Roger Palm obit

ABBA Drummer Roger Palm is Dead

The drummer Roger Palm, known for having played with, among others, Abba and Ted Gärdestad, has passed away. This is confirmed by the family to Aftonbladet.

 He was not on the list.

He was born in 1949 in Kyrktåsjö in Strömsunds municipality and began playing with local guitar bands and dance orchestras. In 1969, he started the band Gimmicks and the following year, the collaboration with Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Polarstudion began.

Janne Schaffer, who also worked as a studio musician during the same period, writes in a post on Facebook about his friend and colleague.

"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.

Roger Palm passed away due to Alzheimer's disease. "He was a warm and humble human being who always stood up for friends and family. He will be enormously missed and he leaves a great void after him. We will all remember him with warm hearts," the family writes in a statement.

Palm was a member of the bands Gimmicks , Beatmakers, Lasse Holm and Moonlighters. He started working together with Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson in 1970,  and appears on Abba's " Dancing Queen ", " Mamma Mia ", " Take a Chance on Me " and " Thank You for the Music "  as well as Ted Gärdestad's " Satellite ".

Roger Palm grew up in Kyrktåsjö and got his first instrument, an accordion, at the age of 4. He started playing guitar at age 12, and two years later got his first snare drum . He carved his first drumsticks himself from garden waste.

His first band, The Skymen, was a local guitar band and then a dance orchestra in Hoting near Kyrktåsjö that toured northern Sweden in 1964–1965. 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 with the band until 1974 when he moved to the Moonlighters. Since 1976 he worked as a freelance musician.