ABBA drummer Roger Palm dead at 75: The musician contributed to hits ‘Dancing Queen’ and ‘Mama Mia'
Roger Palm was only 17 years old when he started drumming professionally and performed with various Swedish groups before making his first known appearance on an ABBA-related session.
The death of ABBA drummer Roger Palm was confirmed by his family in a statement via FAKTI. The statement read:"He was a warm and humble person who always protected his friends and family. He will be greatly missed and leaves a huge void in his wake. We will all remember him with warmth in our hearts”
According to the ABBA official site, “The first ABBA track Palm appeared on was Rock’n’Roll Band, recorded in August 1972. Ola Brunkert is the drummer who appeared on most ABBA tracks, but Roger Palm played on such noteworthy songs as Mamma Mia, Dancing Queen, Thank You For The Music and Take A Chance On Me.”
Roger Palm was born on March 31, 1949 in Kyrktåsjö in Sweden and was a drummer in Swedish groups such as the Gimmicks and the Beatmakers. Drummer World reported that “His first band, The Skymen, was a local guitar band and then a dance orchestra in Hoting near Kyrktåsjö that toured northern Sweden from 1964 to 1965.
“Roger Palm moved to Stockholm in 1966 and started playing with the musician Hans-Erik Nääs. With Leif Carlquist he started the band Gimmicks. Kjell Öhman invited Palm to the band Beatmakers in 1969, and he was in the band until 1974 when he moved to the Moonlighters. From 1976 he worked as a freelance musician.”
Musician Janne Schaffer paid tribute to Roger Palm on Facebook and said: “I miss you Roger with your happy shouts in the studio when we created music with, among others, Ted Gärdestad. You gave Ted’s ‘Satellit’ a fantastic swinging accompaniment and on classics like ABBA’s ‘Mamma Mia’ and ‘Dancing Queen’, your drums sound unforgettable. I will always remember you.”