Yngwie Johan Malmsteen ( ; born Lars Johan Yngve Lannerbäck, 30 June 1963) is a Swedish guitarist. He first became known in the 1980s for his neoclassical playing style in heavy metal, and has released 22 studio albums in a career spanning over 40 years. In 2009, ''Time'' magazine rated Malmsteen as number 9 among the 11 greatest electric guitar players of all time.

Early life

Malmsteen was born Lars Johan Yngve Lannerbäck in

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

, Sweden, the third child of a musical family. At age 10, Malmsteen created his first band, Track on Earth, consisting of himself and a friend from school playing the drums. At age 12, he took his mother's maiden name Malmsten as his surname, then slightly changed it to Malmsteen and altered his third given name Yngve to "Yngwie". As a teenager he was heavily influenced by classical music, particularly 19th century Italian virtuoso violinist and composer Niccolò Paganini as well as Johann Sebastian Bach. During this time, he also discovered his most important guitar influence, Ritchie Blackmore. Malmsteen has stated that

Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. Although his mainstream career spanned only four years, he is widely regarded as one of the most ...

had no musical impact on him and did not contribute to his style. However watching the TV news reports on 18 September 1970 of Hendrix's death, which included footage of Hendrix smashing and burning his guitar at the Monterey Pop Festival of 1967, made Malmsteen think, "This is really cool."

Career

1980s

In early 1982, Mike Varney of

Shrapnel Records Shrapnel Records is an American record label founded in 1980 by record producer Mike Varney. History Guitarist Marty Friedman (formerly of Megadeth and Cacophony), one of the label's most successful artists, first appeared on the album ''Unsu ...

, who had heard a demo tape of Malmsteen's playing from the 1978 demo titled Powerhouse, brought Malmsteen to the United States. He played briefly with the band Steeler on its 1983 self-titled album. He then appeared with Graham Bonnet in the band Alcatrazz, playing on its 1983 debut '' No Parole from Rock 'n' Roll'' and the 1984 live album '' Live Sentence''. Bonnet and Malmsteen clashed about who was the frontman and had a fight during a show.
Malmsteen was fired on the spot from Alcatrazz and replaced by Steve Vai. Vai had one day to learn the songs for the ongoing tour. In 1984, Malmsteen released his first solo album '' Rising Force'', which featured Barrie Barlow of Jethro Tull on drums and keyboard player Jens Johansson. His album was meant to be an instrumental side-project of Alcatrazz, but it ended up featuring vocals by Jeff Scott Soto and Malmsteen left Alcatrazz soon after the release of ''Rising Force''. ''Rising Force'' won the '' Guitar Players award for Best Rock Album and was nominated for a Grammy Award for 'Best Rock Instrumental', reaching no. 60 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' album chart. Yngwie J. Malmsteen's Rising Force (as his band was thereafter known) next released ''

Marching Out ''Marching Out'' is the second studio album by guitarist Yngwie Malmsteen, released on 30 September 1985 through Polydor Records. Then he recruited Jens Johansson's brother Anders to play drums and bassist Marcel Jacob to record and tour with the band. Jacob left in the middle of a tour and was replaced by Wally Voss. Malmsteen's third album, '' Trilogy'', featuring the vocals of Mark Boals (and Malmsteen on both guitar and bass), was released in 1986. Boals left the band in the middle of the tour and was replaced by the former singer Jeff Scott Soto. The tour was cancelled after Malmsteen was involved in a serious car accident, smashing his V12

Jaguar E-Type The Jaguar E-Type, or the Jaguar XK-E for the North American market, is a British sports car that was manufactured by Jaguar Cars Ltd between 1961 and 1974. Its combination of beauty, high performance, and competitive pricing established the m ...

into a tree, which put him in a coma for a week. Nerve damage to his right hand was reported. During this time, Malmsteen's mother died from cancer. New line-up changes for the next album with former Rainbow vocalist Joe Lynn Turner joined the band, along with session bassist Bob Daisley, who was hired to record some bass parts and help with the lyrics. In April 1988, he released his fourth album '' Odyssey''. ''Odyssey'' was his most successful album, in part due to the success of its first single "Heaven Tonight". Shows in the Soviet Union during the Odyssey tour were recorded and released in 1989 as a fifth album '' Trial by Fire: Live in Leningrad''. The classic Rising Force line-up with Malmsteen and the Johansson brothers was dissolved in 1989 when both Anders and Jens left. That year later, Jens joined Dio replacing keyboardist Claude Schnell. Malmsteen's neoclassical style of metal became popular among hordes of guitarists during the mid-1980s, with contemporaries such as Jason Becker,

Paul Gilbert Paul Brandon Gilbert is an American hard rock and heavy metal guitarist. He is the co-founder of the band Mr. Big, and was also a member of Racer X, with whom he released several albums. In 1996, Gilbert launched a solo career, for which h ...

