ABBA museum to be built in Stockholm

[madinmaryland]

http://www.cnn.com/2007/TRAVEL/12/13/abba.museum.ap/index.html

STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AP) -- ABBA fans may want to book a trip to Stockholm on in June 2009, for the opening of a museum dedicated to the Swedish pop group.

Organizers unveiled drawings for the ABBA museum to be built in the Swedish capital, which will chronicle the quartet's journey toward global stardom in the 1970s and their split in the early '80s.

The band members -- Benny Andersson, Bjorn Ulvaeus, Agnetha Faltskog and Anni-Frid Reuss -- are not participating in the project, but have donated their costumes and material for the exhibits.

The 70,000-square-foot museum will include a dance floor, recording studio and wardrobe for visitors to get a sense of what it was like to be an ABBA member. Karaoke-singing of ABBA songs will be part of the experience, organizers said.

The museum will open with a five-day festival starting June 3, 2009, said the founders -- Ewa Wigenheim-Westman and her husband Ulf Westman.

ABBA is one of world's most successful bands with album sales of more than 370 million. The group has not performed together since 1982, but continues to sell nearly 3 million records a year.