Longtime ABBA collaborator guitarist dies

Swedish guitarist Lasse Wellander, who collaborated with iconic pop band ABBA for decades, died on Friday, April 7 after a battle with cancer.

“It is with indescribable sadness that we have to announce that our beloved Lasse has fallen asleep,” read a statement posted on his Facebook account on Sunday. “You were an amazing and humble musician like few others, but above all you were a wonderful husband, father, brother, uncle and grandfather.”

Lasse Wellander first worked with the four main members of ABBA – Agnetha Faltskog, Anni-Frid Lyngstad, Bjorn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson – as a guitarist in 1974. He toured with the group and played on 24 of the band’s songs, including hits like “Knowing Me, Knowing You”, “Take a Chance on Me”, and “Voulez-Vous”.

“Lasse was a dear friend, a fun guy and an excellent guitar player,” ABBA said in a statement to CNN on Monday. The band also cited the importance of his creative input in the recording studio and his “solid” guitar work onstage.

Wellander’s long history with the band also included collaborating on the soundtrack to the 2008 film adaptation of the long-running musical “Mamma Mia!” which features ABBA hits.

Most recently, Wellander played on the band’s comeback album, “Voyage”, which was released in 2021 and nominated for a Grammy.

In 2018, Wellander was honored with a special award for his work as a session musician, given by the Union of Swedish Musicians.