Mamma Mia! ABBA foursome make rare appearance

By Adam Cox and Elinor Schang

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - All four members of supergroup ABBA appeared together on Friday at the Swedish premiere of the film "Mamma Mia!", delighting fans with their first public showing for years.

Benny Andersson, Bjorn Ulvaeus, Anni-Frid Lyngstad -- known as Frida -- and Agnetha Faltskog walked down the red carpet at a Stockholm movie theatre to the cheers of several thousand fans.

The movie follows "Mamma Mia!" the musical, which toured worldwide and features 22 ABBA songs, including "Dancing Queen," "Take a Chance on Me" and "The Winner Takes It All".

The foursome, who shot to fame when they won the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest, last performed together in public in 1986, although there were reports they sang together at a private birthday party for a friend in 1999.

They were once reported to have been offered $1 billion to reunite for a concert tour.

At the film premiere, Agnetha and Frida embraced with actress Meryl Streep, posing for pictures before the three did a dance together. Moments later, all four band members appeared on the theatre balcony.

They stood together with Streep, Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth and other members of the Mamma Mia! cast.

At news conferences, Streep, Brosnan and Firth enthused about ABBA's music while discussing the challenges of singing and wearing figure-hugging Spandex costumes for their roles.