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Lars Wellander

Lars Wellander

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

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

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".