What Are The A*Teens Up To These Days?

While I was in the middle of an A*Teens music video marathon (don't ask how I ended up there, it just happened) last Friday evening, I asked my boyfriend if he remembered the wildly popular ABBA cover band. Not only did he not remember the pop quartet, but this was the first he’d heard of them. I couldn’t believe this; given how ubiquitous the A*Teens’ rendition of “Dancing Queen” was in 2000, I sincerely wondered if he’d spent that time hiding out in a Y2K bunker.

Here is a direct transcript of our exchange:

Me: “You’ve really never heard of the A*Teens?”

Boyfriend: “No. What is that?”

Me: “A group of teens from Sweden that covered ABBA songs. They sang original songs, too, but they’re known for covering ABBA songs.”

BF: “Seriously?”

Me: “Yeah. They sold millions of albums worldwide.”

BF: “Millions?”

Me: “Yes.”

BF: “Covering ABBA songs.”

Me: “Yes.”

BF: “You aren’t making this up?”

Me: [Plays “Dancing Queen” music video.]

BF: “Huh. What happened to them?”

Me: “Like so many great bands before them, they broke up.”

After the four ABBA-loving teens released a greatest hits album in 2004, they took a never-ending break. Marie Serneholt, Dhani Lennevald, Sara Lumholdt, Amit Sebastian Paul went on to begin their solo careers. But where are they now? What are the A*Teens up to in 2015?

At first, my search seemed to be futile; I do not speak Swedish, so I could not understand a majority of the A*Teens articles I found. But then, shining like the lid on a jar of lingonberry jam, ateensonline.com appeared in my search results. The site features up-to-date A*Teens news, and all of it is in English. Mamma mia, ateensonline.com, now I really know/My my, I could never let you go.

Here's the Reader's Digest summary of what the group's been doing for the past decade: The A*Teens (Er, should I say the A*Adults? The A*Taxpayers? The A*Grownfolk? I'll keep noodling it.) have been VERY busy since 2004.

Want some more deets? Do I have some goda nyheter for you! I rounded up some of the things (again, shoutout to ateensoline.com, for I would be lost without you) the A*Tiredby11o'clocks have been up to lately:

Amit Sebastian Paul

In 2008, Amit released album Songs In the Key of Mine, which includes single "Judge You". He is now a member of a band called Moccasin. In addition to continuing to pursue a career in music, he also obtained a master's degree in business from Stockholm School of Economics. He is the Managing Director of Paxymer, a company that produces a flame retardant and environmentally friendly system for polymer materials. Which, whoa.

Marie Serneholt

Since the A*Teens went their separate ways, Marie has released one solo album. Her debut single, “That’s The Way My Heart Goes”, was a commercial success in Sweden. Earlier this year, Marie released Signature by Marie Serneholt, her very own fragrance collection. She's also thrown her hat into the reality TV ring: In 2011, Marie was a judge on the Swedish version of The X Factor. Additionally, she was the runner-up of Swedish celebrity dancing reality show Let's Dance 2015. [Insert obligatory "Dancing Queen" joke here.]

Dhani Lennevald

In 2004, Dhani released his first single, “Girl Talk”. Though he has not released any solo songs since, he has established himself as a songwriter and producer. Dhani, aka 1NV0LV3D, has worked with artists such as Anton Ewald and Saie Saie. He also co-wrote Lupe Fiasco track "Stellar Light", which was the the official rallying anthem for the 2014 World Cup.

Sara Lumholdt

Post-A*Teens, Sara released a few songs (my personal favorite is her cover of Olivia Newton John's "Let's Get Physical"). Like Marie, Sara has also done some reality TV work: she appeared on the Swedish version of American Gladiators and was the host of Sweden's X Factor after show, Xtra Factor. In 2014, she won the Swedish pole dancing championship. Want to take pole dancing lessons from a pop star/Sweden's national pole dancing champion? You can! Sara teaches at a studio in Stockholm.

Before I call it a day, I would be remiss if I did not mention the A*Teens reunion that took place just a few months ago! In March 2015, Dhani, Amit, and Sara went to a taping of Just Dance 2015 to cheer on Marie. They did not perform a song, but they did pose together on the dance floor:

AWWW. Hey, since we're already talking about dance...

Couldn't help myself.