One of the great virtuoso guitarists in metal Yngwie Malmsteen is celebrating his birthday today, and we are thrilled to tell you some interesting facts about him:
(Photo: Blabbermouth.net)
1. He was born on June 30, 1963 in Stockholm, Sweden as Lars Johan Yngve Lannerbäck.
2. At the age of seven he heard about the death of Jimi Hendrix, an event that influenced him to hold the guitar, although years later he noted that Jimi Hendrix did not influence his playing.
3. Already at the age of 10 he formed his first band "Track on Earth" with his school friends.
4. At the age of 12 he changed his last name to his mother's maiden name - Malmsten and with the addition of the letter "e", meaning Malmsteen. He also changed his first name from Yngve to Yngwie.
5. In his youth he was greatly influenced by classical music, especially that of the virtuoso violinist Niccolò Paganini and the composers Johann Sebastian Bach and Antonio Vivaldi.
6. Malmsteen developed a technical, eloquent and very unique style of playing the guitar, imitating Paganini's concerto works.
7. At the same time he found great inspiration in the playing of guitarist Ritchie Blackmore who influenced him greatly. Other influences on Malmsteen as guitarist were Brian May of "Queen", Steve Hackett from |Genesis|, Uli Jon Roth from |Scorpions| and more.
8. At the age of 19, in 1983 he joined the band "Steeler" which also included singer and guitarist Ron Keel. Malmsteen was a part of the band's debut album "Steeler" which was released in 1983.
9. Later that year he joined the band "Alcatrazz" which included singer Graham Bonnet. A year later he recorded with them the album "No Parole from Rock 'n' Roll" which was released in 1984. He also was a part of the live album "Sent Sentence" which was released after that.
(Photo: Metalkingdom.net)
10. In 1984, Malmsteen released his first solo album - "Rising Force". On this album, Yngwie also played all the bass roles.
11. It was supposed to be an instrumental album as a side project for "Alcatrazz", however after singer Jeff Scott Soto joined the band, Yngwie left Alcatrazz and concentrated on his solo career.
12. It is interesting to note that the drummer on that debut album was Barrie Barlow who played with "Jethro Tull".
13. Malmsteen's debut album won the Guitar Player Magazine Best Album Award.
14. Yngwie's second album "Marching Out" from 1985 has already been released under the name of Yngwie's band which got its name from the debut album "Yngwie J. Malmsteen's Rising Force".
15. On his third album, "Trilogy", which was released in 1986, Malmsteen returned to play all the bass roles, in addition to guitar parts.
16. This album introduced to the world the amazing abilities of Malmsteen who in his playing and style helped and contributed to the development and publication of the neo-classical style.
17. In 1987, two "Rainbow" band members - bassist Bob Daisley and singer Joe Lynn Turner joined Yngwie's band.
18. That same year Malmsteen had a serious car accident, he was unconscious for a week and when he woke up he discovered that nerve damage had been done to his right hand. At the same time, his mother also died of cancer.
19. In 1988 he released his fourth album "Odyssey" with Joe Lynn Turner and Bob Daisley. It became the most successful album of Malmsteen's career.
20. That same year a special model of Fender Stratocaster guitar was released in the name of Malmsteen, making Malmsteen and Eric Clapton the first two artists to receive a Fender guitar model in their name.
21. In 1993, Malmsteen was arrested for gun threats against his future wife, but the complaint was eventually droped and Yngwie was released.
22. In 1996, Malmsteen was a guest on the song "Jealousy" by the band "Human Clay" which includes members of his former band, singer Jeff Scott Soto and bassist Marcel Jacob.
23. That same year he was also featured on "Saxon's" live album "Denim and Leather".
24. He was also a guest on two songs from the Johansson brothers' album "Johansson / Sonic Winter" which he had previously played with in his band.
25. On his 35th birthday, Malmsteen released the album he considers as his masterpiece - "Concerto Suite for Electric Guitar and Orchestra", in which he is accompanied by a classical orchestra - the Philharmonic of Japan.
26. In 2000 he added another significant singer to his band who was previously part of Rainbow - Doogie White.
27. In 2003 he joined Joe Satriani and Steve Vai as part of the G3 tour.
28. In 2003 and 2006 he was featured on keyboardist Derek Sherinian's albums.
29. He took the inspiration for the title of the album "Unleash the Fury" from 2005 from an incident that happened to him on a flight to Japan in 1988, where he got drunk, fell asleep and was woken up by a flight attendant who poured water on him. Yngwie was quick to respond by saying - "You've released the fucking fury!" Recorded by one of the passengers.
30. In 2007 he received the Medal of Honor in the Xbox Guitar Hero II game, which allowed very outstanding players who gain over 1,000 and more accurate notes to receive the Yngwie Malmsteen Award.
31. In 2008, Yngwie replaced his lead singer again, bringing in Tim "Ripper" Owens, with whom Yngwie recorded the song "Mr. Crowley" as a tribute to Ozzy Osbourne.
32. Time magazine ranked Yngwie ninth on the list of the greatest electric guitar players of all time.
33. In 2003 he collaborated with Ronnie James Dio on the cover version of Aerosmith's song "Dream On".
34. Malmsteen has performed twice in Israel. On April 27, 2010 at the Hangar in Tel Aviv, and on September 12, 2018 at Reading club.
35. Yngwie has released 22 studio albums to date as part of his solo career, the most recent being "Parabellum" released on July 23, 2021.
And now go click on the link and listen to some of his best works in the playlist that we have prepared especially for you: Click Here.