In today’s post I feature 20 of the best Abba songs in this Abba songs list. Abba first appeared in the UK chart in 1973 with a minor hit with Ring Ring but they became chart toppers after winning the Eurovision Song Contest in 1974 with Waterloo, they went on to have 9 number one singles in the UK. In this post I will list all the Abba songs that made the top 40 here in the UK, I will also give a bit of the history of the band. Enjoy
ABBA History
Abba are a Swedish pop group who formed in 1972 in Stockholm. In case, you didn’t know the band name came from the first initial of each of the members. Agnetha Faltskog (born on the 5th of April 1950), Bjorn Ulvaeus (born on the 25th April 1945), Benny Andersson (born on the 16th December 1946) and Anni-Frid Lyngstad (born on the 15th November 1945).
The band consisted of two married couples, Agnetha and Bjorn and Anni-Frid and Benny. When their popularity increased it affected their relationships and both marriages collapsed.
They disbanded in 1993, after which Bjorn and Benny had success writing music for the stage. The girls had mixed results as solo artists.
In 1999 Abba’s music was adapted for the stage, and the musical Mamma Mia! was born, it toured worldwide and was a great success. In 2008 a film of the same name was released with Meryll Streep in the lead role. It became the highest grossing film of the year in the UK. A sequel Mamma Mia! Here we Go Again was released in 2018.
It is estimated that ABBA sold over 380 million records.
Abba Songs List – The Singles
Here is a list of Abba songs that made the top 40 in the UK. I will name song, year released and chart position reached in the UK and if applicable the US.
- Ring Ring (1973) (32)
- Waterloo (1974) (1) (6)
- I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do (1975) (38) (15)
- SOS (1975) (6) (15)
- Mama Mia (1975) (1) (32)
- Fernando (1976) (1) (13)
- Dancing Queen (1976) (1) (1)
- Money, Money, Money (1976) (3) (56)
- Knowing Me, Knowing You (1977) (1) (14)
- The Name Of The Game (1977) (1) (12)
- Take A Chance On Me (1978) (1) (3)
- Summer Night City (1978) (5)
- Chiquitita (1979) (2) (29)
- Does Your Mother Know (1979) (4) (19)
- Voulez-Vous (1979) (3) (80)
- Gimme, Gimme, Gimme (A Man After Midnight) (1979) (3)
- I Have A Dream (1979) (2)
- The Winner Takes It All (1980) (1) (8)
- Super Trouper (1980) (1) (45)
- Lay All Your Love On Me (1981) (7)
- One Of Us (1981) (3) (107)
- Head Over Heels (1982) (25)
- The Day Before You Came (1982) (32)
- Under Attack (1983) (26)
- Thank You For The Music (1983) (33)
Abba Songs List – Studio Albums
Abba had 7 studio albums that made it to the top 30 in the UK. I will name song, year released and chart position reached in the UK and if applicable the US
- Waterloo (1974) (28) (145)
- ABBA (1975) (13) (174)
- Arrival (1976) (1) (20)
- ABBA: The Album (1977) (1) (14)
- Voulez-Vous (1979) (1) (19)
- Super Trouper (1980) (1) (17)
- The Visitors (1981) (1) (29)
Abba Songs List – Greatest Hits
ABBA also had 9 greatest hits albums that made the top 20 in the UK. As usual, I will name the album, year released and chart position reached in the UK and if applicable the US.
- Greatest Hits (1975) (1) (48)
- Greatest Hits Vol.2 (1) (46)
- The Singles:The First Ten Years (1982) (1) (62)
- Thank You For The Music (1983) (17)
- Gold: Greatest Hits (1992) (1) (25)
- More ABBA Gold: More ABBA Hits (1993) (13)
- The Definitive Collection (2001) (17) (186)
- 18 Hits (2005) (15)
- Number Ones (2006) (15)
The Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame
ABBA were inducted into the rock and roll hall of fame in 2010.
As you can see ABBA had a fair bit of success during the 70’s and 80’s. They had number 1 singles worldwide but only one in the US with Dancing Queen.
Did this post bring back some memories for you? If yes leave a comment below and let me know what your favourite ABBA song was. Maybe you saw them in concert. It would great if you shared your experience with us.
If you get a minute could you please pop over to my Facebook Page and join us. I plan to build this page this year as I have more time on my hands since retiring. I am trying to get people to share their favourite 70s music. As you know we do not all like the same songs and it would be great to hear page members favourite 70s songs. I hope to see you there soon.
Thanks For Visiting Today. Make sure you come back as I build the site, leave a comment below if there is any singer or group you think I should add to the site.
Frank
frank@musicofthe70s.co.uk
Very cool i had no idea Abba existed, but 70’s music bops. it’s unfortunate how music is today, perverted and meaningless.
Very cool article
Hi Jason, you are obviously very young if you have not heard of ABBA. Yes, 70’s music is great and in my opinion the best decade for music. Especially compared to music of today.
Call back and learn some more about the 70’s.
Frank
I love Abba, I always have to sing along with them when I hear them on the radio. Dancing Queen is one of my favs even though I am an 80’s child and Abba began to fade away I grew up with music like Abba and Elvis. Abba didn’t just write great songs, they made great records and that was their secret.
