Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad created the Swedish pop quartet ABBA in Stockholm in 1972. The name of the group is an acronym made up of the initial letters of their first names organized as a palindrome. They became one of the best-selling music acts in the history of popular music, topping the charts globally from 1974 to 1983, and again in 2021, becoming one of the most popular and successful musical groups of all time.

ABBA won the Eurovision Song Contest for the first time in 1974 with the song "Waterloo", which was picked as the best song in the competition's history in 2005 as part of the contest's 50th anniversary commemoration. During the band's peak years, it was made up of two married couples: Fältskog and Ulvaeus, and Lyngstad and Andersson. Their personal lives suffered as their celebrity grew, eventually leading to the dissolution of both marriages.

The group's music reflected the changes in their relationships, with later works incorporating darker and more contemplative lyrics. After the breakup of ABBA in December 1982, Andersson and Ulvaeus continued to write music for a variety of audiences, including theater, musicals, and films, while Fältskog and Lyngstad pursued solo careers.

Website: abbavoyage.com

Marie Fredriksson (vocals and keyboards) and Per Gessle (guitar) formed the Swedish pop-rock duet Roxette. The duo, which was formed in 1986, rose to international prominence in the late 1980s with the publication of their breakthrough second album, Look Sharp! Joyride, their third album, was released in 1991 and was exactly as popular as its predecessor. Roxette went on to have nineteen UK Top 40 songs and many US Hot 100 hits, including four US number-ones with "The Look", "Listen to Your Heart", "It Must Have Been Love", which was included on the Pretty Woman album, and "Joyride". "Dressed for Success", "Dangerous", and "Fading Like a Flower" are among their other successes.

Roxette is just behind ABBA in terms of sales, with an estimated 75 million copies sold worldwide. Roxette is a Swedish pop-rock band consisting of only two members: vocalist Marie Fredriksson and guitarist/vocalist Per Gessle. The group started working together in 1986 and expanded internationally in the 1980s. Before creating the Roxette band, they had established reputations as artists in the nation. Roxette is the second best-selling musical group in Sweden's history.

Website: roxette.se

Ace of Base is a Swedish pop trio founded in 1990 by siblings Jonas, Linn, and Jenny Berggren, together with Ulf Ekberg. Following the publication of their debut album Happy Nation in 1992, they attained international recognition. It was then reissued as The Sign and was certified nine times platinum in the United States, becoming the best-selling album of 1994. It was the first debut album to deliver three No. 1 singles on the Billboard Mainstream Top 40 chart: "All That She Wants", "The Sign", and "Don't Turn Around". It was one of the most successful debut albums of all time.

Throughout the 1990s, they had successful singles such as "Beautiful Life", "Lucky Love", "Cruel Summer", and "Life Is a Flower". They had sold 30 million copies of their first four studio albums by 2002, making them the third most popular Swedish group of all time, after only ABBA and Roxette. Despite being mostly dormant since 2012, the group has never formally dissolved. They've published a lot of demo recordings over the previous decade, initially on their Facebook page, then on the collection CD Hidden Gems in 2015. The 2020 boxset All That She Wants: The Classic Collection contained an extended two-disc edition. Jenny Berggren still performs the group's classics in solo performances all over the world.

Website: aceofbase.com

Tim Bergling, better known as Avicii, was a Swedish DJ, remixer, record producer, musician, and songwriter who died on April 20, 2018. Bergling began uploading his remixes on electronic music sites at the age of 16, which led to his first record deal. With his track "Levels", he catapulted to stardom in 2011. True (2013), his debut studio album, mixed electronic music with influences from several genres and garnered generally excellent reviews. It entered the top 10 in over fifteen countries and topped worldwide charts; the first single, "Wake Me Up", topped most European music markets and reached number four in the United States.

Bergling released his second studio album, Stories, in 2015, and an EP, Avicii, in 2017. His portfolio includes featured the hits "You Make Me", "X You", "Hey Brother", "Addicted to You", "The Days", "The Nights", "Waiting for Love", "Without You", and "Lonely Together" with Nicky Romero. Bergling received Grammy nominations in 2012 and 2013 for his work on "Sunshine" with David Guetta and "Levels." Several music journals credit Bergling with ushering electronic music onto Top 40 radio in the early 2010s.

Website: avicii.com

The Spotnicks arose as a pair called "The Rebels" (1956), which was created by Bo Starander (11 March 1942 – 3 May 2020 rhythm guitar, vocals) and Björn Thelin (27 June 1942 – 24 January 2017; bass guitar). They were joined by lead guitarist Bo Winberg (born 27 March 1939 in Gothenburg, Sweden; died 3 January 2020) and formed "Rock-Teddy and the Blue Caps" in 1957 in Gothenburg. In 1958, they added Ove Johansson (drums) (born March 30, 1940), changed their name to "The Frazers", and began playing in local bars on a regular basis. In 1961, they obtained a recording deal and renamed themselves "The Spotnicks", a play on the Russian satellite Sputnik, as proposed by their manager, Roland Ferneborg. Strander was renamed Bob Lander later in life.

