Original ABBA-Musicians at the
world’s greatest ABBA tribute show
Janne Schaffer – Guitar
Jan “Janne” Schaffer, born on September 24, 1945 in Stockholm, is a Swedish guitarist and composer. He is one of Sweden's most respected electric guitarists. He performs both as a solo artist and as a guitarist for other musicians, both on stage and as a studio musician, and can be heard on around 5,000 recordings.
Schaffer has worked as a studio musician on no less than 50 ABBA songs, and his guitar can be heard on hits such as “Ring Ring”, “Mamma Mia” and “Waterloo”. As well as collaborating with other artists, he has always pursued a successful solo career. His first LP was released in 1973 and spent six weeks at the top of the Swedish charts. Four years later, he recorded his fourth album, Earmeal, in Hollywood with musicians from Toto. This was followed by several tours in Germany and Switzerland under his own name, and the Janne Schaffer Group played in legendary jazz clubs such as the Onkel Pö in Hamburg, the Quasimodo in Berlin and the Volkshaus in Zurich.
For his achievements, Janne Schaffer received a Grammis, the Swedish equivalent of the American Grammy, as well as the Illis Quorum Medal from the Swedish King for special services to Swedish culture.
In a career spanning more than 50 years, he has not only worked with ABBA, but also with many other Swedish artists such as Björn J:son Lindh, Ted Gärdestad, Electric Banana Band and Mando Diao. Internationally, he has worked with Bob Marley, Johnny Nash, Tina Turner, Andreas Vollenweider, Vera Brandes, Lee Hazlewood, Christina Aguilera and the German band Gröna Lund from Cologne. He has also composed soundtracks for several films.
On the occasion of the release of the ABBA album Voyage in November last year, Janne Schaffer appeared in four British, one German, one French, one Dutch and one Japanese TV production to talk about his time with ABBA. In April 2023, Janne Schaffer was the only original ABBA musician to take part in the German production ABBAMANIA THE SHOW.
Schaffer has worked as a studio musician on no less than 50 ABBA songs, and his guitar can be heard on hits such as “Ring Ring”, “Mamma Mia” and “Waterloo”. As well as collaborating with other artists, he has always pursued a successful solo career. His first LP was released in 1973 and spent six weeks at the top of the Swedish charts. Four years later, he recorded his fourth album, Earmeal, in Hollywood with musicians from Toto. This was followed by several tours in Germany and Switzerland under his own name, and the Janne Schaffer Group played in legendary jazz clubs such as the Onkel Pö in Hamburg, the Quasimodo in Berlin and the Volkshaus in Zurich.
For his achievements, Janne Schaffer received a Grammis, the Swedish equivalent of the American Grammy, as well as the Illis Quorum Medal from the Swedish King for special services to Swedish culture.
In a career spanning more than 50 years, he has not only worked with ABBA, but also with many other Swedish artists such as Björn J:son Lindh, Ted Gärdestad, Electric Banana Band and Mando Diao. Internationally, he has worked with Bob Marley, Johnny Nash, Tina Turner, Andreas Vollenweider, Vera Brandes, Lee Hazlewood, Christina Aguilera and the German band Gröna Lund from Cologne. He has also composed soundtracks for several films.
On the occasion of the release of the ABBA album Voyage in November last year, Janne Schaffer appeared in four British, one German, one French, one Dutch and one Japanese TV production to talk about his time with ABBA. In April 2023, Janne Schaffer was the only original ABBA musician to take part in the German production ABBAMANIA THE SHOW.