ABBA fans mark ‘Waterloo’ Eurovision hit at 50 : NPR

Members of the Mark de Lisser Singers perform ABBA’s iconic song ‘Waterloo’ at Waterloo Station in London on Saturday April 6, 2024.

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Alastair/AP Scholarship

Members of the Mark de Lisser Singers perform ABBA’s iconic song ‘Waterloo’ at Waterloo Station in London on Saturday April 6, 2024.

Alastair/AP Scholarship

Fans of Swedish supergroup ABBA gathered in England, Sweden and elsewhere on Saturday to celebrate the hit song “Waterloo”, marking the 50th anniversary of its victory in the annual Eurovision Song Contest.

Swedish television hosted Celebrating ABBA (A Party For ABBA), a tribute concert in honor of the group, in Stockholm on Saturday evening. The King and Queen of Sweden were present, but none of the band members were there.

Earlier in the day, singers and a pianist treated travelers to a tribute to the song at Waterloo station in London.

Fans also gathered for a flash mob dance in Brighton to mark the occasion. The English coastal city hosted the Eurovision Song Contest in 1974.

ABBA performed “Waterloo” that day with glitter and enthusiasm. One member (conductor Sven-Olof Walldoff) was even dressed as Napoleon.

The group’s victory was the first for Sweden in the history of the Eurovision Song Contest. The competition was first organized in 1956 in Lugano, Switzerland.

Telling the story of someone “surrendering” to a lover, the song refers to Napoleon’s surrender at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815.

“My, my / At Waterloo, Napoleon surrendered / Oh, yeah / And I met my fate the same way / The history book on the shelf / Always repeats itself / Waterloo / I was defeated, you won the war / Waterloo / Promise to love you forever…”

“Waterloo” sold millions of copies and topped the charts in several countries, including the US Top 10.

It also propelled the group to worldwide success. ABBA has far surpassed all other Eurovision winners in this regard, with platinum-selling albums, tribute shows like the immersive ABBA Travel experience in London and films like Mama Mia! with Meryl Streep.

This year’s Eurovision contest will take place in May – fittingly – in Malmö, Sweden. But the choice of host country has nothing to do with ABBA’s victory fifty years ago. With rare exceptions, Eurovision is always organized by the country that won the previous year’s contest. Swedish singer Loreen won the 2023 competition with “Tattoo”.