They quickly became the first Swedish group to achieve substantial worldwide success, following in the footsteps of The Shadows and The Ventures. They toured Europe, and one of their early singles, "Orange Blossom Special", became their first significant international hit, hitting the Top 30 in the UK Singles Chart on the Oriole label in 1962 and reaching #1 in Australia. They started donning their characteristic "spacesuits" on stage about this period. In 1962, they released their debut album, The Spotnicks in London, Out-a Space.

Website: spotnicks.net

The Cardigans are a Swedish rock band founded in 1992 by guitarist Peter Svensson, bassist Magnus Sveningsson, drummer Bengt Lagerberg, pianist Lars-Olof Johansson, and lead vocalist Nina Persson in Jönköping, Sweden. Since 2012, post-hiatus gigs have featured Oskar Humlebo on guitar instead of Svensson. With their debut album Emmerdale (1994), they established a strong following in their own country and achieved considerable international success, particularly in Japan. Their second album, Life (1995), cemented their international recognition.

Their reputation skyrocketed after their hit "Lovefool", from their debut album First Band on the Moon (1996), was included on the soundtrack of the 1996 film Romeo + Juliet. Other songs from the album Gran Turismo included "Erase/Rewind" and "My Favorite Game" (1998). After a two-year sabbatical, the band regrouped to record and release Long Gone Before Daylight (2003), a mellower country-flavored album.

Website: cardigans.com

Alban Uzoma Nwapa (born August 26, 1957), best known as Dr. Alban, is a Nigerian-Swedish musical artist and producer who has his own record label, Dr. Records. His music is best described as Eurodance/hip-hop reggae in the manner of dancehall. He has sold an estimated 16 million albums worldwide and is most known for his international smash "It's My Life", from the album One Love, which was released in 1992.

He attended Christ The King College for his secondary school and spent the majority of his adolescence in his hometown of Oguta. He moved to Sweden to study dentistry when he was 23 years old. Dr. Alban worked as a DJ at the Stockholm club Alphabet Street to help finance his education. His name immediately became well-known, especially since he frequently sang along to the tunes he played on turntables. René Hedemyr, a DJ, discovered him. Alban completed his education and even founded his own dentistry business, yet DJing remained a lucrative hobby.

Website: dralban.net

Axwell, Steve Angello, and Sebastian Ingrosso make form the Swedish House Mafia (SHM). The trio formally established in late 2008, was ranked tenth on the DJ Mag Top 100 DJ Poll 2011, and has been dubbed the faces of mainstream progressive house music, as well as setting the tone for the EDM boom of the early 2010s, more than any other act in modern dance music. They were named number twelve on the DJ Mag Top 100 Poll in 2012.

Don't You Worry Child is the group's biggest hit to date. The group confirmed their breakup on June 24, 2012. On March 24, 2013, they gave their farewell performance at Ultra Miami. Angello worked alone for the following five years, while Axwell and Ingrosso performed as the combo Axwell & Ingrosso. The quartet reunited on March 25, 2018, with a surprise closing set at the 20th anniversary of the Ultra Music Festival in Miami, Florida. The group's debut studio album, Paradise Again, will be released in early 2022 by their new label, Republic.

Website: swedishhousemafia.com

Rednex is a Swedish musical ensemble founded by lead vocalist Mary Joe (Annika Ljungberg), Bobby Sue (Kent Olander), Ken Tacky (Arne Arstrand), Billy Ray (Jonas Nilsson), and Mup (Patrick Edenberg). Throughout the 1990s, the group was successful with novelty tunes such as "Cotton Eye Joe", "Old Pop in an Oak", "The Spirit of the Hawk" and "Wish You Were Here". Pat Reiniz (Patrick Edenberg) was the band's producer as well.

Rednex was founded by Swedish producers Janne Ericsson, Jan "ban" berg, and Patrick Edenberg, who wanted to experiment with blending American country and folk music with current dance and pop music. The term "Rednex" is an intentional misspelling of the word "rednecks". The band's initial lineup included Mary Joe (Annika Ljungberg), Bobby Sue (Kent Olander), Ken Tacky (Arne Arstrand), Billy Ray (Jonas Nilsson), and Mup (Patrick Edenberg).

Website: rednexmusic.com

A-Teens was a Swedish pop music group from Stockholm, Sweden, created in 1998 by Niklas Berg as an ABBA tribute band called ABBA-Teens and then renamed A-Teens. Marie Serneholt, Amit Paul, Dhani Lennevald, and Sara Lumholdt comprised the band. The band's debut record was a worldwide sensation. Following the release of their second album, Teen Spirit, in 2001, the band was estimated to have sold 2 million copies.

After six years together, the band announced in 2004 that they would be taking a sabbatical following the publication of their Greatest Hits CD. Every song on that album charted in the Top 20 in at least one country around the world. However, in 2006, Serneholt's Swedish-language website reported that they had made their break-up more permanent and that they had ultimately dissolved as they all moved on to pursue solo recording careers for the next several years.

Website: ateens.com