the Rock Hall this coming March and the timing could not be more perfect for the group which has a Broadway musical "Mamma Mia" still touring, a recent re-issue of greatest hits catalogues and now its very own museum.
Billed as a "museum-cum-theme park", ABBA WORLD opened for business on Wednesday as a place for "total interaction" with the band. The exhibition tells the band's story in 25 rooms spread over 30,000 square feet. One of the interactive elements allows visitors to take quizzes, recreate the bands sound at a mixing or dance and sing alongside an animated ABBA via "holographic video" technology.
For now, the museum is making its home in London but its expected to be a travelling museum so you'd have to believe the Rock Hall in Cleveland, OH could be a destination sometime this year.
A Rock Hall representative emailed me yesterday to say that the Hall was in the process of gathering artifacts from all of the new inductees but could not confirm anything yet from ABBA.
On the downside for ABBA fans is the unlikelihood of a performance at the Rock Hall induction ceremony on March 15th. The fact that only two of the members showed up for the ABBA World ribbon cutting event on Tuesday is not a good sign. Nor is the fact that founding member Benny Andersson (producer, arranger, keyboards) has said in previous interviews that a performance is "99 percent unlikely".
Here is a fantastic preview piece on ABBA WORLD from CNN which was produced last Fall.
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