Lasse Wellander

Lars-Ove "Lasse" Wellander (18 June 1952 – 7 April 2023) was a Swedish guitarist, best known for his association with ABBA.^[1][2] He first recorded with the group's backing band in 1974, and played on all their studio albums from ABBA (1975) to Voyage (2021).^[3][4]

Lasse Wellander
Wellander in May 2012
Born	18 June 1952
Died	7 April 2023  (aged 70)
Website	www.verywellander.se

Wellander came from the village of Skrikarhyttan [sv]. His musical career began at the age of 16 when he joined Peps & Blues Quality [sv], which without leader Peps Persson later became Nature [sv]. Subsequently, they were asked to become a backing band for Ted Gärdestad, who introduced Wellander to Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson.^[5][6]

Speaking after the Wellander's death, the members of ABBA commented: "The importance of his creative input in the recording studio as well as his rock solid guitar work on stage was immense".^[7][8]

Awards and honors

• 2005 – Albin Hagström Memorial Award (Swedish: Albin Hagströms Minnespris)^[9]
• 2018 – Swedish Musicians' Union Studio Fox [sv] (Swedish: Studioräven) award^[10]

Discography

Albums

• 1976 – Electrocuted
• 1978 – Wellander & Ronander
• 1985 – Full hand
• 1987 – Tweed
• 1990 – Poker-face
• 1992 – Från Rickfors till Peterson-Berger
• 2018 – 2017/2018

Singles

• 1992 – Vingar/Anthem
• 2017 – Samba Loelek
• 2017 – Out of the shadows
• 2017 – Fri som en fågel (m. Lena Larsson)
• 2017 – The Parting Glass
• 2018 – Old School Boogie
• 2018 – Ut mot öppet hav
• 2018 – In My Heart And Soul – instrumental version
• 2018 – In My Heart And Soul (m. Stefan Nykvist)
• 2018 – Postludium (m. Sophisticated Ladies)
• 2019 – Anitra's Dance (Anitras dans)
• 2020 – Mellan hägg och syren
• 2020 – Is There A Chance (m. Lena Larsson)
• 2021 – Guitarism (inkl. Radio Edit-version)
• 2021 – Nostalgia
• 2021 – O helga natt
• 2022 – Overdrive
• 2022 – Merry-Go-Round
• 2022 – Oh Come, All Ye Faithful