Elizabeth

IT is the dancefloor hit that was the late Queen’s favourite song.

But we can reveal Abba’s Dancing Queen — released 50 years ago this week — almost had a completely different name and made the Swedish foursome cry the first time they heard the final edit.

In an exclusive interview to mark half a century of the song, which has been streamed more than two billion times and was voted the UK’s favourite dancefloor filler, ­historian Carl Magnus Palm explains that Abba still have unheard songs.

But friend of the band Carl fears the world will never hear them.

And he insists that members Agnetha Faltskog, Bjorn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Frida Lyngstad have no interest in reforming.

Carl, who has known the band for 25 years, told The Sun: “Dancing Queen was one the songs that Abba are most proud of as its sound was so unique at the time they wrote it.

“But the lyrics didn’t come until a long time after the melody was formed.

“They told me that for weeks they sung nonsense words over the chorus.

The working title was ‘Boogaloo’ as they were the words they sung instead of Dancing Queen for a long time.

“I’m not sure it would’ve been the hit it is today if they had stuck with that. When they eventually found the lyrics and the song was finished, some of the band were reduced to tears, they found it so beautiful.”

On the prospect of them reforming and releasing of new songs, he added: “They seem very firm that they are going to enjoy their retirement and that they’ll be no more new music.

“However, I know there are a few songs which have never been heard. They were written for their last album and didn’t make the cut.

“They won’t even tell people the names of the tracks. I guess while they remain unreleased there is always a chance of new music. It’s not impossible but unlikely.”

Carl revealed that the famously private Swedish group remain close but rarely socialise together.

And he said they shed tears of joy when they saw their younger selves in hologram form at London’s Abba Voyage show.

Carl also said that songwriter Bjorn is working on a new musical with the help of AI and an unnamed “British female artist”.

Abba formed in 1972 and went on to become one of the world’s biggest acts, selling more than 50million records.

Dancing Queen alone — which was released in August 1976 — has sold more than 4million globally and has two billion downloads on Spotify.

The song was not only voted the UK’s favourite Abba hit of all time by Radio 2 listeners in 2024 but was voted the nation’s favourite dancefloor song ever.

But Carl, who got close to the band having been a historian and author on their music for 25 years, told how the song could have been so different to the track we all love.

He said: “Abba had a big hit with Waterloo in 1974 but the reality was everything after that for a while had been a flop in the UK and they put great store by what was a success in ­Britain.

“They wondered whether part of it was down to getting distracted in the songwriting process. So in the summer of 1975 they went to a tiny cabin in the Swedish archipelago island of Viggso near Stockholm.

“Bjorn and Agnetha, who were married at the time, had a property there and they had this small two-bedroom guest cabin with an indoor porch.

“I was lucky enough to be allowed to go there. They set up Benny’s piano and two chairs and started to write a melody.

“No one could reach them there, so they could focus. For the first time Bjorn brought an electric guitar and amp instead of his acoustic guitar because he told me he’d been listening to lots of American dance music like Stevie Wonder and George McCrae’s Rock Your Baby.

“They then came up with this melody. It was the beginning of Dancing Queen. For ages the lyrics were ­gibberish — English words with no meaning or cohesion. I heard them. The chorus was simply ‘Boogaloo’.

“In the next few weeks they went back to the mainland and laid it all down.

“Benny and their manager wrote the lyrics about this 17-year-old ­clubbing girl.

“They gave no suggestion it was based on Agnetha and Frida — just a fictitious young clubber. They told me that they got rid of some extra verses, which the fans never heard.

“I’m glad they did as originally the first two lines to the song were going to be ‘Baby, baby, you’re out of sight. Hey, you’re looking all right tonight’.

“They knew people would have hated that so they cut it out.

“It was a good job because I doubt it would’ve been the hit it is today with those as your opening lyrics.”

Carl also told about how the band became emotional when the song was finally cut.

He said: “Bjorn and Benny told me there were absolutely ecstatic. They finished it late at night and Bjorn was desperate to play it to someone. Agnetha was asleep at home so he went to his sister’s place instead, and they played this tape over and over again.

“Bjorn went home to Frida, who he was married to then, and played it.

“She told me she put the tape in the tape machine, pressed the play button, and she thought it was so beautiful that she started to cry.

“Agnetha has since told me she had chills and the hairs on the back of her neck stood up when she heard it.”

The video for the song was recorded in a “matter of hours” on a low budget.

When released, Dancing Queen spent six weeks at No1 in the UK and topped the charts in 15 different countries.

According to Carl, Abba loved the song so much they always tried to play it as their final tune of every encore at live shows.

It gained fans from all over the world, including the King and Queen of Sweden and the late Queen ­Elizabeth, who regularly said was her favourite song.

Virgin Radio DJ Chris Evans once recalled performing a DJ set at a ­private royal party.

