The 59-year-old has spent an estimated £20,000 on merchandise, memorabilia and tickets over the years
An ABBA mega fan who estimates she has splashed out £20,000 on memorabilia and gig tickets has visited East London’s Abba Voyage experience a whopping 10 times, including one particularly ‘unforgettable’ moment.
She has also made “pilgrimages” to the Brighton Dome where ABBA triumphed at Eurovision in 1974, as well as their devoted museum in Stockholm.
Debbie Howlett, 59, a retired project manager from Norwich, described ABBA as her “happy place” throughout her life. Her journey began watching them on television before joining the official fan club at seven years old. She remembered being given time off school in 1979 so her father, Alan Howlett, could take her to Wembley Arena on November 8 for what would prove to be ABBA’s final UK concert performances.
Since then, Debbie has thrown ABBA-themed celebrations at home, danced to a tribute act at her 2008 wedding to wife Julie Cook, and incorporated three of their songs into her father’s funeral service in April this year.
Through her fan club membership, Debbie secured tickets for the opening night of ABBA Voyage on May 26 2022 at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London, where she was “treated like a VIP” with complimentary drinks and catering.
At this red carpet launch, all four band members – Agnetha Faltskog, Bjorn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid “Frida” Lyngstad – reunited in a rare public gathering.
Positioned near the front of the venue, Debbie recalled the “whole roof lifted in the arena” when they emerged on stage, creating a “wave of emotion” she will “never forget”. She has returned to experience the virtual avatar performance nine times since, carrying her 1979 concert tickets along with her on the off-chance ABBA might be present to autograph them.
Debbie told PA Real Life: “It’s my happy place. It’s just a fix of happiness and everyone’s there for a good time… you can just let yourself go and sing or dance as much as you want to. Sometimes it’s just me and my wife, but every other occasion I’ve taken different people.”
She added: “I think the biggest group we had was about 12, where we hired a minibus from Norwich and we all had a dance booth together.”
Debbie’s earliest recollection of ABBA involves watching them on Top Of The Pops, where she would “rush to the television” as the family would “gather around”.
When the group released the track Chiquitita in January 1979, while Debbie was 12, she recalls being unwell with flu and her mother purchasing the single to help her “feel better”. It continues to rank amongst her all-time favourite ABBA tracks.
Debbie explained that she and her father “shared a passion” for the group, with Alan developing a particular “liking” for Agnetha and Frida.
Recalling the day she saw ABBA perform live in November 1979, Debbie said: “Mum had to write a note to the school to get me off for the day. It was the first proper concert that I’d been to, but we had really good seats and it was just full of really nice people. Everyone was dancing and the show itself was flawless. It was just such a happy memory.”
Just over three years later, in December 1982, ABBA announced they were taking a break, leaving Debbie feeling “really sad” but admitting she “saw it coming” due to the shifting tone and lyrics in their music, brought about by divorces within the band.
In the years that followed, the fan club Debbie belonged to disbanded, yet she said: “I never lost my love for ABBA and I would always play it.”
She was grateful for the compilation CD, ABBA Gold, released in 1992, the follow-up compilation album a year later, and the box set, Thank You For The Music, in 1994.
Having met her partner Julie in 1997, and with a mutual passion for the band, the couple arranged for a bagpipe player to perform ABBA’s 1976 song Arrival as they entered the venue for their civil partnership ceremony in 2008.
At the reception later that evening, Debbie recalled dancing “all night” to an ABBA tribute act they had hired specially for the occasion.
Debbie said: “Sometimes people don’t feel they can dance at weddings, but as soon as (the tribute band) played Dancing Queen, everyone was up on the dancefloor. It was actually just two girls dressed as (Agnetha and Frida) so they got two of our guests to dress up as (Bjorn and Benny) and gave them fake instruments to play – so that was brilliant.”
After Debbie’s original ABBA fan club folded in the early 1980s, she discovered another in the mid-2010s, which ultimately led to her entering and winning a draw for tickets to the opening night of ABBA Voyage in 2022. “I was just over the moon,” Debbie said.
She added: “As soon as the avatars appeared, I felt a wave of emotion because they just felt so real. The whole roof just lifted in the arena that night (when the real ABBA came onstage) which I know made them quite emotional and thankful. I just felt lucky that I was there… I’ll never forget that.”
Following the event, Debbie visited her father – who would frequently play ABBA songs on CD in the background – and showed him the photographs she had taken at the event, after which he set one of Agnetha as his phone wallpaper.
Bonding over this shared “passion” for the Swedish pop legends, Debbie said it felt like the “right thing” to play ABBA at Alan’s funeral in April this year, after he passed away from old age at 93.
They played The Way Old Friends Do at the start of the service, Eagle during the photo montage, and When All Is Said And Done as the final song.
Across Debbie’s more than five-decade devotion to ABBA, she estimates she has splashed out up to £20,000 on experiences and memorabilia, including a signed scarf that she wears to concerts.
Having attended ABBA Voyage 10 times and being moved to tears on nearly every occasion, Debbie is heading back at the end of September and once more to mark her 60th birthday in March next year, with a return trip to the dedicated museum in Stockholm also on her wish list.
Debbie said: “ABBA has been consistent throughout my life… I listen to their music to cheer myself up and it just creates happiness. I just want to say a big thank you for what they’ve brought into my life.”
ABBA Voyage has now opened bookings through to May 2027 at London’s ABBA Arena. Further details and tickets can be found at abbavoyage.com.
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