I am glad You enjoyed the Abba post Kay, they had some fantastic songs didn’t they? When I go into town nowadays and an Abba song comes on, everybody seems to know the words, even the youngsters. I suppose that is down to the film Mamma Mia.
Thanks for visiting today and maybe I will do an Elvis post soon, so make sure you call back,
Frank
Wow what a great site and article! It was so fun reading through all of the facts, which I had no clue about such as how they chose their name! I must confess I wasn’t even born when ABBA was around but I have fond memories of my grandparents taking me to tribute acts when I was a child. Thankyou for the great post and I look forward to seeing more
Hi Lauren, I am glad you enjoyed reading all about ABBA. I hope you listened to a couple of videos too.
Your grandparents had good taste in music if they were taking you to 70’s bands tribute nights.
Make sure you do come back as the site develops.
Frank
Ha! I’m from Finland and a bass player. Believe me, I’ve listened to plenty of ABBA. I’m just a tad young to have lived during their prime as I was born in the eighties but I heard plenty of their songs when growing up. They were kinda big in Finland, just like everywhere else I guess.
Now the fun fact that intrigues me as a bass player. The albums are full of exceptionally groovy and well-played bass lines that really drive the songs. They are almost like the secret sauce of the ABBA songs along with the catchy choruses.
But here’s the fun part, they weren’t played by any of the actual band members! Not in the studio or on stage. It was one Rutgar Gunnarsson who performed most of the bass work for ABBA. He is actually one of the worlds most famous “not known” bass player of all time 🙂
That’s at least what I remember about him. Maybe do a whole post about him?
Hi Jukka, that is a new one to me about the bass player. I will have to do a bit of research on him.
I am sure you heard a lot of ABBA as you were growing up, being so close to where they came from.
Thanks for leaving the comment and giving me that juicy piece of information.
Frank
Again, another great post with awesome songs list and albums. I am going to check ABBA – Greatest Hits you mentioned and send it to my uncle!
What I can tell you that maybe I can’t share memories with you and those lived in that period, but I wish I was born that time, I can see how great that period was and so many great songs and singers, bands that time.
Thank you again for this amazing post.
Hi Mohammad, it’s nice to see you back again. It is good that you are getting an education on 70’s music from my site. Your uncle has probably heard of ABBA before and will love their songs.
It is funny that you say that about wishing you were born in the 70’s as you love the music. I felt the same about 50’s music, the old rock and roll songs were great.
Thanks for visiting again,
Frank
Great article Frank, ABBA wasn’t my generation band, because I was born in 1987, but I know this band I heard quite a few songs so it was really interesting to read some history about them. I had no clue that they were Swedish band and that the name of the band means the first letter of each band member name. Thank you for sharing some interesting facts about them. Also, you have listed all ABBA albums and singles which is great for this band lovers. I really loved that you included a few Youtube videos in your post. Thank you for sharing this.
Hi Marius, I like adding a bit of history on the various artists. Also the videos are a great visual aspect to break up the text as people get bored easily with lines and lines of text.
I am happy that people are learning things about the artists via my posts and they can listen whilst they read too. It all adds to the user experience.
Thanks for visiting, make sure you come back,
Frank
Hello there Frank.
I love ABBA. I am still listening to their music and other old music as I do not fancy this modern one. so, while I have read your article I had to listen again to their music. I do not have a fav one, I like all of them.
Thank you, Frank, for making my morning.
Glad you enjoyed the post on ABBA Oana, their records are easy to listen to aren’t they. I still hear everybody singing their songs when they come on in the bars in town, here in Cardiff.
I hope you will come back and check out my other posts,
Thanks for visiting,
Frank
Hi Frank
Abba – From the very first note, you know it is them.
Pure genius!
Another great trip down memory lane – watched their very first performance on the Eurovision Song Contest, never forget hearing Waterloo for the first time.
Do not think the song contest has ever featured anyone as good or as memorable.
Sandra
Hi Sandra, you can’t beat a bit of ABBA. Everybody seems to know their music, probably due to the film, Mamma Mia. The songs were so good though, people are going to love them. Plenty of tunes to get people up dancing too.
I am glaad I brought back some memories for you.
Frank
Frank,
Great post, I saw the Mama Mia movie, both of them actually and really enjoyed the music, they have a good upbeat style that really works. Nice to see such a detailed breakdown of the history, I never knew there name came from first letters of the members names. It makes sense, I just never knew it. I rememebr ABBA- I liked them in the 70’s and 80’s. Thanks for the information
Hi Todd, I saw both films too. The music was great wasn’t it? But I don’t know if Cher did the songs any favours in the 2nd film:)
They were a great success especially here in the UK, with 9 number one songs. I am glad you are being educated on the bands history with my posts.
Thanks for visiting today, make sure you come back as the site grows,
Frank
I’ve only just watched Mama Mia here we go again on video, and I agree. Cher was the only professional singer in the cast and made a real pig’s ear of Fernando, which is one of my favourites.
I have to say that, although well performed, the second film was not as good as the first, but that’s just my opinion.
Hi Mike, I have to agree with you about Cher murdering the song Fernando, she also done a whole album of Abba songs. I suppose she did this to cash in on her appearance in the film. I am glad I didn’t hear the album:)