He featured on some of the group’s biggest songs and played on all eight of their albums
ABBA’s long-term guitarist Lasse Wellander has died following a short battle with cancer.
The musician, 70, starred on several of ABBA’s biggest hits, playing on a total of 24 of the band’s recordings, and was a key part of their success during the 1970s.
In an emotional statement on Facebook, Lasse’s family announced he had passed away on Good Friday.
They wrote: “It is with indescribable sadness that we have to announce that our beloved Lasse has fallen asleep.
“Lasse recently fell ill with what turned out to be cancer that had spread, and early on Good Friday he passed away surrounded by his loved ones.”
They finished by saying: “We love and miss you so much.”
The ABBA Museum also paid tribute to the guitarist, who first started recording with the legendary pop group in October 1974.
He played lead electric guitar on 24 of their songs, including timeless hits such as ‘Knowing Me, Knowing You’, ‘Take a Chance on Me’, ‘The Name of the Game’ and ‘Voulez-Vous.’
He went on to play on all eight of their studio albums, and also toured with the group, made up of Agnetha Fältskog, Anni-Frid Lyngstad, Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson.
Wellander also released several solo albums during his career, the first of which was in 1981, just a year before ABBA’s split. His last solo album, ‘Simple Ticket’, was released in 2006.
He then went on to work on the soundtrack for the hit Mamma Mia film, released in 2007.
More recently, he reunited with the group to play on their Grammy-nominated comeback album ‘Voyage’, which was released in 2021.
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