Abba is mourning the woman many fans saw as the group's quiet constant. Görel Hanser, the longtime manager often described as the band's "fifth member," has died at 76, the group announced on Facebook. In a joint statement signed by all four members, Abba called her death an "immeasurable" loss and asked for privacy as they grieve "our most loved friend and closest colleague," the Independent reports.
Hanser's history with Abba dates back to the height of their fame, when she handled record-label relations, toured with them, and served as their main conduit to the media. The band once recorded a rare track, "Sang Till Görel"—"Song for Gorel"—as a 30th-birthday gift to her; pressed in tiny numbers and never intended for radio, it has become one of the most coveted items in the group's catalog.
Fan club Abba Access, which also hailed her as the unofficial fifth member, praised her decades of "loyalty, dedication, warmth, and unwavering belief" in the group and her consistent kindness toward fans, saying it's hard to imagine Abba's story without her. Hanser began working in the music industry in 1969 and received a Swedish Grammis Award in 2018 for her lifetime contribution to Swedish music, Metro reports. She is survived by her two children and husband Anders Hander. She met Anders, a photographer who took some of the most iconic photos of Abba, in 1980 through her work with the band.
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