When Dancing Queen was played, the Queen reportedly remarked to her guests: “I always try to dance when this song comes on because I am the Queen and I like to dance”.

Carl added that the band were moved by having the late Queen as a fan, saying: “They were all very touched.”

However, Bjorn told him that he was “puzzled” by the fact Dancing Queen is seen as a dancefloor song as “he still thinks it’s too slow to dance to”.

In 1979, Bjorn and Agnetha split and two years later Frida and Benny did the same. It saw the band go on an indefinite hiatus.

But in 2021, they returned with new material and album Voyage.

A year later, interactive experience Abba ­Voyage opened in London — showing the band as holograms from their pomp.

Carl added: “They loved Abba ­Voyage and they went to the opening. Bjorn told me it was like watching a band he used to know from decades ago.

“He said it was like an out-of-body experience.

“There were tears of happiness when they saw it, definitely.”

Carl, who first got to know the band when they worked with him to release his 2001 book Bright Lights Dark Shadows: The Definitive Bio- graphy Of Abba, said that the likelihood of there being any reunion is very slim.

Carl added: “They are winding down now.

“They like their privacy. They have grandchildren. They are in their 70s and 80s.

“The chance of a reunion is very slim I think. But it’s not impossible. There are still the songs that didn’t make it on Voyage, but they are showing no signs of wanting anyone to know what they are.

“They are still close but they don’t really socialise. They are all living very low-key lives.

“It is only Bjorn who is working. He is working on a musical — using the help of AI — with a British female singer, whose name they have not told me.

“One thing I know for sure is that when they recorded Dancing Queen on that tiny porch they would never have dreamed it would still be as relevant and popular today — 50 years on.”

• Bright Lights Dark Shadows: The ­Definitive Biography Of Abba by Carl ­Magnus Palm is available now.

AMERICAN Pie sex symbol Shannon Elizabeth has revealed the staggering amount she’s raking in from OnlyFans – after quitting Hollywood.

Actress Shannon – who is best known for her role as exchange student Nadia in the American Pie franchise – has opened up about joining the adult site and having ‘a lot of fun’.

The 52-year-old told Variety: “I think I was one of the first actors to have one.

“The only people who had websites at the time were porn stars. That was it.

“So, everyone thought, ‘Why are you putting a website up?’ But we thought that was the next step in the evolution of things.”

The actress launched her account on the subscription site back in April to show off her ‘sexy’ side. 

BIG SLICE OF PIE

American Pie’s Shannon Elizabeth rakes in $1M payday on OnlyFans in a week

MY, MY…

American Pie star, 52, joining OnlyFans to ‘show off sexy side’ after hubby split

“I crossed $1 million (£74k) in nine days,” she shared. “It was really surprising, and I was honoured that my fans came out and supported me.

“I had no idea what to expect, and the response has been really amazing. I’m chatting with people all the time and it’s been a lot of fun.

“There are a bunch of actors that have recently gotten on and we’re starting to pull it back to what it was meant to be,” Elizabeth added.

“It doesn’t have to be only for adult entertainment. It can be whatever you want it to be.”

“I was going through a divorce here in South Africa and was chatting to my manager Joe about what’s next and how to restart things in my life.

“I had really neglected a lot of things, and he brought it up as an option. I wasn’t sure and didn’t know much about it, and we looked into it, and I thought, ‘Yeah, why not?’” explained Elizabeth.

The brunette beauty returned to the American Pie franchise for the fourth and final instalment American Reunion in 2012 – but hasn’t acted since 2024.

Shannon currently lives in South Africa and recently opened up about being cast in her breakout role, explaining how working as a model prior to American Pie was a big help. 

She continued: “For the last ten years I’ve been living off of my savings for the most part because I haven’t been as focused on work.

“To be able to get myself back to the point where I’m not struggling and am able to choose projects because I like them and not because I need the money — it’s definitely giving me more freedom to do that.”

When the movie first came out 18 years ago, Nadia became infamous for her scene with character Jim Levenstein (Jason Biggs) where he was streamed over webcam trying to seduce her.

Before American Pie, Nadia worked as a model before landing a small part in the killer snowman flick Jack Frost in 1997.

But starring as Nadia led to roles in Scary Movie, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back – along with several magazine shoots.

The keen animal activist, vegan and environmentalist has also been in a number of TV shows including Just Shoot Me!, That ‘70s Show, The Twilight Zone, Punk’d and Dancing With The Stars (US).

In her personal life, Shannon was married to actors Joseph D. Reitman from 2002 to 2005.

After her stint on Dancing with the Stars, she dated her dancing partner Derek Hough for over a year, until August 2009, but the pair later split.

