ABBA Drummer found dead.

alkemyst

No Lifer
Feb 13, 2001
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MADRID, Spain - A former drummer for the Swedish pop band ABBA was found dead with cuts to his neck in the garden of his house on the Spanish island of Mallorca. Police said Monday an autopsy showed it was an accident.

A neighbor found the body of Ola Brunkert on Sunday evening at his house in a coastal area outside the eastern town of Arta, a Civil Guard spokesman told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

He said an autopsy was carried out and confirmed initial investigations. ?It was an accident,? he said.

The spokesman said Brunkert hit his head against a glass door in his dining room, shattering the glass and cutting himself in the neck. He managed to wrap a towel around his neck and left the house to seek help, but collapsed in the garden.

Brunkert lived in the coastal apartment complex of Betlem in the municipality of Arta, in the eastern part of Mallorca.

Brunkert had lived in Arta for around 20 years. His wife Inger died less than a year ago, an Arta municipal official told the AP. She spoke on condition of anonymity because she was not authorized to discuss the case.

ABBA band member Benny Anderson told Swedish daily Expressen he was sad to hear of the drummer?s death. ?It is tragic,? he said.

Band member Bjorn Ulvaeus added that Brunkert had been ?one of the best.?

?I remember him as a good friend when we worked together in the mid-1970s. He was a very creative musician who contributed a lot when we toured together and worked in the studio,? Ulvaeus told Expressen.

According to ABBA?s official Web site, Brunkert and bass player Rutger Gunnarsson were the only musicians to appear on all ABBA albums.

Brunkert, who was 62, first played with ABBA on the group?s first single, ?People Need Love,? and toured with the band in 1977, 1979 and 1980.

He had been a jazz drummer and a member of the blues band Slim?s Blues Gang, before joining pop group Science Poption in the mid-1960s.

ABBA, with the four regular members Agnetha Faltskog, Anni-Frid Lyngstad, Ulvaeus and Andersson, was one of the world?s most successful bands, with album sales of more than 370 million. The group has not performed together since 1982, but continues to sell nearly 3 million records a year.
 

CPA

Elite Member
Nov 19, 2001
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ABBA was one of those bands that no matter what genre of music you digged, you could always groove to an ABBA song.
 

alkemyst

No Lifer
Feb 13, 2001
83,769
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Originally posted by: Anubis
sad :( why did he call for help, walking for it would not have been my first option

Hard to say...he may have not been able to talk...he also could have been in shock/confused.
 

Jeff7

Lifer
Jan 4, 2001
41,596
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Originally posted by: Epic Fail
What a way to go and was conscious to know the end is coming too.
And to think it was just because you smacked your head into something. These bodies are too fragile. I'd welcome a day when they could be left behind, or else significantly upgraded. No more of this ancient "mortality" BS.

 

Yzzim

Lifer
Feb 13, 2000
11,990
1
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Originally posted by: Anubis
sad :( why did he call for help, walking for it would not have been my first option

Kinda reminds me the hockey player that got his neck cut with a skate. Would have been dead before the EMTs got there if it wasn't for the trainers.
 

Perknose

Forum Director & Omnipotent Overlord
Forum Director
Oct 9, 1999
46,791
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That new story is a damn lie! Who believes that kind of sensationalist trash. :|

Brunkert died a quarter of the way through Abba's last live performance. Alas, no one noticed, so they didn't find out until now. They thought he was pouting.
 

AlienCraft

Lifer
Nov 23, 2002
10,539
0
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Originally posted by: SunnyD
Sucks to be him. Then again, being part of ABBA...
Means a lifetime paycheck every quarter when the royalties come in.
You should be so lucky.

 

Rubycon

Madame President
Aug 10, 2005
17,768
485
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Wow sad news indeed. :(

ABBA is one of our favs for '70's night. Indeed the most requested song is Dancing Queen and can be heard in our own Spinnaker Lounge every afternoon on the first day at sea. :D

Not a bad recording considering I had my new Korg MR1 in my pocket walking around! :D