In the mid-’70s, when The Who, led by Pete Townshend, was already one of the biggest bands in the world and had more than a decade of history, the music scene was quite different and many interesting bands were emerging. Around that time, the Swedish band ABBA was starting its journey toward becoming one of the best-selling bands in the world and Townshend was aware of them.
Over the decades, he talked about the band formed by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Anni-Frid Lyngstad, giving his opinion on them.
What is Pete Townshend’s opinion on ABBA
Pete Townshend is a big fan of ABBA and already said that in his opinion the song “S.O.S.” and already told the band’s guitarist and singer Björn Ulvaeus that it was the best pop song ever written. “Absolutely (Their music is tied to Rock and Roll). I remember hearing “S.O.S.” on the radio in the States and realizing that it was Abba. But it was too late, because I was already transported by it. I just thought it was such a great sound, you know – great bass drum and the whole thing.”
“They make great records. Also, what’s quite interesting is that Abba was one of the first big, international bands to actually deal with sort of middle-aged problems in their songwriting. And it was quite obviously what was going on among them, that song, ‘Knowing Me, Knowing You,'” Pete Townshend said in an interview with Rolling Stone in 1982.
As said in an article on ABBA’s official website, Pete approached Björn once and said “’SOS’ is the best pop song ever written!” The Who‘s songwriter and guitarist even covered that song in 2006 on his musical chat internet show “In the Attic“, which was livestreamed on Towser TV, a 24 hour web channel on his website.
Pete Townshend’s daughter said ABBA was always playing in their house
Pete Townshend’s daughter Emma once shared her memories of growing up with her father and recalled that ABBA was one of the bands that were constantly playing at their house. “In 1975, the house was filled with the sound of Abba. ”S.O.S.’ is the best pop song ever written,’ he will still insist. (He’ll say), ‘It has all those Swedish Folk elements that tap into whatever elemental musical self we have.'”
“Another time, he came back from Tower Records with 11 boxes of records. In the boxes, there were no less than three copies of ‘Off the Wall’, Michael Jackson’s first solo album.’Exactly why did you buy three?’ I asked him. ‘Well, it was so good! I just kept thinking I had to be sure to pick up a copy. I was in a rush, I couldn’t remember what I had already got. But I thought, well if I get more than one, I can give it to people as a gift’. she told The Independent in 2007.
“S.O.S.” was part of their third studio album in 1975 and was also released as a single. It quickly became a number-one hit in several countries and sold more than 600,000 copies in the United Kingdom. The album the song was part of had other hits like “Mamma Mia” and “I do, I do…”.
Pete Townshend once said he liked ABBA but never appreciated Queen
In Pete’s opinion, The Who was the band that started the era of bands playing in huge stadiums which was later carried on by groups like U2 and Bruce Springsteen. When talking about this with Rolling Stone in 2025, he said that he liked ABBA but never understood Queen.
“The Who invented Stadium Rock. We gave it away. Our timing was terrible. When we did Live Aid, we could barely fuckin’ play. Queen were in the middle of a tour. (They) walked out there, took the whole thing, and turned it into an advert for themselves. I never really appreciated what Queen was about, to be honest.”
He continued:
“I liked ABBA, but I didn’t really connect it with the lighthearted pop diversity of Queen’s catalog. I’m a huge fan of Bruce (Springsteen), of course, and a big fan of U2, and very happy to see the way that they took the stadium mantle,” he said. Other acclaimed bands Townshend also is not a fan of are Led Zeppelin, Cream and Deep Purple.
Formed in Stockholm, Sweden, in 1972, ABBA is one of the best-selling bands of all time. They have sold an estimated amount of 150 to more than 400 million records worldwide. The group won the Eurovision Song Contest with “Waterloo” in 1974, which helped boost their career. From 1973 to 1981, the quartet released their eight most successful albums. In 2021, “Voyage” was released, followed by the debut of their virtual avatar concert residency ABBA Voyage in London.
These days ABBA has more than 43 million monthly listeners only on Spotify. Some of their most heard songs are “Dancing Queen”, “The Winner Takes It All”, “Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)” and “Lay All Your Love on Me”.