Paige, Prenger, Ellis, Donovan & More Join 'Thank You For The Music' ABBA Celebration, Held Sept 13

Radio 2 today announces the first wave of glittering artists who will perform at the ‘Thank You For The Music: A Celebration Of The Music of Abba' concert in London's Hyde Park on Sunday 13 September 2009.

Presented by Radio 2 Drivetime host Chris Evans, the gig will be broadcast live on Radio 2, with contributions from two members of Abba, Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, and a performance by the full West End cast of the musical Mamma Mia!

Lulu will sing ‘Gimme Gimme Gimme' on the night, a disco classic which was sampled by Madonna for her 2005 track ‘Hung Up'. ‘Gimme Gimme Gimme' was also one of the major songs to be featured in the Mamma Mia! movie.

Lulu says: "Benny and Bjorn's song writing skills are up there with some of the greatest hit song writers of the century, like The Bee Gees, Elton, The Beatles and the songs from the Motown stable. In fact they're just like a really good wine, as time goes on they get better with age. I'm absolutely thrilled to be taking part. This show will be a ball of fun. Well done BBC Radio 2!"

Grammy Award-winning American singer-song writer Chaka Khan will perform ‘The Winner Takes It All', a ballad released as the first single from the group's Super Trouper album in July 1980 which became a number 1 hit in the UK.

Chaka says: "Benny and Bjorn sure have soul in their bones! 'The Winner Takes It All' is a beautifully-penned ballad which stands them apart as two of the finest song writers in popular music. I'm thrilled at the thought of performing it with them in front of thousands in London's Hyde Park and also live on Radio 2."

British band The Feeling will sing ‘Knowing Me, Knowing You', which was the first single to be released from Abba's 1977 album Arrival.

Dan Gillespie Sells, lead vocalist from the band, says: "I've been an ABBA fan long before it was fashionable - the quality of the song writing has always been something I've looked up to. We are all very much looking forward to the gig, it is an honour to be invited to play, especially with Benny and Bjorn in attendance, and we are very excited."

Texas front-woman Sharleen Spiteri will sing the 1975 hit ‘SOS', taken from the eponymously titled ABBA album, and newcomer VV Brown will sing ‘Ring Ring', the song with which Abba entered the Swedish heats of the 1973 Eurovision Song Contest, finishing third. A year later, the group achieved stardom by winning the same competition with ‘Waterloo'.

VV says: "To be doing a cover of such genius song writers who have an ability to consistently create timeless music is great! It's a great opportunity and should be fun to do alongside Radio 2, who has been a great supporter of me as an artist. Hopefully people will enjoy my interpretation of such an amazing song, doing it justice will be hard but here goes anyway."

BBC Radio 2 presenter and the queen of Theatre-land Elaine Paige will sing her classic 1985 hit duet ‘I Know Him So Well' from the musical Chess, with the production's original Svetlana, Irish singer Siobhan McCarthy.

Elaine comments: ‘I'm so very grateful to Benny and Bjorn for writing such a brilliant song and for giving me a number one hit.'

Jodie Prenger, winner of BBC One's I'd Do Anything and currently starring in the new West End production of Oliver! , will perform ‘One Of Us', the first single from Abba's final studio album as a group, ‘The Visitors'.

Other artists performing on the night include Nerina Pallot ('The Name Of The Game'), Christian Jon Billet ('Anthem') Beth Nielsen Chapman ('Fernando'), The Benny Andersson Band, West End star Kerry Ellis with 'You Have To Be There' taken from Benny and Bjorn's new musical production Kristina, Marti Pellow singing ‘One Night In Bangkok' and Jason Donovan ('I Have A Dream').

Other hosts include long-time collaborator with Benny and Bjorn and multi-award winning lyricist Sir Tim Rice and Swedish actor and star of the hit movie Mamma Mia! Stellan Skarsgard.

The concert will also feature a performance by the full West End cast of the musical Mamma Mia! The event will be broadcast live on BBC Radio 2 from 6.30-9.30pm.

Further artists and line-up details will be announced at a later date.

Ticket Details

Tickets £25.00 (plus £1.25 booking fee)
Family & Friends ticket offer: Buy 7 tickets and get the 8th free.
Bookings are subject to a £2.00 transaction fee.
Gates open at 5.00pm and the concert starts at 6.30pm. It will last around 2 hours.

Buy Tickets:

- By phone: 0844 412 4630*
*Calls cost up to 5p per minute from a BT landline (plus a one-off connection charge of up to 8p). Calls from other mobiles will cost more.

Buy tickets online at www.seetickets.com.

For more information, visit www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/events/thank-you-for-the-music.

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