, Tony MacAlpine, and Vinnie Moore becoming prominent. In late 1988, Malmsteen's signature Fender Stratocaster guitar was released, making him and

Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is often regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s list of ...

the first artists to be honored by Fender.

1990s

In the early 1990s, Malmsteen released two albums, ''

Eclipse An eclipse is an astronomical event that occurs when an astronomical object or spacecraft is temporarily obscured, by passing into the shadow of another body or by having another body pass between it and the viewer. This alignment of three ce ...

'' (1990) and '' Fire & Ice'' (1992), with the singer Göran Edman, followed by '' The Seventh Sign'' (1994) and '' Magnum Opus'' (1995) with former Loudness singer Mike Vescera. Despite his early and continuous success in Europe and Asia, by the early 1990s heavy metal styles such as neoclassical metal and shredding had gone out of fashion in the US. Around 1993, Malmsteen's future mother-in-law – who opposed his engagement to her daughter – had him arrested for allegedly holding her daughter hostage with a gun. The charges were later dropped. Malmsteen continued to record and release albums under the Japanese record label Pony Canyon and maintained a devoted following with fans in Europe and Japan and to a lesser extent in the US. In the mid 1990s, Malmsteen released the albums ''

Inspiration Inspiration, inspire, or inspired often refers to: * Artistic inspiration, sudden creativity in artistic production * Biblical inspiration, the doctrine in Judeo-Christian theology concerned with the divine origin of the Bible * Creative inspirat ...

'' (1996) featuring three of his former singers Soto, Boals and Turner, '' Facing the Animal'' (1997) featuring Mats Levén on vocals and Cozy Powell on drums, followed by a live record '' Double Live!'' (1998) and another studio recording '' Alchemy'' (1999) featuring once again Mark Boals on vocals.

Special guest appearances and side projects

In 1996, Malmsteen joined forces with former band members Jeff Scott Soto and Marcel Jacob on the "Human Clay" album where he played lead guitar on the track "Jealousy". In the same year, Yngwie recorded guitar solos for two different Deep Purple tribute albums, "Smoke on the Water" and "Black Night – Deep Purple Tribute According to New York" on the last one using the alias "Lars Y. Loudamp" to avoid contractual conflicts. He also guested with

Saxon The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic * * * * peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...

on the song Denim And Leather on their live album ''

The Eagle Has Landed – Part II ''The Eagle Has Landed – Part II'' is a double live album by the English heavy metal band Saxon. It is the fourth live album by the band and the first recording to feature Doug Scarratt instead of Graham Oliver, who had left just after the re ...

'' (released in 1997). Later that year, Yngwie recorded the tracks "Enigma suite" and "All opposable thumbs" with his former band members Jens Johansson and Anders Johansson on their album ''Johansson/Sonic Winter''.

2000s

In 2000, he signed a contract with the US record label Spitfire and released his 1990s catalog on the US market for the first time, including what he regards as his masterpiece, ''

Concerto Suite for Electric Guitar and Orchestra ''Concerto Suite for Electric Guitar and Orchestra in E Flat Minor Op.1'' is the eleventh studio album by guitarist Yngwie Malmsteen, released on 4 February 1998 through Canyon International. The album was Malmsteen's first attempt at a classic ...

'', recorded with the

Czech Philharmonic The Česká filharmonie (Czech Philharmonic) is a symphony orchestra based in Prague. The orchestra's principal concert venue is the Rudolfinum. History The name "Czech Philharmonic Orchestra" appeared for the first time in 1894, as the title ...

in Prague. After the release of '' War to End All Wars'' in 2000, singer Mark Boals left the band. He was replaced by former Rainbow vocalist

Doogie White Douglas "Doogie" White (born 7 March 1960) is a Scottish rock vocalist who currently sings for La Paz and Alcatrazz. He has also notably sung for Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow, Yngwie Malmsteen's Rising Force, Praying Mantis and Tank. Early li ...

