ABBA icon dies as band issues heartfelt tribute
ABBA icon dies as band issues heartfelt tribute
ABBA have reunited in heartbreak to issue a tribute to one of the stars who helped to create their iconic music - sound engineer Michael B Tretow
(L-R) Technician Michael Tretow stands with Swedish singers and songwriters Benny Andersson, Anni-Frid Lyngstad, Agnetha Fältskog and Björn Ulvaeus, of the supergroup ABBA,
(Image: undefined via Getty Images )
ABBA are mourning the death of their sound engineer. The family ofMichael B Tretow's family announced he has died at the age of 80.
Tretow was an influential figure in Swedish music, serving not only as ABBA's sound engineer but also as a musician in his own right. The members of the acclaimed Eurovision group have all released rare statements, paying tribute to Michael.
Benny Andersson said: "You meant more to us four in ABBA than anyone else. I hope and believe that you felt it throughout all the years that have passed since we worked (and continuously laughed) in the studio. Our music lives on, it seems, and you are the one who made it timeless. You were a fantastic inspirer and joy-maker. And the finest sound engineer the world has ever seen. I miss you. And I've saved all your coconuts!".
Meanwhile, Bjorn Ulvaeus went on to add: "His significance for ABBA cannot be overestimated. He was a warm, generous person and a good friend. Thanks, Micke, for all the laughs!" Anni-Frid Lyngstad gave her tribute via Aftonbladet, noting: "You were the security in our little studio bubble with your never-ending creativity, warmth and joy, and no one fit the bill as well as you! For us, you are forever part of the ABBA sound and you will never be forgotten!"
Michael B Tretow produced some of ABBA's greatest hits
(Image: Getty )
Agnetha Fältskog paid tribute with heartfelt words: "So glad I got to spend some time with you a few weeks ago... You were so sick, but your laughter and humor were still there... So many memories are preserved, your encouraging words during the recordings meant so much. We are sad now, a talented and unique person has left us. Sleep well Micke, you are in our hearts forever."
Article continues below
The Mixdown website featured an article detailing Tretow's distinctive production style, noting that he produced ABBA classics such as Ring-Ring, Waterloo, and Super Trouper, , reports the Mirror. A hallmark of these hits was the emphasis on tom-tom drums within the mix.
To ensure the vocals remained prominent and delicate, Michael would strategically mic only the toms and bass drums, steering clear of cymbals which he felt could dominate the arrangement. He was also pioneering in his use of three C414 condenser microphones to record the grand piano, a technique not widely adopted at the time, adding a special touch to tracks like Mamma Mia, S.O. S, and Ring Ring.
The Swedish Herald, reporting on Tretow's death late on Tuesday night, recalled his early days as a sound engineer at Metronome Studio where, in the 1970s, Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson entrusted him with the role of ABBA's sound engineer. For the latest TV and showbiz news sign up to our newsletter
He collaborated with the group on all of their albums except for the recent "Voyage" from 2021, playing a pivotal role in crafting their iconic sound. His death might lead to a poignant reunion of the four Abba members should they come together to mourn at his funeral.
Though seldom seen in public as a quartet, the band did reunite for a photo opportunity during the premiere of their Abba voyage concert experience in 2022.
ABBA reunited publicly for the premier of ABBA Voyage
(Image:)
Devastated fans have been sharing their tributes online, with one posting: "Oh no that is so sad, my sincere condolences to his family and friends, gosh he was so important in the creative world of Abba. Sad sad news."
Another fan paid homage by saying: "So sad... He truly was the 5th Member of ABBA," And yet another expressed their sorrow with: "Aww so sad... I really liked him when viewing ABBA videos, etc May God bless his family and friends."
Michael is survived by his son Rasmus Tretow and his wife Malin Hertzman.
