Members of the Mark de Lisser Singers carry out the long-lasting ABBA tune ‘Waterloo’ at Waterloo Station in London on Saturday, April 6, 2024.

Alastair Grant/AP

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Alastair Grant/AP

Members of the Mark de Lisser Singers carry out the long-lasting ABBA tune ‘Waterloo’ at Waterloo Station in London on Saturday, April 6, 2024.

Alastair Grant/AP

Fans of the Swedish supergroup ABBA gathered Saturday in England, Sweden and elsewhere to have fun the hit tune “Waterloo” on the fiftieth anniversary of its victory on the annual Eurovision Song Contest.

Swedish Television hosted En Fest För ABBA (A Party For ABBA), a tribute live performance in honor of the band, in Stockholm on Saturday night. The king and queen of Sweden have been in attendance, although not one of the band members have been there.

Earlier within the day, singers and a pianist regaled commuters with a tribute to the tune at Waterloo practice station in London.

Fans additionally gathered for a flash mob dance in Brighton to mark the event. The English coastal metropolis hosted the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest.

ABBA carried out “Waterloo” that day with glitter and gusto. One member (conductor Sven-Olof Walldoff) was even dressed as Napoleon.

The group’s win was the primary for Sweden within the historical past of the Eurovision Song Contest. The competitors was first staged in 1956 in Lugano, Switzerland.

Telling the story of somebody who “surrenders” to a lover, the tune references Napoleon’s give up on the Battle of Waterloo in 1815.

“My, my / At Waterloo, Napoleon did surrender / Oh, yeah / And I have met my destiny in quite a similar way / The history book on the shelf/ Is always repeating itself / Waterloo / I was defeated, you won the war / Waterloo / Promise to love you forevermore…”

“Waterloo” went on to promote thousands and thousands of copies, and topped the charts in a number of nations, together with the U.S. Top 10.

It additionally propelled the band to international success. ABBA has by far outstripped each different Eurovision winner on this regard, with platinum-selling albums, tribute exhibits just like the immersive ABBA Voyage expertise in London, and films like Mamma Mia! starring Meryl Streep.

This year’s Eurovision contest will happen in May — fittingly — in Malmö, Sweden. But the selection of host nation has nothing to do with ABBA’s victory 5 a long time in the past. With uncommon exceptions, Eurovision is at all times hosted by the nation that gained the earlier yr’s contest. Swedish singer Loreen won the 2023 competition with “Tattoo.”