Cher to Release ABBA Covers Album Following ‘Mamma Mia’
Cher will be releasing a full album of ABBA covers, the fittingly titled Dancing Queen, on September 28th via Warner Bros. Records. Fans who pre-order the album will receive an instant download of Cher’s version of the 1979 track “Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight).”
The singer recorded Dancing Queen in London, England and Los Angeles, California with her longtime collaborator Mark Taylor, who previously produced her chart-topping 1998 single “Believe.”
In a statement about the album, Cher enthused about her love of Abba’s music.
“I’ve always liked Abba and saw the original Mamma Mia musical on Broadway three times,” he said. “After filming [the sequel film] Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, I was reminded again of what great and timeless songs they wrote and started thinking ‘why not do an album of their music?’ The songs were harder to sing than I imagined but I’m so happy with how the music came out. I’m really excited for people to hear it. It’s a perfect time.”
Cher plays Ruby, the mother of Donna (Meryl Streep) and Sophie’s (Amanda Seyfried) grandmother, in Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again. She first announced the covers album on the Today Show, talking about how her role sparked the LP idea.
“After I did ‘Fernando’ [in the movie] I thought it would really be fun to do an album of ABBA songs, so I did,” she told Today. She added, “It’s not what you would think of when you think of ABBA, ’cause I did it in a different way.”
Discussing her role with Kathie Lee Gifford on Today, Gifford brought up that it was “interesting” that Cher would portray Streep’s mother (Cher is only three years her senior). “This was one of the most extraordinary adventures of my life,” Cher said. “Everyone was so gracious and they just loved me and Meryl was hiding when I was doing ‘Fernando.'”
In the film, Cher and Andy Garcia perform a dramatic cover of ABBA’s “Fernando.”
“I was a huge fan, I saw the musical on Broadway three times and was dancing in the aisles with everybody,” Cher cited as one of the reasons she wanted to take on the role. The star herself is also the subject of the Broadway musical The Cher Show. Cher added that she loves the film because “it shows women being in control of their life.”