Lasse Wellander

Lasse Wellander started playing guitar as a youngster in the early sixties and was a member of local bands in his hometown of Nora.

Later, he started playing with a group from Örebro called Blues Quality. When that band split up, the remaining members became the nucleus of Nature, which was the backing band on Polar-recording artist Ted Gärdestad’s summer tour of 1973, 1974 and 1976. That’s how Lasse came to know Björn and Benny.

His first ABBA session was in October 1974 when Intermezzo No.1 and Crazy World were recorded. Lasse soon became the main guitarist on ABBA’s albums, and toured with them in 1975, 1977, 1979 and 1980. He has continued working with Björn and Benny in the post-ABBA period. He appeared on the Chess concept album, the two Gemini albums,  the 1993 Josefin Nilsson album Shapes and on the soundtracks to Mamma Mia! The Movie and its sequel, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again. Lasse also played on the Agnetha Fältskog albums Wrap Your Arms Around Me from 1983 and My Colouring Book from 2004 and on the ABBA album Voyage released in 2021.

Besides being one of the most frequently used Swedish session musicians, Lasse has also released seven solo albums, two of which entered the Top 40 album charts in the mid-1980s. In 1992, he had a big radio hit with his instrumental version of the Chess song Anthem. In 2005, he received the Albin Hagström Memorial Award from The Royal Swedish Academy of Music and, in 2018, the Swedish Musicians Union’s prestigious special prize Studioräven Award for his work as a session musician. Since 2017, Lasse recorded and produced new music under his own name again.

In April 2023, Lasse passed away at the age of 70.