The importance of parental support goes meta in Julia Hart’s “Don’t Say Good Luck.” The YA musical drama, which premieres Friday, pays homage to musical theater, unconditional maternal love and the family-hour TV, er, Netflix movie. In a landscape littered with teenage dysfunction, “Don’t Say Good Luck” is a moving argument for aspirational television.

And with a star whose famous father serves as producer, it‘s an admonition to the term “nepo baby.”

We meet normal kid Sophie Birenbaum (Sunny Sandler) as she anxiously prepares for a day that will include auditioning for her high school’s production of “Waitress.” While her father, Ted (Max Greenfield, marvelously transformed by a beard), wrangles her rambunctious younger twin brothers, her mother, Elizabeth (Melanie Lynskey), assures her that she is talented and beautiful and will do just great. These sentiments are echoed by Sophie’s best friend, Carolyn (Scarlett Estevez), who joins her at the audition where the director is the super-cool Ms. Parker (“Brooklyn Nine-Nine’s” Stephanie Beatriz) and even theater department queen bee Mallory (Elyse Bell), who everyone knows is going to get the lead, is pretty nice.

It’s a high school experience that’s about as far from “Euphoria” or even “Glee” as one can get while still being situated on Earth. Still, all is not perfect in Sophie’s world. When Elizabeth learns that her cancer has returned, Sophie overhears her parents’ subsequent conversation via a butt-dial from her father’s phone. Her first impulse is to flee the audition; instead her emotional turmoil fuels a powerful performance that (spoiler alert?) lands her the lead role.

Determined to downplay the seriousness of her illness, Elizabeth insists that life continue on as normal — she and Ted own a local deli, which offers some nice bagel versus wrap shade and a Jon Lovitz cameo. Though Sophie is worried, she believes her mother who says she will beat cancer again. So she throws herself into the stomach-churning rigor of being the star of the show, which includes a painful separation from her bestie, a crush on her co-star and a struggle to find the confidence to let her obvious talent shine.

“Don’t Say Good Luck” is, obviously, a showcase for Sandler, whose parents, Adam and Jackie Sandler, serve as producers (which may have had something to do with the extraordinary supporting cast, which also includes Bebe Neuwirth and Steve Buscemi as Elizabeth’s parents). Adam Sandler and his Happy Madison Productions have a long and lucrative partnership with Netflix, which recently debuted “Happy Gilmore 2” and announced “Grown Ups 3” as part of their deal. One could see this as yet another case of nepo-baby triumph — streaming is currently littered with the progeny of famous parents — or simply a living example of the film’s theme. Like the Birenbaum parents, the Sandlers want to help their daughter shine in her chosen career and that she certainly does.

Adam Sandler serves as a producer, which may have had something to do with the extraordinary supporting cast, which also includes Steve Buscemi as Sophie’s grandfather.

(Netflix)

Though Sophie is the only older daughter ever to escape the task of caring for her younger brothers (or doing any chores at all), Sandler makes her completely believable as a nice, self-conscious kid who just needs a push to trust her talent. If the tone of the film is 1970s-family-comedy aspirational (particularly in the mother-daughter scenes), that shouldn’t be construed as a low level of difficulty.

Indeed, it is almost revolutionary to see emotionally resonant teenage characters who aren’t mired in abuse, addiction or some kind of horror; leveraging dysfunction has become shorthand for “drama.” “Don’t Say Good Luck” is based on the real-life experience of co-writer Laura Hankin (collaborating here with Hart and Jordan Horowitz), and though the stakes are emotionally high, portraying a loving family doing their best to get through a devastating situation with minimal meltdowns is its own act of bravery.

It certainly helps that this family is firmly anchored by Lynskey, who proves, yet again, that she can do anything. Her Elizabeth is neither martyr nor saint, just a woman who wants to live as she’s always lived for as long as she can. Lynskey lifts what could have been a sappy (or even worse, guilt-inducing) cancer-mom tale into a quietly transcendent contemplation of motherhood. (A scene in which she flips through the calendar trying to figure out when to let the kids know what’s really going on drove the breath from this mother’s body.)

Does “Don’t Say Good Luck” skirt around the grim realities of cancer as cavalierly as it paints a Pinterest mood-board vision of high school? Absolutely. But that doesn’t mean the message and the feelings (yes, you absolutely will cry) are not just as authentic. Love is the root of much pain, but it’s also what conquers it in the end.

Melanie Lynskey as Elizabeth, Max Greenfield as Ted and Jon Lovitz as Lenny in “Don’t Say Good Luck.”

(Netflix)

Elizabeth Olsen has been a regular on our screens for the past 15 years with plenty more to come.

Elizabeth Olsen fans may be surprised to see an unexpected hit ranked as number one.

Actress Elizabeth is no stranger to some of the biggest shows and films around, including none other than the iconic Avengers franchise.

