ABBA’s 20 Biggest Hits … So Far

By JC Villamere. 22 Sep 2021 7:46 PM

With ABBA going digital and the announcement of their first album in 40 years with Voyage being released on Nov. 5, we’re taking a look back at their biggest hits….so far.

Photo by Siegfried Pilz/United Archives via Getty Images

CP Images

Mike Prior/Redferns/Getty

Michael Ochs Archive/Getty

CP Images

CP Images

CP Images

CP Images

Photo by John Downing/Express/Getty Images

‘Gimme Gimme Gimme (A Man After Midnight)’

Getty Images

CP Images

Getty Images

CP Images

CP Images

CP Images

Jorgen Angel / Redferns / Getty Images

Redferns/Getty

START OVER

Next Gallery: Casting Call: Stars Nab A New Role

More Galleries

1 of 20

'Thank You For The Music'
Photo by Siegfried Pilz/United Archives via Getty Images
We're starting at the bottom of the chart with this, the group's 20th biggest hit. But, unfortunately, it also marks the end of the band's output. The title of this 1983 track also signaled the end of ABBA. Like the Spice Girls' "Goodbye," it's considered their farewell song.
'S.O.S.'
CP Images
This 1975 single is the band's 19th biggest hit. Consider it the morse code equivalent to the Beatles' "Help". The heartbreak pop song from their self-titled 1975 album peaked at #9 in Canada.
'Summer Night City'
Mike Prior/Redferns/Getty
Considering this is their 18th biggest hit, this song is sort of a deep cut. It was recorded during the sessions for the group's 1979 Voulez-Vous album, but was left off the disc. However, it did appear on the compilation album Greatest Hits Vol. 2 more than a year later. It was also featured as a bonus track the CD re-issues of Voulez-Vous.
'Lay All Your Love On Me'
Michael Ochs Archive/Getty
This sweet and gentle romantic ballad became a hot disco dance classic when it was released in 1981. Maybe the lucky number seven had something to do with its success: this was the 17th single from their seventh album, Super Trouper.
'Money Money Money'
CP Images
This 1976 ode to sugar daddies tells the tale of one woman's quest to marry rich: "I work all night, I work all day to pay the bills I have to pay / Ain't it sad? / And still there never seems to be a single penny left for me / That's too bad / In my dreams I have a plan / If I got me a wealthy man / I wouldn't have to work at all, I'd fool around and have a ball". Ah, but a woman who marries rich earns every cent.
'One Of Us'
CP Images
At number 15, it's the lead single from the band's eighth record, 1981's The Visitors. This bummer breakup track was the first single released after both of the band's couples had divorced. Agnetha Fältskog and Björn Ulvaeus were married from 1971 to 1980, and Benny Andersson and Anni-Frid Lyngstad were wed from 1978 to 1981.
'Does Your Mother Know'
CP Images
Ahh, 1979. It was a simpler time. It was a time when a song lyric could say, "I can see what you want / But you seem pretty young to be searching for that kind of fun / So maybe I'm not the one / Now you're so cute, I like your style / And I know what you mean when you / Give me a flash of that smile / But girl you're only a child". The '70s. They were a wild time.
‘Angel Eyes / Voulez Vous’
CP Images
The eyes of angels were a big theme on the 1979 charts. At the same time that this Abba song was a hit, Roxy Music's totally unrelated song "Angel Eyes" was also climbing the charts. This was another hit on Abba's 1978 record, Voulez-Vous.
'I Have A Dream'
CP Images
At number 12 on the list of Abba's 20 biggest hits is another hit from 1979. This song is all over the "Mamma Mia!" musical and movie. Sophie sings it at the beginning as she wishes that her real father would come to her wedding. Will we be mentioning "Mamma Mia" later on this list? Spoiler alert: yes.
'Waterloo'
Photo by John Downing/Express/Getty Images
This is the song that started it all! The foursome won the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest with this entry, which paved their way to international stardom. At the 50th anniversary celebration of the Eurovision Song Contest in 2005, "Waterloo" was chosen as the best song in the competition's history. We like to think of it as an ode to the southern Ontario city, but it's actually a reference to Napoleon's defeat at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815 as a metaphor for a woman surrendering to a man romantically. The drama!
