ABBA’s touring guitarist Lasse Wellander has died after being diagnosed with cancer. (Gus Stewart) By Nardine SaadStaff Author. 10 April 2023 09:23 m. (PST). Lasse Wellander, a longtime guitarist of the iconic pop band ABBA, has died at the age of 70.
Lasse Wellander, the longtime guitarist of the iconic pop band ABBA, has died at the age of 70. Wellander died Friday after being diagnosed with cancer, his family said on Sunday. The Swedish musician played on ABBA’s major albums, toured with the world-famous quartet in the late 1970s, and appeared on the recently Grammy-nominated “Voyage” albums. “It is with indescribable sadness that we are compelled to announce that our dear Lasse has fallen asleep. Lasse recently contracted a disease that turned out to have spread cancer and passed away early on Good Friday, surrounded by loved ones,” the family picture wrote on their Facebook page.
In addition to being humble and an incredible musician, he has been called “a wonderful husband, father, brother, uncle, and grandfather”.
They said, “Gentle, confident, caring and caring… and so much more that words can’t describe. You are a center in our lives and it is incredible that we now have to live without you.”
Wellander became associated with the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest winners after playing in Swedish singer-songwriter Ted Gärdestad’s backing group Nature. Gärdestad introduced him to ABBA’s Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson, and he joined the quartet from the late 1970s to 1980. He also appeared on Ulvaeus and Andersson’s concept album “Chess” and Agnetha Fältskog’s solo albums before the band disbanded in 1982. also ABBA musical films “Mamma Mia! Movie” (2008) and its sequel “Mamma Mia! Here we go again” (2018).
“Prom Queen” and “Gimme! Give it to me! Give it to me!” The hitmakers paid tribute to Wellander in a statement written “in their own words” on Monday and posted on the group’s Instagram and Facebook accounts.
“Lasse was a great friend, a fun guy, and an excellent guitarist,” said Fältskog, Ulvaeus, Andersson, and Anni-Frid “Frida” Lyngstad. “His solid guitar work on stage as well as his creative contribution in the recording studio was hugely important.”
“We mourn his tragic and untimely death and remember the kind words, sense of humor, smiling face, and musical genius of the man who played such an integral role in ABBA history,” they added. “He will be greatly missed and will never be forgotten.”
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