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The A*Teens was a pop music group from Stockholm, Sweden, formed by Niklas Berg in 1998 as an ABBA tribute called
ABBA Teens and later renamed to A*Teens. Marie, Sara, Dhani, and Amit were musically united as the ABBA Teens. However,
upon the request of Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson of ABBA, the group's name was changed to the A*Teens to avoid confusion.
This choice allowed the band more freedom in creating their own style of music.
In early 1999 the band started the recording process of what would be their debut album, The ABBA Generation,
consisting purely of ABBA covers reinterpreted with a modern pop and techno flair to appeal to a new generation of young pop
fans. Their first single, Mamma Mia, topped the charts in over ten countries including their home country
Sweden where it stayed at number one for eight consecutive weeks. The album hit the pole position in Sweden & Chile and
became a top ten hit throughout the world. Further singles enjoyed similar success ensuring top ten placings across the globe.
The band's second album, entitled Teen Spirit, featured a compilation of tracks that were not ABBA covers
and when it was finally released in 26 February 2001, it debuted at number-two in the Swedish Charts. This pop sensation hit
reached the top ten in other countries and entered at number eighty-three on the World Charts, number-thirteen on the European
Albums Chart, number-fourteen on CNN'S WorldBeat Album Charts and peaked at number-fifty in the United States selling over
60,000 copies in its first two weeks, ensuring Gold Status for sales exceeding the 500,000 copies in the United States alone.
Prior to the release of the album, the A*Teens became one of the first bands to broadcast one of their shows on MSN's
Websites
In early 2002 the band started working on what would be their third studio album, in January a press conference was held
in Stockholm with American rock musician Alice Cooper, the announced they would do a collaboration recording Cooper's classic,
"School's Out". The song was recorded on 25 January in Stockholm, Sweden, two versions were recorded, a Pop
Version and a Harder Version both were planned to be included on A*Teens' third album
due to release on Spring/Summer 2002. To be called Pop 'Til You Drop.
In January 2003 the band announced the release dates of their third album for the international market The band promoted
in Germany and The Netherlands prior to the album's release. On 27 January the album, entitled New Arrival
(a throwback to the ABBA album entitled Arrival), was released. It combined tracks from the last effort Pop
'Til You Drop and new tracks, making a whole new album, or a "half-new album," as they described it. Some of the
material on these two albums was co-written by the members of the A*Teens. The majority of tracks, while recorded in Sweden,
were the work of producers from the United States, Norway, Denmark and Sweden.
The album debuted at number-four in Sweden and was certified Gold a few weeks after its release. The second single taken
from the album (first in some countries), was A Perfect Match, the band shot the video for the song in Cuba, the video was
premiered on 26 February on ZTV. When the single was released, it reached number-two in Sweden and ensured top forty placings
all over the world. Worldwide releases of the album followed, including a release in Mexico, on 24 March, the band promoted
in the country for almost a month, their album reached number-seven on the international album charts and number-fifteen on
the main album charts in late April that year.
By the beginning of 2004 the band announced their first Greatest Hits compilation was going to be released,
a cover of Nick Kamen's "I Promised Myself" became the last single from the band. The band shot the video for the song in
March 2004, and was premiered on ZTV in early April, the song went to international radios on late April/May becoming the
last hit of the band. The album was a compilation of thirteen singles, which each one of them made the top twenty in at least
one country and three new tracks, two of them were written by the band members.
After Greatest Hits was released, the band announced a 2 year break. On 15 April 2006, Marie Serneholt's
Swedish website officially announced that the A*Teens had parted their ways.
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The members of A*Teens are: Amit, Dhani, Marie, and Sara
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