AceShowbiz - Cher was never a fan of ABBA in the 1970s because the way the girls in the Swedish group were used reminded her of life with ex-husband Sonny Bono.

The pop diva, who has recorded an album of ABBA songs, was recovering from her divorce when the Mamma Mia! hitmakers started out, and Cher admits their early hits left a bad taste in her mouth.

"I wasn't a big fan of ABBA in the '70s," she tells the New York Times. "(Band leader) Benny (Andersson) took the girls and used them like instruments. Sonny used to do that to me. He would carve out a place for them in the songs, and they would fit in that little place. But he didn't give them space to sing the way they might have wanted to."

But she became a fan as Anni-Frid Lyngstad and Agnetha Faltskog became the stars of the group, and announcing her new covers project on the back of the Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again movie, Cher said, "I saw the original Mamma Mia musical on Broadway three times.

"After filming Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, I was reminded again of what great and timeless songs they wrote and started thinking, 'Why not do an album of their music?'"