ABBA respond to Glastonbury rumours and calls for a reunion tour

"We should remember them how they were in the 1970s"

A spokesman for ABBA has shot down rumours that the band could headline the next edition of Glastonbury Festival – as well as dismissing chances of a reunion tour.

Last week, the pop legends announced that they’d be releasing their first new material in 35 years, having recorded two new songs together. With the band currently plotting a ‘virtual’ tour for 2019 using hologram technology, bookies then offered odds of 33/1 on the Eurovision winners headlining Glastonbury next year.

While Glasto boss Eavis has said that he’s “already regretting” the decision for the festival to take a fallow year off this summer and that he’d put it back on if a certain band reformed, it doesn’t look like you’ll see Abba there (or on any stage) in the near future.

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Asked if they could play Glasto, ABBA spokeswoman and manager Gorel Hanser told the Mirror: “No, ­definitely not. We should remember them how they were in the 1970s, and listen to how they sing today.”

Abba
Abba

“The decision to go ahead with the exciting Abba avatar tour project had an unexpected consequence,” read the statement from Abba. “We all four felt that, after some 35 years, it could be fun to join forces again and go into the recording studio. So we did.

“And it was like time had stood still and that we only had been away on a short holiday. An extremely joyful experience!”

They continued: “It resulted in two new songs, and one of them ‘I Still Have Faith In You’ will be performed in a TV special produced by NBC and the BBC aimed for broadcasting in December. We have may come of age, but the song is new, and it feels good.”

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While no acts have been confirmed for 2019, the Eavises say they’ve already booked two of the headliners for their 50th anniversary in 2020.

Meanwhile, Michael Eavis has also called new alternative event The Variety Bazaar “the last big gamble” of his life.

The new festival is set to launch in 2021. It will be produced by the team behind Glastonbury, but will not be held at Worthy Farm.

Glastonbury
Glastonbury

“Headliners should be the best artists around – whether they’re rappers, pop stars or rock bands,” Emily Eavis told NME earlier this year. “The genre is irrelevant – it’s about who is going to produce the most exciting show and is making the best music. We always encounter debate, which is great, that’s what it’s all about.

“Most music fans are open minded and many discover new music by coming to festivals and getting blown away by some amazing artist that they’ve never seen before.”

Other rumoured headliners for Glastonbury 2019 include Madonna and Arctic Monkeys.

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