Longtime ABBA Guitarist Lasse Wellander Dead at 70 as Band Remembers His 'Musical Brilliance'

Lasse Wellander started playing with ABBA in 1974, and appeared on the soundtracks for both Mamma Mia! films and the 2021 album Voyage

Longtime ABBA guitarist Lasse Wellander has died, it was announced Sunday. He was 70.

The Swedish Wellander died of cancer on Friday while surrounded by loved ones, his family wrote in a statement shared on Facebook.

ABBA's Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Frida Lyngstad and Benny Andersson paid tribute to the musician in a statement of their own that remembered him as "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," the band's statement read. "We mourn his tragic and premature death and remember the kind words, the sense of humour, 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."

Wellander was inspired by the Beatles to pick up a guitar in 1963, and eventually met Ulvaeus and Andersson while touring with Swedish singer Ted Gärdestad in 1974, according to his website.

"They were quite involved in Ted's career and that's how we first got in contact," Wellander wrote on his site. "This turned out to be the beginning of a long period of cooperation with Bjorn & Benny."

His first contributions to ABBA songs were "Intermezzo No. 1" and "Crazy World," and before long, Wellander was the supergroup's main guitarist, touring with the band in 1975, 1977, 1979 and 1980. He also appeared on the soundtracks for Mamma Mia! and Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, as well as ABBA's 2021 album Voyage.

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"When I was doing my guitar tracks it felt like the old days. The only difference was that there was some pre-production this time around, which is very usual nowadays," he told the Sunday Express in 2021 of working on Voyage. "Everyone was so happy and excited. It really sounded like ABBA."

Wellander was also a prolific session musician, and he also released seven solo albums over the years. He received the Albin Hagström Memorial Award from The Royal Swedish Academy of Music in 2005, as well as the Swedish Musicians Union's prestigious special prize Studioräven Award in 2018 for his work as a session musician.

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