"Dancing Queen" is a pop song recorded by Swedish pop group ABBA. It was released in August 1976, but was first performed two months earlier, on 18 June 1976, during a Royal Variety Show in Stockholm the evening before the Swedish royal wedding. It was the follow-up single to the hit "Fernando" and is commonly regarded as one of the most successful singles of the 1970s. "Dancing Queen" was written by Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus, and Stig Anderson and is considered by many to be ABBA's signature song, as it reached the number 1 position on popular music charts in 13 countries. Recorded in 1975, it was released on the group's album Arrival the following year and as a single with "That's Me" as the B-side.
The song was re-released as a single in 1992 to promote the compilation "ABBA Gold: Greatest Hits".
In 2009, the British performing rights group Phonographic Performance Limited celebrated its 75th anniversary by listing the 75 songs that have played most in Great Britain on the radio, in clubs and on jukeboxes. "Dancing Queen" was number eight on the list.
"Dancing Queen" features the shared lead vocal performance of Agnetha Fältskog and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. Dancing Queen" was a massive hit. It became ABBA's only #1 in the United States in April 1977. It also hit #1 in at least 13 other countries worldwide: Australia, Belgium, Brazil, West Germany, United Kingdom, Ireland, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, Sweden and Rhodesia. "Dancing Queen" also reached the Top 5 in Austria, Canada, Finland, France and Switzerland. The track peaked at #14 in Italy, where ABBA never achieved the same degree of popularity as elsewhere. The song sold over three million copies.
"Dancing Queen" was the last of three consecutive #1s the band had in the UK in 1976, following "Mamma Mia" and "Fernando" earlier in the year.
On December 5, 2010, Britain's ITV broadcast the results of a poll to determine The Nation's Favourite ABBA Song, in which "Dancing Queen" placed at #2. The song is featured in the video clip above from the Australian classic film "Muriel's Wedding".
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