Abba museum to open in Stockholm

A museum dedicated to Swedish pop group Abba is to open next year in Stockholm.

The museum, backed by former member Bjorn Ulvaeus, will feature some of the band's glitzy stage costumes, instruments and other mementos.

Visitors will also be able to sing along to Abba songs alongside life-size holograms of the group.

Ulvaeus said he hoped all four members would attend the museum's opening set for next spring, but ruled out any chance of a stage comeback.

"It is a strength for Abba that you remember those young, ambitious, energetic people during the 70s, rather than some feeble old folks who feel compelled to get up and play all the time," he said.

Stockholm had long considered building a museum for Sweden's most successful pop group, but previous plans fell through in 2008.

Abba: The Museum will be a permanent fixture within a new Swedish Music Hall of Fame which is being built on Djurgarden, one of the city's many islands.

Ulvaeus told reporters at a news conference he had been hesitant about becoming a "museum artefact before I'm dead," but liked the idea of including Abba in a hall of fame that would also recognise other Swedish musicians.

"Swedish pop music is an important part of our cultural heritage and Abba is one of our most well-known brands."

A lot of the items on display were included in the Abbaworld exhibition that toured Europe and Australia between 2009 and 2011.

However, there will also be some new items which the former members have donated from their personal collections.

Abba shot to fame after winning the Eurovision Song Contest in 1974 with Waterloo and have sold nearly 400 million records around the world.

Earlier this week, it was revealed the group's greatest hits album, Gold, was the UK's biggest selling CD - boosted by the hit musical Mamma Mia!