Roger Palm, the legendary drummer from Sweden, died on Saturday, September 22, 2024. His fame was gained via his collaborations with the Swedish pop group, ABBA.
Palm was born on the 31st of March 1949 in Kyrktåsjö, Sweden. In the 1960s, he performed with the bands The Gimmicks and Beatmakers. In 1970, he began to work in the Swedish session circuit. A year later, he played at Frida’s (Anni-Frid Lyngstad) recording session, for which Benny Andersson was the producer.
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.”
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.
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.
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.”