Introduction
The Disillusionment of a Legend: Bjorn Ulvaeus Shares His Difficult Perspective on the Modern Music World
In Stockholm, 2025, ABBA legend Bjorn Ulvaeus, in a rare conversation, revealed his profound disillusionment with the music industry. He didn’t talk about the golden memories but about the bitterness, jealousy, and deceit he witnessed behind the stage lights. With a blunt tone, he didn’t hesitate to criticize artists he believes have damaged the sincerity and beauty of music.
Bjorn doesn’t hate these people; he hates what they represent. He feels that music, instead of being an art of emotion, has become a tool to serve ego and arrogance. He criticized artists like Sting, whom he considers to have turned music into a dry, academic theory, lacking simplicity and joy. He said that Sting doesn’t sing from the heart, but from an intellect that has read too many books, turning beautiful melodies into incomprehensible labyrinths.
He also expressed disappointment with other legends like Eric Clapton and Bob Dylan. With Clapton, Bjorn believes he borrowed the pain of others to build his fame, turning the blues into a fashionable accessory instead of a voice of suffering. As for Dylan, Bjorn called him a “trickster,” a man who sold incomprehensibility as a profound philosophy, making audiences feel inadequate for not understanding his mumbled, inaudible verses.
Bjorn’s criticism also extends to later stars like Yoko Ono, Liam Gallagher, and Ted Nugent. He believes they used rudeness and vulgarity to hide their lack of talent, turning rebellion into a money-making gimmick. He thinks these people brought not creativity, but chaos and division.
Bjorn Ulvaeus’s words are not jealousy or bitterness. They are the pain of an artist who has lived and died with music, witnessing true values slowly being eroded. He lived in a world of harmony and melody, and now he is facing a world where noise and pretense are taking over. This article is not just a criticism, but also a warning, a call to return to the simplicity, sincerity, and true beauty of music.