She initially found fame as the older sister of twin actresses Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, known for appearing in Two of a Kind, before creating her own path in the entertainment industry.

As it’s now been revealed that Olsen is pregnant with her first child with husband and musician Robbie Arnett, here’s a breakdown of how Elizabeth Olsen’s work is ranked.

Elizabeth Olsen shows and films ranked

10. In Secret

Coming in last place for Elizabeth Olsen’s work is 2013 film In Secret, also referred to as Therese with just 41% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Also starring Oscar Isaac, Jessica Lange and Tom Felton, the official synopsis reads: “Therese is stuck in a loveless marriage to her sickly cousin, Camille.

“Her life changes when she meets Camille’s childhood friend, Laurent.

“They have an affair, but things end rather tragically.”

9. Love & Death

Scoring a more respectable 63%, Love & Death is a 2023 biographical crime drama that aired on HBO Max in the US and ITV in the UK.

The description reads: “Two couples lead peaceful and happy lives in a small Texas Town.

“However, an extramarital affair tragically alters the course of their lives.”

Olsen stars alongside Jesse Plemons, Lily Rabe, Tom Pelphrey and Krysten Ritter.

8. Eternity

Supernatural romantic-comedy Eternity came out last year and earned an impressive 76%.

Starring opposite Olsen in the Apple TV film is Whiplash actor Miles Teller and Masters of the Air actor Callum Turner.

The synopsis reads: “In an afterlife where souls have one week to decide where to spend eternity, Joan is faced with the impossible choice between the man she spent her life with and her first love, who died young and has waited decades for her to arrive.”

7. Doctor Strange

One of the numerous films in the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe) to score big for Olsen is Doctor Strange with 73%.

The description reads: “In an accident, Stephen Strange, a famous neurosurgeon, loses the ability to use his hands.

“He goes to visit the mysterious Ancient One to heal himself and becomes a great sorcerer under her tutelage.”

Olsen is joined by the likes of Benedict Cumberbatch, Rachel McAdams and Chiwetel Ejiofor.

6. Kill Your Darlings

Released 12 years ago, the 37-year-old stars in thriller romance Kill Your Darlings with Harry Potter icon Daniel Radcliffe and The Amazing Spider-Man 2 star Dane DeHaan.

The synopsis for Kill Your Darlings, which earned 78% on Rotten Tomatoes, reads: “A literary revolution ensues when Ginsberg meets Carr at college.

“However, an unresolved murder invites trouble for Carr and sets Ginsberg on a path to reveal the truth through controversial poetry.”

5. Avengers: Infinity War

2018’s Avengers: Infinity War is the third Avengers film and the 19th film overall in the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe).

Starring as Wanda Maximoff, also known as the Scarlet Witch, Olsen features in all of the Avengers movies with this one ranking 85%.

In this chapter of the Avengers story, the team joins forces with their allies to stop Thanos from finding the infinity stones.

4. WandaVision

Olsen has her own time centre stage in the MCU sitcom WandaVision where “Vision and Wanda live a normal life in Westview and conceal their superpowers. “However, as decades pass by, they start doubting that everything is not what it seems.”

Joining her in the hit series are recognisable stars like Kat Jennings, Kathryn Hahn and Paul Bettany.

WandaVision scores a near-perfect 92% with fans on Rotten Tomatoes.

3. Avengers: Endgame

Of course, it’s no surprise that Avengers: Endgame is among Elizabeth’s most popular films with a whopping 94%.

Once again joined by the MCU’s usual suspects including Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr and Chris Hemsworth, Endgame became the highest-grossing film of all time, making more than $2.79 billion.

The synopsis reads: “After Thanos, an intergalactic warlord, disintegrates half of the universe, the Avengers must reunite and assemble again to reinvigorate their trounced allies and restore balance.”

However, Avengers: End Game not only isn’t Olsen fans’ favourite but also comes in second place with two other projects scoring higher.

1. Sorry For Your Loss

One of those taking the top spot with a staggering 97% is the two-seasoned drama Sorry For Your Loss.

Originally debuting in 2018, the description for the drama states: “The sudden death of her husband upends and transforms every relationship in Leigh Shaw’s life, also forcing her to realize there was a lot about her husband that she didn’t know.”

Archive 81 and Uncorked actor Mamoudou Athie, Star Wars ’ Kelly Marie Tran and Ozark’s Janet McTeer join Olsen in this Prime Video series.

1. His Three Daughters

Also declared as Elizabeth Olsen’s top project is the 2023 comedy-drama film His Three Daughters with 97% from Rotten Tomatoes.

The description reads: “Three distant sisters reunite in NYC to care for their sick father.

“Tensions rise as they confront past issues, aiming to heal family bonds amid laughter and tears.”

Gilded Age star Carrie Coon and Poker Face’s Natasha Lyonne Rachel both lead the cast with Olsen.