Guitarist Lasse Wellander, who toured and recorded with the Swedish pop group ABBA over a span of nearly 50 years, died of cancer on Friday, according to his family and the band.
«It is with indescribable sadness that we have to announce that our beloved Lasse has fallen asleep,» said a statement on the musician’s Facebook page posted Sunday.
«Lasse recently fell ill with what turned out to be spreading cancer and early on Good Friday he passed away, surrounded by his loved ones.»
The statement went on to praise Wellander for his kindness and humility, calling him «an incredible musician» and beloved «husband, father, brother, uncle and grandfather.»
«Kind, confident, caring and loving…and so much more, words cannot describe,» the statement read.
“We love and miss you so much,” the post read, which was accompanied by a photo of the late musician playing a guitar.
In a statement to NBC News early Monday, Abba members Benny Andersson, Frida Lyngstad, Agnetha Fältskog and Björn Ulvaeus called Wellander «a dear friend, a fun guy and an excellent guitar player.»
“The importance of his creative input in the recording studio, as well as his solid guitar work on stage, was immense,” the band said.
“We mourn his tragic and untimely 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 ABBA’s history. He will be deeply missed and never forgotten.»
It was not clear how old Wellander was when he died, but he was believed to be in his 70s.
According ABBA official websiteWellander started playing guitar in the early 1960s for a few local bands before meeting ABBA members Ulvaeus and Andersson.
The Sweden native joined the group’s recording session for the songs «Intermezzo No.1» and «Crazy World» from ABBA’s third self-titled album, released in 1975.
«Lasse soon became the lead guitarist on ABBA’s albums and toured with them in 1975, 1977, 1979 and 1980,» the band’s website said. He continued to work with Ulvaeus and Andersson after the quartet broke up in 1982.
Wellander contributed to the soundtrack of “Mamma Mia! The Movie” and “Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again” during the band’s hiatus.
He reunited with ABBA for the group’s latest collaboration, their ninth studio album «Voyage,» which was released in November 2021.
The guitarist has also released seven albums on his own, the website said.
“In 2005, he received the Albin Hagström Memorial Award from the Royal Swedish Academy of Music and, in 2018, the prestigious special Studioräven Award from the Swedish Musicians Union for his work as a session musician,” his bio reads.
According your personal websiteWellander was born in 1952 in a small Swedish town called Skrekarhyttan. Later, his family moved to Nora, Sweden, where he began his musical career.
He learned to play the bass, the keyboard, the recorder and the accordion. The final three singles from her, titled «O Come, All Ye Faithful», «Merry-Go-Round» and «Overdrive», were released in 2022.