Dancing Queen: An ABBA Salute at the Rust Belt -- March 23.
Saturday, March 23, 8 p.m.
The Rust Belt, 533 12th Avenue, East Moline IL
Now celebrating their 20th year of thrilling crowds with spectacular renditions of “Waterloo,” “The Winner Takes It All,” “Take a Chance on Me,' and additional favorites, the tribute artists of Dancing Queen: An ABBA Salute headline a March 23 concert at East Moline venue The Rust Belt, the show promising a mesmerizing experience for every Chiquitita, Super Trouper, Fernando, and Dancing Queen around.
The band's founding women, Nicky von Kondrat (the original Agnetha) and Julie Brock (the original Frida), through their combined love of performing together and the inherent magic of ABBA's songs, established Dancing Queen's strong foundation and connection with audiences from the very beginning, and it remains the group's cultural bedrock. ABBA themselves are among the best-selling music artists in history, with record sales estimated to be between 150 million to 385 million sold worldwide. ABBA was also the first group from a non-English-speaking country to achieve consistent success in the charts of English-speaking countries, including the United Kingdom, Australia, United States, Republic of Ireland, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa. They are the best-selling Swedish band of all time and the best-selling band originating in continental Europe, and ABBA had eight consecutive number-one albums in the U.K. ABBA was inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2002 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2010, becoming the first and only recording artists to receive this honor from outside an Anglophonic country. Meanwhile, in 2015, their song "Dancing Queen" was inducted into the Recording Academy's Grammy Hall of Fame.
Formed in Stockholm, Sweden, in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad, ABBA's name is an acronym of the first letters of their first names arranged as a palindrome. One of the most popular and successful musical groups of all time, ABBA became one of the best-selling music acts in the history of popular music, topping the charts worldwide from 1974 to 1982, and again in 2021. In 1974, ABBA were Sweden's first winner of the Eurovision Song Contest with "Waterloo," which in 2005 was chosen as the best song in the competition's history as part of the competition's 50th-anniversary celebration. During the band's most active years, it consisted of two married couples: Fältskog and Ulvaeus, and Lyngstad and Andersson. With the increase of their popularity, their personal lives suffered, which eventually resulted in the collapse of both marriages. The relationship changes, however, were reflected in the group's music, with latter compositions featuring darker and more introspective lyrics. After ABBA separated in December of 1982, Andersson and Ulvaeus continued their success writing music for multiple audiences including stage, musicals and movies, while Fältskog and Lyngstad pursued solo careers.
Ten years after the group broke up, the ABBA Gold compilation was released and became a worldwide best-seller. And in 1999, ABBA's music was adapted into Mamma Mia!, the Tony-nominated stage musical that toured worldwide and, as of this year, is still among the top-10 longest-running productions on both Broadway (where it closed in 2015) and London's West End (where it is still running). A movie musical of the same name, released in 2008, became the highest-grossing film in the United Kingdom that year, with its sequel Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again enjoying a 2018 release.
Dancing Queen: An ABBA Salute plays their East Moline engagement on March 23 with an additional set by Jive Radio, admission to the 7 p.m. concert is $12.50-15, and more information and tickets are available by visiting TheRustBeltQC.com.
