Abba hail ‘musical brilliance’ of long-serving guitarist Lasse Wellander

Wellander, who also featured on the soundtracks to the Mamma Mia! films, died on Good Friday after being diagnosed with cancer
Abba have paid tribute to the ‘musical brilliance’ of their long-standing guitarist, Lasse Wellander, following his death at the age of 70 (PA)
PA Archive
Alex Green10 April 2023

Abba have paid tribute to the “musical brilliance” of their long-standing guitarist, Lasse Wellander, following his death at the age of 70.

The musician, who played on the band’s biggest albums and toured with them between 1975 and 1980, died early on Good Friday following a cancer diagnosis, a statement from his family said.

Raised in the small village of Skrekarhyttan in Sweden, Wellander had his first recording session with Abba in October 1974 and continued to play on their respective solo albums following their split.

He will be deeply missed and never forgotten

Abba

A statement to the PA news agency from Abba band members Bjorn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, Agnetha Faltskog and Anni-Frid Lyngstad said: “Lasse was a dear friend, a fun guy and a superb guitarist.

“The importance of his creative input in the recording studio as well as his rock solid guitar work on stage was immense.

“We mourn his tragic and premature death and remember the kind words, the sense of humour, the smiling face, the musical brilliance of the man who played such an integral role in the Abba story.

“He will be deeply missed and never forgotten.”

In a post on his official Facebook page, Wellander’s family said he had died “surrounded by his loved ones”.

They paid tribute to him as an “amazing” and “humble” musician, as well as a “wonderful husband, father, brother, uncle and grandfather”.

Before partnering with Abba, Wellander was a member of local groups, including Nature, who served as the backing band of Swedish singer-songwriter Ted Gardestad.

It was through Gardestad that he met Ulvaeus and Andersson, the male members of Abba, and later toured with the Eurovision winners in 1975, 1977, 1979 and 1980.

When Abba split, he appeared on the Chess concept album and the soundtracks to Mamma Mia! The Movie and its sequel, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again.

He also appeared on Faltskog’s solo albums, Wrap Your Arms Around Me from 1983 and My Colouring Book from 2004.

Most recently, Wellander played on Abba’s number one comeback album Voyage, released in 2021.

In 2005, he received the Albin Hagstrom Memorial Award from the Royal Swedish Academy Of Music and in 2018 the Swedish Musicians’ Union’s special prize for his work as a session musician.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in