, whose vocals were well received by fans. In 2003, Malmsteen joined Joe Satriani and Steve Vai as part of the G3

supergroup Supergroup or super group may refer to: * Supergroup (music), a music group formed by artists who are already notable or respected in their fields * Supergroup (physics), a generalization of groups, used in the study of supersymmetry * Supergroup ...

, a tour showcasing guitar performances. Malmsteen made two guest appearances on keyboardist

Derek Sherinian Derek Sherinian (born August 25, 1966) is an American keyboardist who has toured and recorded for Alice Cooper, Billy Idol, and Joe Bonamassa, among others. He was also a member of Dream Theater from 1994 to 1999, is the founder of Planet X and ...

's albums ''

Black Utopia ''Black Utopia'' is the third solo album by keyboard player Derek Sherinian. In addition to the returning members Zakk Wylde, Simon Phillips and Steve Lukather, three new musicians joined Sherinian: bass guitarist Billy Sheehan and guitarists ...

'' (2003), and '' Blood of the Snake'' (2006) where Malmsteen plays on the same tracks as

Al Di Meola Albert Laurence Di Meola (born July 22, 1954) is an American guitarist. Known for his works in jazz fusion and world music, he began his career as a guitarist of the group Return to Forever in 1974. Between the 1970s and 1980s, albums such as ' ...

and Zakk Wylde. In 2004, Malmsteen made two cameo appearances on Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law. In 2005 ''

Unleash the Fury ''Unleash the Fury'' is the fifteenth studio album by guitarist Yngwie Malmsteen, released on 26 July 2005 through Spitfire Records. Included on the album—which is an Enhanced CD—are three videos in QuickTime format. The album's title is a re ...

'' was released through Spitfire Records. As stated in an issue of "Guitar World" magazine, he titled this album after an infamous 'airline incident', which occurred on a flight to Japan during a 1988 tour. He was drunk and behaving obnoxiously, until he fell asleep and was roused by a woman pouring a jug of iced water on him. Enraged, he shouted, "You've released the fucking fury!" The audio from this incident was caught on tape by a fellow band member. Malmsteen says that the name of the album refers to both the energy of the album and the incident. The release of ''Unleash the Fury'' was followed by a DVD release of ''Concerto Suite For Electric Guitar And Orchestra in E Flat Minor, Op. 1 – With The New Japan Philharmonic Live''. The DVD chronicles Malmsteen's first time playing in front of a live audience with an orchestra, an experience that he describes as "fun but also extremely scary". In 2007, Malmsteen was honored in the Xbox 360 version of '' Guitar Hero II''. Players can receive the "Yngwie Malmsteen" award by hitting 1000 or more notes in succession. February 2008 saw the replacement of singer Doogie White with former Iced Earth and

Judas Priest Judas Priest are an English heavy metal band formed in Birmingham in 1969. They have sold over 50 million albums and are frequently ranked as one of the greatest metal bands of all time. Despite an innovative and pioneering body of work in th ...

and current

Beyond Fear Beyond Fear is an American heavy metal band started in March, 2005 by Tim "Ripper" Owens after he left Judas Priest as a side-project, apart from his former work with Iced Earth. History The band was started largely to satisfy Owens' desire t ...

singer Tim "Ripper" Owens, with whom Malmsteen had once recorded a cover of Ozzy Osbourne's song " Mr. Crowley", for the 2000 Osbourne tribute album ''Bat Head Soup: A Tribute to Ozzy''. The first Malmsteen album to feature Owens is titled '' Perpetual Flame'' and was released on 4 October. On 25 November 2008, Malmsteen had three of his songs ("Caprici Di Diablo", "Damnation Game", and "Red Devil", all from this latter album) released as downloadable content for the video games ''Rock Band Rock Band 2 and later Rock Band 3''. In 2008, Malmsteen was a special guest on the VH1 Classic show "That Metal Show". On 10 March 2009, Malmsteen's label Rising Force released ''

Angels of Love ''Angels of Love'' is the seventeenth studio album by Yngwie Malmsteen, released on March 10, 2009. The entirely instrumental album features nine all-new acoustic renditions of previously released material, as well as a previously unreleased tr ...

'', an all-instrumental album, which featured acoustic arrangements of some of his best-known ballads. In August 2009, ''Time'' magazine named Malmsteen No. 9 on its list of the 10 best electric guitar players of all-time. Malmsteen recently released another album compilation entitled '' High Impact'' on 8 December 2009.

