Musician Björn Ulvaeus was drinking whiskey when he wrote the song "The Winner Takes It All".

The ABBA star, who gave up alcohol in 2007, revealed he rarely writes songs under the influence of alcohol, but when he wrote the band's huge 1980 hit he was drinking whisky and was amazed that the song turned out well.

"I wrote that song very quickly while drinking whiskey during my drinking days. I rarely wrote while intoxicated because the next day you look at the words and they're garbage. But most of "The Winner Takes It All" is actually good. It's not a personal story, but I tried to find the details of a real human pain," he told the Times.

Björn began his climb to worldwide fame when he won the Eurovision Song Contest for Sweden in 1974 with the song "Waterloo" with ABBA alongside his ex-wife Agnetha Faltskog, as well as Anni-Frid Lyngstad and Benny Andersson.

He insists that while he enjoyed a few drinks during the band's strong years, ABBA were never a problem band and the worst thing they did was not tidy their hotel rooms.

"I can assure you that there are no hidden scandals with ABBA, no stain on our image... There have been times when we have not left our hotel rooms in quite the same order they were when we came. But nothing like driving a Rolls Royce into a swimming pool like The Who," said Bjorn.

Bjorn's ABBA colleague Benny also gave up alcohol and called it "the best decision" he's ever made.

"I didn't feel good without alcohol, so I knew I was in trouble. I sought help and got it. I knew if I kept drinking I was at risk of losing everything. If you drink long enough, you're going to lose things," Benny said.

"(Quitting alcohol is) one of the best things I've done. Quitting smoking was good, too. I quit smoking on my 40th birthday. Quitting alcohol was a necessity. It was getting in the way of everything I was doing. It was taking up all the space and all the time. So it's really something to get off your shoulders. I feel good," the musician added. | BGNES