Sir Ian McKellen and ABBA’s Björn Ulvaeus have returned with another festive knitting video, this time, agreeing to create some stagewear for Kylie Minogue.
The new video was shared on the ABBA Voyage Twitter/X page earlier this morning (November 24), and shows the renowned actor and iconic musician continuing their annual tradition of coming together to knit festive jumpers for the Christmas season.
The collaboration between the two first sparked back in 2021 when the pair shared a video of them knitting ABBA-branded Christmas jumpers in silence – and the footage quickly went viral online.
A second instalment arrived last year too, with a video of them making a new set of festive attire being shared, followed by an ABBA merchandise range which also included Christmas cards and bobble hats.
Now, McKellen and Ulvaeus are back for a 2023 edition of the tradition, this time revealing that they will be teaming up with Kylie Minogue to knit some stagewear for her upcoming shows in Las Vegas.
In the video, the duo are seen knitting a new range of jumpers, before getting a surprise phone call from the Australian singer, who shares her love of their collaboration and asks them to “whip up something for the band, all the dancers and myself?”
More than happy to oblige, Sir Ian wipes away a tear and declares that the two will become “famous knitting brothers” by working with Kylie. Check out the full clip below.
A special request has come in this year for our famous knitting duo, Björn and @IanMcKellen! Who could say no to @kylieminogue? pic.twitter.com/pw6etzAdNb
— ABBA Voyage (@ABBAVoyage) November 24, 2023
The Nevada shows Kylie mentions in the clip refer to her residency at the Voltaire in Las Vegas, which she kicked off over the summer and went on to extend due to high demand for tickets.
The Australian pop star also released her long-awaited album ‘Tension’ earlier this year – her 16th studio album which contained the hit summer anthem ‘Padam Padam’.
As for Ulvaeus, ABBA are set to continue their hit Voyage shows into 2024. The virtual shows were first teased back in 2017 when it was announced that the band would reunite in digital form by 2019. After the reunion tour was delayed, ABBA Voyage was finally announced in September 2021.
Since launching, the virtual tour has been a huge hit at the purpose built ABBA Arena in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park – described by NME as “an epic avatar mega-mix from a brave new world” – and has been reported as preparing for a world tour.
The shows also welcomed the one millionth visitor earlier this year, and Ulvaeus told NME about what the future has in store for the ambitious live experience.
“We hope to stay in this venue for as long as we can. We hope they’ll have us for many years, and we might build other replicas of this in other places: Asia, Australia, North America. There are lots and promoters and cities that we’re talking to at the moment about that,” he told NME. “Each one would take at least two years to build, but there will be announcements towards the end of this year or the beginning of next about where we actually are going. That’s if we’re going somewhere, which we will.”
He also opened up about the possibility of bringing ABBA Voyage to Glastonbury, stating: “I don’t think that’s possible, yet. It might be in the future. As it is, it’s too complicated because the lighting, the sound, the visuals, everything is integrated and it’s so complicated.”