Ulvaeus

Ulvaeus, Björn Kristian Ulvaeus (born 25 April 1945 in Gothenburg, Sweden), is a Swedish musician and songwriter best known as a member of ABBA. He rose to prominence as part of the group, contributing as a guitarist and singer while co-writing much of ABBA’s material with Benny Andersson.

With Andersson, Ulvaeus formed ABBA in the early 1970s after they began collaborating in Stockholm. The duo wrote the majority of ABBA’s songs, shaping the group’s distinctive melodic pop sound and polished production that helped define 1970s international pop.

ABBA achieved international fame after winning the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest with Waterloo; they followed with a string of hits through the late 1970s and early 1980s, becoming one of the era’s most successful and influential pop acts. Ulvaeus’s role in the band encompassed performing and substantial songwriting, solidifying his place in contemporary music history.

After ABBA disbanded, Ulvaeus and Andersson pursued musical theatre projects. Notably, they collaborated with Tim Rice on Chess, and they produced Mamma Mia!, a stage musical built around ABBA songs that premiered in London in 1999 and later became a major film franchise. Their work in theatre extended ABBA’s musical footprint beyond recorded music into live performance and cinema.

Ulvaeus’s career has focused on songwriting, production, and theatre, and his work with ABBA remains influential in pop music and musical theatre worldwide.