Happy New Year (song)
Happy New Year is a song by the Swedish group ABBA from their 1980 album Super Trouper. Agnetha Fältskog sings the lead. It had a very limited single release in December 1980. The song’s working title was “Daddy Don’t Get Drunk on Christmas Day.”
A Spanish version called Felicidad was released in 1980 for Spanish-speaking markets, and Argentina’s top charts featured the track. The song also appeared on South American versions of Super Trouper.
Over the years, Happy New Year has appeared on ABBA’s compilations. It first reached CD in 1994 on Más ABBA Oro (US edition) and again in 1999 on ABBA Oro: Grandes Éxitos. In 1999, the English version was re-released to mark the new millennium, charting at #27 in Sweden, #15 in the Netherlands, and #75 in Germany. A new release in 2008 saw it reach #4 in Sweden, #6 in Norway, and #25 in Denmark. It re-entered charts in 2009 in Sweden and Norway (both at #5) and in the Netherlands again in 2011 (at #8). The song is often played around New Year in various countries, including Vietnam.
In December 2011, a silver glitter vinyl single limited to 500 copies was released, including both Happy New Year and The Way Old Friends Do. It sold out in a day. For ABBA’s 40th Anniversary Singles Box Set in 2014, an alternate mix of Andante, Andante was used on the B-side instead of the original album version.
By 2022, Happy New Year was the 32nd best-selling vinyl single in the UK. The song was also covered by the A-Teens, released in December 1999 to celebrate the millennium. Their version changes the last line to “in the end of ninety-nine,” reached #4 in Sweden, and earned Gold status; it was issued in a limited number of countries, including Chile, and a music video was released.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 07:07 (CET).