The legendary pop group ABBA is getting its own museum in Stockholm. The pair
behind this initiative are entrepreneurs Ewa Wigenheim-Westman and Ulf Westman.
“It’s great that someone feels like taking on our musical history and making it
accessible,” Agnetha Fältskog, Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus and Anni-Frid Reuss
said in a joint statement. “We have a lot of confidence in Ewa and Ulf and we hope and
believe that it will be a fun and groovy museum to visit.”
ABBA the Museum will be a modern museum filled with ABBA’s music, original clothes, history,
images, instruments and much more that captures the group’s heyday in the 70s and 80s. It will also be an interactive experience where visitors can participate with all their senses.
“This will be quite a tourist attraction – a real international magnet. We’re counting on 500,000
visitors annually after opening in 2008,” says Westman.
Ewa and Ulf got the idea for ABBA the Museum when they visited the Beatles Museum in Liverpool
a few years ago. Ewa initially brought up the idea with Benny Andersson, with whom she had worked
previously. But it took time for her to convince the whole group. ABBA has approved the project and
will make material available to the museum, but is otherwise not involved.
“ABBA is one of our largest contemporary cultural treasures,” says Wigenheim-Westman. “With 370
million records sold, only Elvis and the Beatles have had larger sales in musical history. Today, 25
years after ABBA retired, the group still sells a couple of million albums a year. This makes Björn,
Benny, Agetha and Anni-Frid living legends and speaks volumes about how many fans they still have around the world.
The first step will be to find a suitable location in central Stockholm of about 3000-4000 square
metres. At this early stage, Ewa and Ulf are also seeking sponsors for this once-in-a-lifetime project.
“ABBA is one of the strongest brands in the music world and I am convinced that there are many
companies that would like to participate in this investment,” says Westman. “We already have the full support of the City of Stockholm and the Stockholm Visitors Board has a very positive view of the effects an attraction like this will have for the city’s tourism.”