Article continues below
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Spectator
4 hours ago
- Spectator
Summer opera festivals have gone Wagner mad
Another week, another Wagner production at a summer opera festival. This never used to happen. When John Christie launched Glyndebourne in the 1930s, he hoped to stage the Ring. So he gathered a team of refugee musicians from Germany, who quickly assured him that it was impossible and he should stick to Mozart. The man who changed all that was Martin Graham, the plimsoll-wearing founder of Longborough Festival Opera, who died in April at the age of 83. Graham was irrepressible; a self-taught enthusiast. With no one around to tell him it couldn't be done, he pushed ahead regardless, staging the Ring cycle twice in as many decades. And now look. We've got Parsifal at Glyndebourne (its third Wagner staging), a chamber-sized Tristan coming up at Grimeborn and a full Ring cycle starting next year at Grange Park Opera – which, having built its own back-garden theatre, has followed the Martin Graham playbook still further by importing Longborough's music director Anthony Negus. Meanwhile in Notting Hill, Opera Holland Park has taken a first step into the Bayreuth club with The Flying Dutchman, Wagner's shortest opera, and the least Wagnerian that actually sounds Wagnerian, if that makes any sense. It certainly makes sense for OHP, which is still operating on a Covid-era stage that places the orchestra in the middle of the performance space. That's not invariably a bad thing: the orchestra is the sea on which this drama sails, and with Peter Selwyn conducting, the City of London Sinfonia went at Wagner's (moderately reduced) score with suitably salty vigour. The apron stage thrust the singers towards the audience, the roof of OHP's tent was configured to suggest sails, and out among the shrubs and the five-a-side pitches, the peacocks gave their best impression of seagulls. There was plenty to admire in Julia Burbach's production, too, plus a few things that weren't so great. Senta (Eleanor Dennis, bright and austere) was on stage almost throughout and her rusty skeleton of a house is tilted like a shipwreck. When Daland (a bluff Robert Winslade Anderson) brings the Dutchman (Paul Carey Jones) home to meet her, gravity propels her towards him – a neat visual metaphor. Neal Cooper as Erik, and Angharad Lyddon, as Mary, found more (both musically and dramatically) than you'd have thought possible in these thankless roles, while the masked ghost crew stalked the action in silence. The Holland Park set-up gives the big choral scenes a real physicality. The negatives? OHP performs the opera in its three-act form, which is unusual these days but valid enough. A pity, though, to lose the orchestral postlude that Wagner added in a later revision, and there was some curious textual jiggery-pokery at the end of Act One, introducing a female chorus into an act where Wagner's sonic palette is built around the darkness of male voices. Possibly it's authentic – Wagner tinkered with The Flying Dutchman a lot, and it'd take a musicologist to unpick all the variants – but it rang false, even if the score as presented was a better fit for Burbach's vision, which was more concerned with obsession and social isolation than transcendence. The City of London Sinfonia went at Wagner's score with suitably salty vigour Again, that's a valid approach, but it meant that the ending of the opera was confusing. Senta simply wandered off stage. And it was a bumper night for 21st-century-opera-director mannerisms (chilly, distant lovers; domestic violence; silent doppelgangers populating the overture) though if you're a regular operagoer, you price that in. Overall, though, the energy and atmosphere won through, crowned by Carey Jones's weatherbeaten Dutchman: rough in all the right places and positively sulphurous in the depths. Carey Jones was a formidable Wotan at Longborough. Clearly, a rising tide lifts all boats – even ghost ships. It's not every year, moreover, that the UK sees two different but comparably fine productions of Verdi's Simon Boccanegra. Close on the heels of Opera North's touring production, Grange Park Opera has opened its season with what turns out to be a revival of David Pountney's 1997 staging for Welsh National Opera; complete with costumes in the colours of renaissance frescos and shifting, sea-dappled abstract sets by the great Ralph Koltai. Insert your own bitter aside about how a national company has been defunded by the Arts Council (Welsh and English: both are culpable) to the point that only private festivals can now afford to revive classic productions that were once public property. What matters here is that Grange Park has done it proud, with excellent singing in every role. Otar Jorjikia, as a purposeful Gabriele, made a particularly strong pairing with Elin Pritchard's Amelia: a performance in which pathos burned as bright as passion. Gianluca Marciano conducted vividly, and Simon Keenlyside was a noble Boccanegra – by turns expansive, belligerent and vulnerable in one of Verdi's most Shakespearean title roles.
Daily Mail
5 hours ago
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Ncuti Gatwa spoke at pro-Palestine rally outside Parliament just days after sudden on-screen exit as Doctor Who
As the BBC 's Doctor Who, Ncuti Gatwa came under fire when he mysteriously pulled out of his Eurovision hosting duties moments after Israel qualified last month. Now it can be revealed that three days after the actor departed Doctor Who, he spoke at a pro-Palestine demonstration outside parliament. On 3 June, the actor, 32, stood in front of a banner reading ' Gaza: Actions Not Words' and delivered a speech to hundreds of people at the Westminster event, organised by Choose Love – a charity that this week supported Greta Thunberg 's 'selfie yacht' trip to Gaza. Gatwa had withdrawn from his role as a Eurovision Grand Final spokesman just 18 days before his speech at the rally. It has prompted renewed speculation as to his motivation for pulling out of the role and whether the BBC was aware that he would do so if Israel qualified. He had been due to announce the UK jury's points during the live broadcast but was replaced at short notice by singer Sophie Ellis-Bextor, 46. The BBC made the change public only two minutes after Israel qualified for the final – prompting speculation that his withdrawal was a protest. The broadcaster cited 'unforeseen circumstances' as the reason. The timing raised eyebrows, as Israel's contestant, Yuval Raphael – a survivor of the October 7 Nova music festival attack – secured her place in the final that same evening. Gatwa has previously expressed support for the Palestinian cause on social media, sharing images of 'Free Palestine' graffiti and promoting fundraising campaigns. The Rwanda-born, Scotland-raised actor made history as the first Black actor to lead Doctor Who, taking on the role of the Fifteenth Doctor in 2023. However, his tenure ended after just two series, making him the second shortest-serving Doctor in the show's history – only Christopher Eccleston's single-series run was shorter. Gatwa's departure was announced in May 2025, when his character regenerated into Rose Tyler played by Billie Piper, 42, ending his 18-month stint in the Tardis. One attendee at the Westminster rally told the Mail: 'He actually read out the names of deceased Palestinian children from his mobile. 'Ncuti appears unaware that, despite his support for Palestine, he could face serious risks in parts of the Middle East. Given the timing – coming so soon after the Eurovision controversy and his abrupt departure from Doctor Who – his appearance may reflect a belief that his position at the BBC had become untenable.' He was joined at the rally by comedian Alexei Sayle and his former Doctor Who co-star Varada Sethu. Sethu, 33, who played companion Belinda Chandra in Doctor Who, who left the sci-fi show at the time as Gatwa, also spoke at the rally.
