One of the members of the Swedish pop group ABBA passed away. Lasse Wellander, the band’s veteran guitarist, passed away, the group revealed on social media. He was in his 70s. “Lasse was a great guitarist, a great guy, and a beloved friend. The members Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Anni-Frid (Frida) Lyngstad, and Benny Andersson said that the importance of his creative influence in the recording studio as well as his rock solid guitar work on stage was great.
We recall the warm comments, sense of humor, smiling smile, and musical brilliance of the man who played such a significant part in the ABBA tale while we mourn his untimely and premature death. Under a black-and-white image of Wellander playing with the band, the pop artist wrote, “He will be deeply missed and never forgotten.”
Wellander, who was up in the sleepy Swedish village of Skrekarhyttan, began playing the guitar at an early age after seeing The Beatles perform live on television in 1963. After Björn and Benny asked Wellander if he’d be interested in playing guitar for their band, Wellander eventually joined ABBA in 1974. With regard to ABBA’s potential, Wellander said, “I thought it would be big, quite early on.”
Strong music throughout. Even the straightforward pop songs were of the highest caliber. ‘Know Me, Knowing You’ was one of the first songs I ever made with them. He said to Guitar World last year, “I think that’s still one of the greatest tracks throughout the years.
“Our core group of musicians was us. Working with ABBA wasn’t a full-time job; when I couldn’t play, Janne Schaffer was called in, and vice versa. And Mike Watson would play bass if Rutger Gunnarsson was on tour doing something else. Thus, it wasn’t a full-time position. If you lived in the north of Sweden, you might not have traveled to Stockholm to complete a single track. But from ’74 on, I was a part of that core group of musicians,” he remarked.
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Wellander stated that while he enjoyed playing all of ABBA’s songs, “I liked ‘Eagle’ since I got a big guitar solo in that song… I was a little more eager for that number. Being outside and traveling was incredible. At Wembley Arena, we performed for six days to a packed house.
The “Mamma Mia!” and “Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again” film soundtracks, as well as ABBA’s album Voyage, which was published in November 2021, were among his most recent projects with the group. Wellander claims that once ABBA ceased releasing new music and touring, he looked for work with other bands.
“I simply went back to work because I was involved with numerous other bands, sessions, TV projects, nightclubs, and theaters. In the 1980s, I was a member of four different bands,” he said. Additionally, Wellander produced and distributed his own music.
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