Lasse Wellander joined ABBA in 1974 and contributed to the soundtracks of both Mamma Mia! films as well as the 2021 album Voyage.
The iconic Swedish pop group ABBA is grieving the loss of one of their own as they announced on social media that their longtime guitarist, Lasse Wellander, had passed away at the age of 70.
“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,” expressed ABBA members Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Anni-Frid (Frida) Lyngstad, and Benny Andersson in a heartfelt tribute.
“We mourn his tragic and premature death and remember the kind words, the sense of humor, 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,” the pop stars penned their message alongside a black and white photograph of Wellander captivatingly performing with the band.
Born in the small Swedish village of Skrekarhyttan, Wellander’s passion for music ignited at a young age when he picked up the guitar after being inspired by The Beatles’ performance on television in 1963.
In 1974, Wellander joined ABBA at the invitation of Björn and Benny to become their guitarist.
Reflecting on ABBA’s early days, Wellander shared, “I thought it would be big, quite early on. Strong songs all the way. Even the simple pop numbers were very high quality. One of the first tracks I recorded with them was ‘Know Me, Knowing You.’ I think that’s still one of the better songs throughout the years,” he recounted to Guitar World in a recent interview.
“We were a core group of musicians,” Wellander reminisced. “Working with ABBA wasn’t a full-time job. Sometimes I couldn’t play, so Janne Schaffer would step in, and vice versa. If Rutger [Gunnarsson] was on tour, Mike Watson would play bass. It wasn’t always consistent. If you were in the North of Sweden, you might not go all the way to Stockholm just to record one track. But I was part of that core of musicians from ‘74 onwards.”
When asked about his favorite ABBA songs, Wallander expressed, “I liked ‘Eagle’ because I had a long guitar solo in that song… I always looked forward to playing that number. It was amazing being out on the road. We played six days at Wembley Arena, and it was a full house.”
In addition to his collaborations with ABBA, Wellander contributed to the soundtracks of the “Mamma Mia!” films and ABBA’s album Voyage, which was released in November 2021.
When ABBA stopped recording new music and touring, Wellander sought opportunities with other groups. “I worked with many other bands, did sessions, TV gigs, played in nightclubs and theaters. I played with four different groups during the 80s,” he shared. Wellander also pursued his own music projects and released his own music.