Yngwie Johan Malmsteen (/ˈɪŋveɪ ˈmÉ'Ë lmstiË n/; born Lars Johan
Yngve Lannerbäck; 30 June 1963) is a Swedish guitarist, songwriter,
composer, and bandleader. Malmsteen first became known in the 1980s
for his neoclassical metal playing style in heavy metal, and has
released 20 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.Malmsteen was born Lars Johan
Yngve Lannerbäck in Stockholm, Sweden, the third child of a musical
family. At the age of ten Malmsteen created his first band, Track on
Earth, consisting of himself and a friend from school playing the
drums. At the age of twelve, 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 had no musical impact on him and did not contribute
to his style, but watching on 18 September 1970 TV news reporting on
his death, where the footage was shown of Hendrix smashing and burning
his guitar At the Monterey Pop Festival of 1967, made Malmsteen think,
"This is really cool."In early 1982, Mike Varney of Shrapnel Records,
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 part of 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. 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.
Yngve Lannerbäck; 30 June 1963) is a Swedish guitarist, songwriter,
composer, and bandleader. Malmsteen first became known in the 1980s
for his neoclassical metal playing style in heavy metal, and has
released 20 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.Malmsteen was born Lars Johan
Yngve Lannerbäck in Stockholm, Sweden, the third child of a musical
family. At the age of ten Malmsteen created his first band, Track on
Earth, consisting of himself and a friend from school playing the
drums. At the age of twelve, 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 had no musical impact on him and did not contribute
to his style, but watching on 18 September 1970 TV news reporting on
his death, where the footage was shown of Hendrix smashing and burning
his guitar At the Monterey Pop Festival of 1967, made Malmsteen think,
"This is really cool."In early 1982, Mike Varney of Shrapnel Records,
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 part of 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. 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.
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