2010–present

On 23 November 2010, '' Relentless'' was released, the second album to feature Tim "Ripper" Owens on vocals. The US version featured a remake of "Arpeggios From Hell" as a bonus track. Yngwie appeared on ''

Late Night with Jimmy Fallon ''Late Night with Jimmy Fallon'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by comedian Jimmy Fallon. About pag ...

'' on 3 February 2011 to promote his album. On 6 August 2011, Malmsteen made another appearance in the United States, playing a rendition of " The Star-Spangled Banner" before a game between the St. Louis Cardinals and Florida Marlins at Sun Life Stadium. Although rarely seen in his native country of Sweden, Malmsteen played one gig there in 2012. On 7 July, he ended the Getaway Rock Festival in

Gävle Gävle () is a city in Sweden, the seat of Gävle Municipality and the capital of Gävleborg County. It had 77,586 inhabitants in 2020, which makes it the 13th most populated city in Sweden. It is the oldest city in the historical Norrland (Swede ...

, which he was headlining with

Nightwish Nightwish is a Finnish symphonic metal band from Kitee. The band was formed in 1996 by lead songwriter and keyboardist Tuomas Holopainen, guitarist Emppu Vuorinen, and former lead singer Tarja Turunen. The band soon picked up drummer Jukka Neva ...

and

Manowar Manowar is an American heavy metal band from Auburn, New York. Formed in 1980, the group is known for lyrics based on fantasy (particularly sword and sorcery) and mythology (particularly Norse mythology and Greco-Roman mythology), as well as ...

. On 5 December 2012, Malmsteen released the album '' Spellbound''. 2013 saw the release of Yngwie's official autobiography ''Relentless''. On 12 June 2014, Malmsteen kicked off his "Guitar Gods 2014 Tour" at the F.M. Kirby Center in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania alongside ex-Guns N' Roses guitarist Bumblefoot and guitarist

Gary Hoey Gary Hoey (born August 23, 1960) is an American hard rock and latterly blues rock guitarist, singer and songwriter. He has recorded over 20 albums and had five Top 20 ''Billboard'' hits. Early life and early career Hoey was born in Lowell, Mas ...

. In February 2015, it was announced that Malmsteen was in the studio working on a new album. In April and May 2016, Malmsteen was one of five guitarists featured on the

Generation Axe Generation Axe are an American rock/ heavy metal supergroup formed by Steve Vai in 2016. They toured North America in April and May 2016, and Asia in April 2017. Another North American tour took place in November and December 2018, and another sho ...

tour. In 2018, it was announced that Malmsteen had signed with Mascot Records, with a new studio album expected the following year. In 2019, Malmsteen released ''Blue Lightning'', featuring

blues rock Blues rock is a fusion music genre that combines elements of blues and rock music. It is mostly an electric ensemble-style music with instrumentation similar to electric blues and rock (electric guitar, electric bass guitar, and drums, sometimes w ...

songs – mainly covers – with Malmsteen's virtuoso playing. As Malmsteen was quoted: On 8 May 2021, Yngwie Malmsteen was reported to have launched the ''Parabellum'' album and video for the "Paganini-referencing" track "Wolves at the Door". Since

COVID-19 restrictions Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a number of non-pharmaceutical interventions colloquially known as lockdowns (encompassing stay-at-home orders, curfews, quarantines, and similar societal restrictions) have been implemented in numerous coun ...

prevented touring, Malmsteen had more time to record the album, and was "clearly delighted with the results."

Personal life

Malmsteen was married to Swedish singer Erika Norberg (1991-1992) and was subsequently married to Amber Dawn Landin (1993-1998). Since 1999 he has been married to April Malmsteen, with whom he has a son named Antonio, after

Antonio Vivaldi Antonio Lucio Vivaldi (4 March 1678 – 28 July 1741) was an Italian composer, virtuoso violinist and impresario of Baroque music. Regarded as one of the greatest Baroque composers, Vivaldi's influence during his lifetime was widespread a ...

