ABBA dress to impress at the opening performance of their Voyage digital concert residency

ABBA were seen all together in public for the first time in 36 years on Thursday night as they attended the opening night of their ABBA Voyage concert residency at the purpose-built ABBA Arena in London’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, Stratford. 

Benny Andersson, 75, Agnetha Fältskog, 72, Anni-Frid Lyngstad, 76, and Björn Ulvaeus, 77, pulled out all the stops as they posed on the red carpet at the glitzy launch event, where they prepared to watch their digital avatars take to the stage. 

Meanwhile, Kylie Minogue, 53, lead the all-star fans attending the show, with the Australian singer looking fabulous in a black, off-the-shoulder featured mini dress.

Lead singers Agnetha and Anni-Frid proved to be quite the fashionistas as they both rocked up in stylish cream ensembles for the event.

Agnetha wowed in a long cream coat, with a coordinating draped dress and matching accessories, while her fellow singer Anni-Frid stunned in a similar chic cream suit teamed with white trainers.

And while Bjorn kept his look classic an simple black suit. Benny ensured all eyes were in him as he rocked a colourful, floral longline cardigan over his all-black ensemble. 

The group were in great spirits as they smiled for photos and greeted fans in their first public appearance as a foursome in almost four decades. 

Fans were unsurprisingly delighted as the foursome reunited once more, with legions of hardcore followers (including one with a Waterloo tattoo) seen eagerly waiting outside to catch a glimpse of their idols before heading inside to enjoy the highly-anticipated show.

Among the celebrity attendees were singer Kylie, who looked chic in an all-black ensemble.

While Myleene Klass made it a family affair as she attended the event with her daughters Hero and Ava and sister Jessie.

Keira Knightley added some Hollywood glamour as she arrived with husband James Righton, while the likes of Matt Lucas, Sharleen Spiteri, Jarvis Cocker, Sophie Ellis-Bextor and Zara Larsson also graced the red carpet.

It comes after ABBA revealed that their latest album Voyage will be ‘their last’ as they prepared to let their digital avatars take to the stage for their ABBA Voyage concert residency in London.

Speaking ahead of the shows, Björn recounted the ’emotionally charged’ moment the quartet secretly watched fans react to their concert from within the arena. 

Speaking in an interview with The Sun, Björn revealed: ‘I don’t think there will be any more music with ABBA. I think that was definitely our last album.  

‘It’s very emotional at times. The lifesize avatars that you see on stage together with the live musicians, you have to pinch yourself. Even I get the feeling that they really are there.’ 

Explaining the process, Björn added that it was difficult for the band to choose which songs that avatars would perform as he said: ‘It took some time but finally we arrived at something which has a nice dynamic. But if we had gone on tour we would have played something like this.’

In an interview with The Mirror, he also detailed the ’emotional’ moment he watched the concert for the first time alongside bandmates Benny, Anni-Frid and Agnetha, as they secretly joined fans for the show. 

Björn confessed: ‘We were sitting away back in the darkness, so nobody saw us.

‘It was a special moment for me and my entire family who are coming over to watch. 

‘Many are too young to have seen me on stage. It was very emotionally charged to say the least.’

In anticipation of their first show, earlier this month, ABBA released images of their digital selves that will perform.

The holograms have been created following weeks and months of motion-capture and performance techniques, with the avatars depicting the pop group as they appeared in 1979.

In the shots the pop pioneers resemble their much younger shelves and are dressed in 1970s silver sequinned ensembles.

An 850-strong team from Industrial Light & Magic, the company founded by Star Wars creator George Lucas, led the company’s first foray into music.

‘The state-of-the-art concert – set to run until 2025 – will feature Abba performing as holograms of themselves in their heyday’, reported The Sun of the gigs.

‘It will be ­situated in a purpose-built 3,000-capacity venue in the Olympic Park in Stratford, East London, where it will open next spring and an entire album of new music is being readied.’

It added: ‘The 6,710-square-metre theatre will host eight shows a week and will allow for a 360-degree immersive experience, giving fans the chance to get up close and personal with the recreations of the superstars, which will be joined on stage by real performers.’

The pop pioneers originally split up in 1982, but reformed earlier this year to record ninth studio album Voyage and unveil plans for an immersive digital stage show.

But Bandmembers Benny and Bjorn insist the reunion is a one-off, with the band unlikely to record more music following the release of first latest album Voyage, after 39 years in November.

The group became household names after winning the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest with hit single Waterloo.

They went on to release tracks including Mama Mia!, Dancing Queen, Take a Chance On Me and Thank You For The Music before walking away from the music industry.  

The foursome previously said they would never reform despite their huge worldwide popularity, and reaching more than 400 million album sales over 50 years.

The Waterloo group went their separate ways at the height of their career, and during their final years Björn divorced bandmate Agnetha whilst Benny and Frida split up, too.

They performed together for the first time in decades in 2016 at a private event, which marked the 50th anniversary of the first meeting between songwriters Björn and Benny.