The Story of Abba: Melancholy Undercover

Through exclusive interviews and over a decade of deep research, renowned music journalist Jan Gradvall explores the secrets to ABBA's success.

There has never been a group like ABBA. More than half a century after their songs were recorded, ABBA still make people the world over dance and sing their hearts out. In 2013, when the band had not been interviewed for over thirty years, Jan Gradvall was granted unique access to them for the next decade and the result is The Story of ABBA: Melancholy Undercover. Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad all share their personal stories, their thoughts and their opinions about ABBA's music more openly than ever before. Weaving in and out of their story, well-known international music critic Jan Gradvall reveals the context in which their unique sound developed and shows how the story of ABBA is also the story of Sweden and the globalization of pop culture.

From their earliest hits in Sweden like "People Need Love" and "Ring, Ring" to their chart-topping international hits like "Dancing Queen," "Gimme, Gimme, Gimme" and "Mama Mia!" to ABBA Voyage - their first album in forty years - and the two-million-ticket-selling eponymous concert-experience in London, it is undeniable that, in the history of pop culture and music, there has never been a group like ABBA. With remarkable intimacy, Gradvall's sensational book brings readers closer than ever to one of the world's most notoriously private groups.

Author: Jan Gradvall
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Published: 06/17/2025
Pages: 336
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.19lbs
Size: 9.21h x 6.51w x 1.23d
ISBN: 9781250379856


Review Citation(s):
Library Journal 05/01/2025 pg. 9
Publishers Weekly 03/31/2025
Kirkus Reviews 04/15/2025
Booklist 06/01/2025 pg. 15

About the Author
JAN GRADVALL is an award-winning writer and Sweden's most respected music journalist in the last 40 years. He has written several books on popular culture. Gradvall is the recipient of the Swedish Publicists' Association's Grand Prize in 2013 for and won Journalist of the Year awarded by trade organization Sweden's Magazines in 2001. Gradvall was also instrumental in the founding of the Swedish Music Hall of Fame and served as chairman the first three years since its inauguration. He has a uniquely close journalistic relationship with ABBA, and has appeared in two BBC documentaries, The Joy of ABBA and Flatpack Pop about the Swedish songwriting phenomenon.