. The family now resides in Miami Shores, Florida. A

Ferrari Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988) in 1939 from the Alfa Romeo racing division as ''Auto Avio Costruzioni'', the company built its first car in ...

enthusiast, Malmsteen owned a black 1983 308 GTS for 24 years before selling it on eBay, and a red 1962 250 GTO. In a 2005 issue of ''Guitar Player'' magazine, Malmsteen discussed his often-ridiculed behaviour, saying that, "I've probably made more mistakes than anybody. But I don't dwell on them. I don't expect people to understand me, because I'm pretty complex, and I think outside the box with everything I do. I've always taken the untraveled path. Obviously, people have their opinions, but I can't get too wrapped up in that, because I know what I can do and I know what kind of person I am. And I have no control over what anybody says about me. Back in Sweden, I'm 'Mr Personality' in the tabloids, but obviously I can't take that seriously. I know in my heart that if I do the absolute best I can do, maybe ten years from now people may turn around and say 'he wasn't that bad'."

Equipment

Yngwie Malmsteen Signature Stratocaster

Malmsteen has been a longtime user of Fender Stratocasters with DiMarzio HS3 single-coil pickups "for playing at blistering volume with no hum or screechiness". His most famous Stratocaster is his 1972 blonde Stratocaster, nicknamed "The Duck" because of its yellow finish and the

Donald Duck Donald Fauntleroy Duck is a cartoon character created by The Walt Disney Company. Donald is an anthropomorphic white duck with a yellow-orange bill, legs, and feet. He typically wears a sailor shirt and cap with a bow tie. Donald is known fo ...

stickers on the headstock. An alternative nickname for this guitar is "Play Loud" due to a sticker that Anders Johansson put on the upper horn of the guitar in Rockshire studios in 1984. Fender made 100 replica copies of this guitar and marketed it as the "Play Loud Guitar". He also has a Fender Yngwie Malmsteen Signature Stratocaster since 1986. It comes in a Vintage White finish with a maple neck, either a maple or rosewood fretboard with scalloped frets and, from 2010, Seymour Duncan STK-S10 YJM "Fury" Model pickups. There is also a signature YJM100 Marshall amplifier, based on the "1959" amplifier range.

Other guitars

Besides Stratocasters, Malmsteen has played and appeared in ads for non-Fender guitars (like Aria Pro II and Schecter in the early 1980s) and played non-Strat-shaped guitars (like Gibson Flying Vs), early in his career. Today, for acoustic and nylon string guitars, Malmsteen uses his signature Ovation YM68s.

Band members

Current members *Yngwie Malmsteen – guitars, vocals (1978–1982, 1984–present) *Nick Marino – keyboards, vocals (2005–2006, 2010–present) *Emilio Martinez – bass, vocals (2017–present) *Brian Wilson – drums (2018–present)

Discography

Steeler

Alcatrazz

Studio albums

Live albums

Videos

* ''Metallic Live'' (1984, VHS) * ''Alcatrazz Live Sentence 1984'' (2010, DVD Reissue)

G3

Live albums

Videos

*'' G3: Live in Denver'' (2004)

Solo

Studio albums

Live albums

Compilations

EP

Videos

Music videos

*Island in the Sun (1983) (with Alcatrazz) *Hiroshima Mon Amour (1983) (with Alcatrazz) *I'll See the Light Tonight (1985) *We're Stars (1986) (with Hear 'N Aid) *You Don't Remember, I'll Never Forget (1986) *Heaven Tonight (1988) *Making Love (1990) *Save Our Love (1990) *Bedroom Eyes (1990) *Teaser (1992) *Dragonfly (1992) *Forever One (1994) *The Only One (1995) *Carry On Wayward Son (Kansas Cover) (1996) *Alone in Paradise (1997) *Like an Angel (1997) *Hanger 18, Area 51 (1999) *Crucify (2000)

Guest appearances

References

External links

*
Audio interview with Yngwie // Metalpaths.com 2010

Audio Interview with Yngwie on GuitarJamDaily.com

NAMM Oral History Interview
18 January 2008 {{DEFAULTSORT:Malmsteen, Yngwie 1963 births Living people Swedish expatriates in the United States American people of Swedish descent Swedish bandleaders Alcatrazz members G3 (tour) Generation Axe members Steeler (American band) members Swedish male guitarists Lead guitarists Swedish heavy metal guitarists Swedish rock guitarists Swedish male composers Swedish record producers Yngwie J. Malmsteen's Rising Force members

Early life

Career

1980s

1990s

Special guest appearances and side projects

2000s

2010–present

Personal life

Equipment

Yngwie Malmsteen Signature Stratocaster

Other guitars

Band members

Discography

Steeler

Alcatrazz

Studio albums

Live albums

Videos

G3

Live albums

Videos

Solo

Studio albums

Live albums

Compilations

EP

Videos

Music videos

Guest appearances

See also

References

Further reading

External links