‘Gimme Gimme Gimme (A Man After Midnight)’
Getty Images
This red-hot disco hit from 1979 brings us into the Top 10 of ABBA hits. The song was also the lead single from Cher’s 2018 ABBA tribute album, Dancing Queen.
'Chiquitita'
Getty Images
It's not a banana. You're thinking of "Chiquita". This is "Chiquitita". It's a Spanish term of endearment for a woman. It means "little one". And it was the lead single from Abba's mega-successful Voulez-Vous record.
'That's The Name Of The Game'
CP Images
Stevie Wonder's keyboard work was an inspiration for this #1 hit from 1977. You may also recognize it from the 1996 Fugees hit, "Rumble in the Jungle". It marked the first time an Abba track had been legally sampled by another group.
‘Mamma Mia’
CP Images
You knew this one would be on the list, you just didn’t know where! This is #7 on the countdown of ABBA’s biggest hits. It’s the 1975 song that became the 1999 musical that became the 2008 movie that began the 2018 sequel “Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again”.
'The Winner Takes It All'
Getty Images
The video for this epic breakup ballad was shot 10 days after the divorce of Björn Ulvaeus and Agnetha Fältskog. It's reportedly Fältskog's favourite ABBA song, although she has denied it's about her breakup. This is the first single from Super Trouper. What is a super trouper, anyway? Don't worry … we're getting there.
'Fernando'
CP Images
Hello, and welcome to the Top 5! This is one of the fast-selling singles of all time, with six million copies sold in 1976 alone. Anni-Frid Lyngstad originally released this as a solo number on her 1975 Swedish solo album. The lyrics of the English version explore the reminiscences of two old Mexican Revolution freedom-fighters. Classic disco lyric fodder.
'Take A Chance On Me'
CP Images
This 1978 hit was featured on ABBA: The Tour. The tour opened with a sold-out show at the Northlands Coliseum in Edmonton. In the audience that night was 18-year-old Wayne Gretzky. He was early into his career with the Edmonton Oilers but already a star. The CBC asked him how he felt when Lyngstad danced on stage in a No. 99 Oilers sweater. "I was sitting there watching the concert and next thing you know one of the girls is coming out with my sweater on. It got pretty good applause from people in the stands, and you know, it sent a tingle down my spine." The tour ended in Toronto at Maple Leaf Gardens before a capacity crowd of 18,000.
‘Knowing Me Knowing You’
CP Images
At #3 is one of Abba’s earliest break-up songs. "Knowing Me Knowing You" was recorded in 1977, before any of ABBA’s internal break-ups. This versatile jam has been covered live by artists like Elvis Costello and Ron Sexsmith.
'Super Trooper'
Jorgen Angel / Redferns / Getty Images
The title track from ABBA's hit 1980 album is named after a brand of spotlight. Hence, the lyrics: "Tonight the super trouper lights are gonna find me / Shining like the sun / Smiling, having fun / Feeling like a number one / Tonight the super trouper beams are gonna blind me / But I won't feel blue / Like I always do / 'Cause somewhere in the crowd there's you". Lyngstad sings lead on this song, which had the working title "Blinka Lilla Stjärna" (that's "Twinkle Little Star" in Swedish).
'Dancing Queen'
Redferns/Getty
The lead single from their 1976 record, Arrival, is Abba's #1 biggest hit. In 2015, it was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. "Dancing Queen" had its first live performance on June 18, 1976, during an all-star gala at the Royal Swedish Opera in honour of King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden and his bride-to-be, Silvia Sommerlath, who were married the next day. So very regal! When ABBA joined TikTok, their first post was a video of Andersson playing "Dancing Queen" on the piano. Soon, their new album, Voyage, was announced, with a release date of Nov. 5. Will its singles have us rewriting this list to include new ABBA hits? They have a dream, and we'd take a chance on them.

ABBA’s 20 Biggest Hits … So Far

More Galleries

Latest Galleries