What happened to ABBA?

As a child in the 1970s, I was part of the original ABBA fever. By the time they quietly disbanded in the early 1980s, I had moved into punk music.

Punk was a phase, ABBA is forever.

I have to admit, though, I can’t listen to ABBA non-stop like I did when I was nine. But I still can’t resist those entertainment show specials about ABBA or movies that contain ABBA-mania such as Muriel’s Wedding or Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert.

ABBA the band name is an amalgamation of the first letters of the Swedish members’ names: Agnetha Faltskog, Bjorn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. I don’t know who’s “A” and who’s “B” comes first.

It’s also a pairing of married couples with Anni-Frid & Benny and Agnetha & Bjorn.

Let’s use astrology to piece together why four talented people on top of the world of pop charts quietly ended the fame.

The Men

Both men, Benny and Bjorn, have moon in Libra conjunct Neptune. More than anything, these two want to be married, be popular and be liked. The Neptune influence makes both men attractive and charming to others.

That doesn’t mean Libra doesn’t love its arguments, but Libra ultimately reacts to others, altering its self and identity to match what it perceives the “other” wants.

Benny is a little more aggressive (Sun conjunct Mars in Sagittarius) and controlling (Saturn conjunct Pluto in Leo) than Bjorn. Benny’s Mars/sun conjunction shows great athletic ability. Benny is probably in constant motion and wants those around him in constant motion as well.

Bjorn has sun in Taurus, Mars in Pisces and that moon/Neptune in Libra. Bjorn is one dreamer, who probably was the most happy spending his life writing music. When not writing music he may have liked to lead a life of both pleasure and indulgence. This is a man who would take a three-hour bath after a five-hour nap then gaze out the window for a while. Bjorn doesn’t rush.

Bjorn seems the least likely to cause strife. Both Taurus and Libra like pleasure too much to ruin it with silly desires, such as the need to be in the front of the picture on the album cover.

Benny might have wandered off eventually, as Sagittarians do. Sagittarius wouldn’t quit the band, per se, but simply move off into a new adventure and kind of forget the old adventure.

The Women

Agnetha is an Aries with Scorpio moon. Aries is aggressive and Scorpio is intense and vengeful. Combined, this is an extremely competitive individual. Lady Gaga has this combination and she’s known for her bad romances.

Saturn and Mars both in Virgo, Agnetha is also one intense perfectionist.

Agnetha’s sun (Aries) is opposite her ex-husband Bjorn’s moon (Libra) and Bjorn’s sun (Taurus) is in opposite sign to Agnetha’s moon (Scorpio).

Clearly Agnetha and Bjorn are opposites that attracted. Agnetha would have been the aggressor and Bjorn might have felt safe and comfortable for someone with such an intense nature.

Anni-Frid has sun in intense Scorpio and moon in sensitive Pisces. Both are water signs and it’s not surprising that Wikipedia says she’s the most reclusive of the group. Pisces moon is extremely sensitive so the glare of the lights may have been too much for this woman.

Anni-Frid’s ex-husband Benny’s Sagittarian sun is square that moon. He probably roused her from a life in her imagination and physically carried her out into the spotlight. He would have been the motivator in that relationship, always seeking new sites and stimulation. She’s the introvert, he the extrovert.

Anni-Frid’s intense Scorpio sun might have been frustrated by the fun-loving but somewhat irresponsible Sagittarian sun husband. Anni-Frid, with Scorpio and Pisces, cries for the world. Her ex-husband tries to cheer up the world.

What happened?

The women are much more intense than the men. I could imagine Agnetha having issues surrounding competition and Anni-Frid having issues regarding the intense pressure that super-stardom brings.

I could also imagine that the wives felt more kinship with the not-husband partner.

Agnetha and Benny share fire sign energy.

Bjorn has Mars in Pisces conjunct Anni-Frid’s moon and is generally more approachable and non-threatening than Benny.

The spring of 1982

In the spring of 1982, when the group last worked together, Mars, Pluto and Saturn were conjunct in transit through Libra. Libra is the sign of both Benny and Bjorn’s moon/Neptune conjunction.

Uranus and Neptune were transiting Sagittarius, Benny’s sun and Mars sign.

Benny had the worst transits of the all the members. Mars/Saturn/Pluto is an angry, volatile transit. In Libra it says, partnerships will blow up. And Uranus and Neptune to the mix, and Benny was under fire from all the outer planets.

Because Benny has Mars conjunct sun in Sagittarius, it’s possible he lost control and became extremely angry. Libra moon hates anger but he may have been holding back intense anger and hurt from past situations. Sagittarius (with Mars attached) isn’t fond of self-control.

Bjorn didn’t fare well under this transit either, the Mars/Saturn/Pluto conjunction says, “Don’t pretend things in your relationship don’t bother you.”

While the women may be more intense, in 1982 the men appear to have undergone deep psychological changes regarding their desire to have partnership at any cost (Libra).

Superstardom has fractured many a person and Benny and Bjorn were hit very hard by the outer planets in 1982. I’m glad they are still smiling.

Astrological conclusion

It appears the pairing of opposites in two couples created the friction necessary to create music that connected to people over the entire globe.

Those opposites also created tension that was violently shook as the men faced deep psychological changes indicated by the Mars/Saturn/Pluto transit of Libra. Libra prefers “partnership-lite” and the intense girls may have been making some challenges.

The transits suggest that something “happened” in 1982 and there wasn’t simply a drifting apart. Even though their marriages broke apart, these four people clearly feel respect for each other to have kept their Mars/Saturn/Pluto encounters out of the news.