A friction damper a housing including a cavity formed therein; a first member disposed in said cavity and movable in the cavity; a second member disposed in the cavity; an intermediate member between the first and second members, the first member being in frictional engagement with the intermediate member; and at least one magnetic field generator mounted to magnetically couple the first and second members thereby maintaining the first member in frictional engagement with the intermediate member and wherein the first member is movable against the intermediate member to generate a damping force.