ABBA fans mark 50 years since 'Waterloo' took world by storm

It’s 50 years since ABBA won a major battle with “Waterloo.”

A half-century ago, the Swedish quartet triumphed at the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest with the peppy love song, which opens: “My my, at Waterloo, Napoleon did surrender, and I have met my destiny in quite a similar way.”

The song rang out again Saturday at London’s Waterloo railway station — also named after the 1815 battle that dealt defeat to the French leader — where a choir belted out a rendition for commuters.

In the English coastal town of Brighton, where the 1974 competition was held, fans were staging a flashmob dance and silent ABBA disco to mark the anniversary.

'Dizzying, humbling'

ABBA’s melodic disco pop sold hundreds of millions of records worldwide. The stage musical “Mamma Mia!” based on its songs is 25 years old and spawned two movies.

The band members have not performed together live for four decades, but released a comeback album, “Voyage,” in 2021. Every day, fans attend a concert by digital “ABBA-tars” at the hit show “Abba Voyage,” which opened in London in 2022.

In a thank-you message to fans on Saturday, the four band members said it was “slightly dizzying and deeply humbling” to know th at their songs had been passed down the generations and “still resonate around the world.”

“Music you discover and learn to love when you grow up or even later in life has a way of staying with you forever,” said Agnetha Faltskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Anni-Frid Lyngstad.

“We share that experience with you and to know that our music has become a constant in your lives is a wonderful thing.”

Calls to boycott Eurovision

Eurovision victory turned ABBA into a pop juggernaut, by far the most successful band to win the pan-continental music contest, which will hold its 68th edition in May in ABBA’s home country, Sweden.

This year’s Eurovision final will take place May 11 in Malmö, after Swedish singer Loreen won last year’s competition with “Tattoo.”

However, many have called for a boycott of this year's edition due to the inclusion of Israel amid its ongoing attacks on Palestine's Gaza, which has already killed at least 33,137 Palestinians and wounded 75,815 others.

"Israel does not deserve to participate in Eurovision. A murderous and genocidal country cannot participate in a music contest. Israel is a genocidal country,” Writer and activist Samuel Girma told Anadolu Agency.