Mikael Åkerfeldt looks back on the time he was the most starstruck he had ever been.
In a new interview with Revolver, the Opeth mainman recalls meeting Agnetha Fältskog and sharing dinner with her.
Speaking of the moment, he remembers, "I met Agnetha Fältskog from ABBA — the blonde.
"We did the Heritage record in the studio where ABBA used to record, and the owners had their flat on top of the studio. They invited us for dinner when the record was done, and Agnetha was there."
Åkerfeldt continues, "We all got to sit down with her and have dinner, and she brought this expensive champagne."
Reminiscing on what he spoke about with the legendary Swedish star, as well as his reaction to being in her presence, he muses: "I’m a huge fan, so I got to ask her all these questions about their songs. She was super cool.
"But when she first came up as I was entering the flat, I froze. It’s like seeing Greta Garbo — she just doesn’t appear… After shaking her hand, I went out and had like five cigarettes in a row just to calm myself down. I get starstruck easily, I think."
Last year, Åkerfeldt briefly recalled the memorable moment during an interview with Metal Hammer, noting how during the evening, he even found himself enjoying music with the ABBA singer from the studio owner's jukebox, which was filled with old 1950s singles.
“I danced with the Dancing Queen,” he declared. “Not to Dancing Queen, sadly. The studio owner used to hang out with her, and he said the Heritage record was always out by the stereo in her house – and it wasn’t in the shrink-wrap. She definitely listened to it."
Elsewhere in the Revolver interview, the Swedish frontman reveals he was once starstruck over being in the same room as Ritchie Blackmore. "And] when we played with Rainbow," he says, "I knew of course that Ritchie Blackmore was in the vicinity.
"I was so nervous that I drank myself to the point where I missed my flight the next day. Because I figured I needed liquid courage if I’m going to say something cool to Ritchie Blackmore. But I never got to meet him."
Last year, Opeth released their fourteenth album, The Last Will And Testament, to glowing reviews. Metal Hammer writer Rich Hobson awarded the album with 4.5 stars, hailing the album as "their best since the career-making heights of Blackwater Park and Ghost Reveries."
