Abba legend singer BJORN ULVAEUS would rather be euthanised than live in constant pain with an illness.

The 70-year-old Swedish star - a co-founder of the pop super-group - has become a supporter of assisted suicide after watching his parents and mother-in-laws prolonged and agonising deaths.

He is quoted by the Daily Mirror newspaper as saying: ''It's the thought of the endless pain and suffering that I am afraid of. This should not be necessary. I have seen this misery up close. My parents lived long but would have preferred a more painless and dignified ending.

''The same goes for the parents of my wife. My mother-in-law has lived for a long time but she could not express her feelings.

''That was where I thought, 'I don't want this'. It is my life. Why can't I control how it should end?''

The 'SOS' hitmaker also came to the conclusion he would choose euthanasia as a way to end his life when he had a panic attack on a flight from Paris to Stockholm after one of the plane's engines died.

Bjorn said: ''I tried to remind myself that the plane could easily land with only one engine - but I got a full-on panic attack.

''Later, I realised the fear stemmed from the fact that I had no control over my own death. That was a scary realisation. Now I've begun to think, 'Maybe I will not see many more summers.' ''

Bjorn is still in touch with his old ABBA band members and still collaborates with Benny Andersson.

In an interview with The Guardian today (22.05.15) he said he doesn't think he'll be watching the Eurovision Song Contest - the show that catapulted the band to fame - because: ''there are too many countries in the competition and I'd be more interested in a contest where the emphasis was on the quality of the song''.