Wales Online
7 hours ago
- Wales Online
Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen hands over Cotswolds estate amid 'end of life crisis'
Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen hands over Cotswolds estate amid 'end of life crisis' Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen has announced that he has handed over the ownership of his Cotswolds estate to his sons-in-law Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen shared his "life-threatening" experience in his Sunday Times column (Image: Mike Marsland, Mike Marsland/WireImagevia Getty Images ) TV personality and design guru Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen has passed on the ownership of his Cotswolds estate to his sons-in-law, following his struggle with a life-threatening experience. In January, the 60-year-old design icon opened up about an "end of life crisis" he endured after a chilling encounter while filming for Netflix's Celebrity Bear Hunt, presented by Holly Willoughby and Bear Grylls, which saw him lose consciousness during an aquatic stunt. With his future in mind, the famed Changing Rooms presenter is "no longer lord of the manor" at the Cotswolds home, where he lives in the main house alongside his wife, Jackie, who is also 60, their daughter Hermione, aged 27, and her partner. His older daughter Cecile, 30, resides a stone's throw away within the estate with her husband and two children. During the process of transferring ownership, Laurence had a humorous time detailing to solicitors the nature of his decision: "One of the most amusing things was having to sit down with a solicitor for them to assess whether Jackie and I were being coerced into this by our bullying sons-in-law. Our friends just can't believe it. They go, 'what happens if you all fall out?'". Laurence Llewellyn-Bowen's grand country home in the Cotswolds (Image: llewelynbowen/Instagram ) Laurence, who boasts a net worth of £8 million, shared in the Sunday Times his disinterest in accumulating wealth for its own sake: "We're not going to be those old people sitting on a great big pile of cash. Terribly unhappy, terribly lonely," reports the Manchester Evening News. Article continues below He added: "Owning a lot of stuff but not actually having the benefit of it. We are very, very privileged, but we have made this decision. We have manifested this life." He went on to disclose a surprising detail about his family's property arrangements, with Hermione saying: "Hilariously, Cecile and I aren't on the deeds, because we inherit it anyway - it's actually the husbands.'" Discussing a harrowing experience on Bear Grylls' Celebrity Bear Hunt that aired in February, Laurence opened up about the frightening moment he faced during the filming. While participating in a water challenge in Costa Rica, the then-59 year old interior designer got entangled in a bungee line and was dragged beneath the boat, staying submerged for a terrifying length of time until the show's safety crew pulled him out unconscious. Prior to joining the extreme reality show, he revealed his wife's opinion on the matter: "She feels it's got midlife crisis written all over it, although, as I keep telling her, I'm too old to have a midlife crisis, this is more like an end of life crisis." Expressing his wife's envy towards his adventure, he said: "She's actually, frankly, incredibly jealous. She would love to do it and has always been mildly irritated that no one's ever asked her to do something like this." He also mentioned his wife's readiness for emergencies, noting: "Because she literally has always had in her handbag, a SAS Survival Guide, to get herself out of all sorts. I meant to bring it actually and again, how foolishly, I completely forgot." The Mail reports that Laurence invited his family to stay at his spacious Cotswolds estate after he and wife Jackie realised the house was too large just for the two of them, remarking they "were rattling around the house like dried peas in a luxury tin". As the house filled with family life, the star reflected on the changes, sharing: "We certainly aren't sliding into our sixtieth year with boredom calling. We want to use our time wisely and valuably. The way you design your world helps the way you feel. "We have our big manor house filled with children and pieces of brightly coloured plastic and Peppa Pig again." For the latest TV and showbiz gossip sign up to our newsletter Article continues below Laurence then mused about embracing this phase of life, adding: "I think its something that more and more people should be doing, for us boomers generation we're all sort of surprised we've made it to 60. "I think everyone thought we would live fast and die young rather than live very, very slowly and die really quite old."
