Yngwie Malmsteen

Lars Johann Yngwie Lannerback was born in Stockholm, Sweden on June 30, 1963.

Growing up, he was an unruly child who loved anything violent. Until he was 5, his mother tried to teach him to play the piano, trumpet, and guitar, but he would have nothing to do with any of them. But, in 1970, he saw a show on TV about the death of guitar legend, Jimi Hendrix. He was amazed by the way Jimi could hold an audience and play with such amazing skill.

Malmsteen then immersed himself in learning to play an old Strat. He was most influenced by Ritchie Blackmore's classical guitar, and began to learn the classics of Bach, Vivaldi, Beethoven, and Mozart.

By the age of 10, he had all but quit school, and concentrated on his music. His mother often let him stay home with his records and his guitar, which he would play for hours. It was also at this time that he took on his mother's maiden name.

By the time he was 15, Malmsteen finally quit school completely. He began to work as a luthier in a guitar repair shop. He also began playing in a band, but, at the time, there didn't seem to be an audience interested in his kind of guitar music.

When Malmsteen turned 18, the army tried to recruit him as an officer based on his high IQ test scores. In front of the recruiters, he held a gun to his head and vowed that he would rather die than serve in the military. The recruiters, convinced that he was serious, sent him on his way.

Malmsteen returned to his music, and recorded a demo. Unfortunately, the cuts were never released. Yngwie now realized he would have to leave Sweden to be noticed anywhere, and began sending his demos overseas. Mike Varney of Shrapnel Music heard his demo, and invited him to come to Los Angeles to join a new band called Steeler. The band's debut album was a typical heavy metal release, but was made memorable by Malmsteen's unaccompanied solo to Hot on Your Heals.

Malmsteen, unimpressed with following the common trends of music, left the band and went on to join Alcatrazz. Together, the band did release some great tracks with the help of Yngwie, but it also proved to be too limiting for him. He left the band to pursue his solo career.

Malmsteen's first release, Rising Force, hit number 60 on the billboard charts. This was considered to be quite a feat considering the album was almost completely instrumental, and never received any commercial radio play. This album also gained him a Grammy nomination for Best Rock Instrumental Performance. Soon after that he was voted Best New Talent in several polls, Best Rock Guitarist, and his album, Rising Force became Album of the Year.

In 1986, he released Trilogy, which he considers to be his favorite release.

In June of 1987, Yngwie was in a car accident, wrapping his car around a tree. He broke the steering wheel with his head. The resulting injury was a concussion which caused a blood clot in his head. This damaged the nerves that run into his right hand. After remaining in a coma for almost a week, Yngwie pulled through, but found his picking hand was totally useless. Horrified that his career may be over, he started therapy to regenerate the nerves in his hand.

Not long after he was out of danger himself, he found out that his mother had died of cancer. To make matters worse, he found out that his manager had squandered all of his money, leaving him penniless with a mountain of hospital bills.

Not giving up, Malmsteen immersed himself in his music again. The result was Odyssey which was most recognized for its broader audience appeal. The hit single Heaven Tonight received much radio play and almost went gold on the US charts. Yngwie went on tour in promotion of his album, including a series of sold-out shows in the Soviet Union in 1989.

After this tour, Malmsteen moved to Florida and started a new band with fellow Swedes including vocalist Goran Edman, symphony orchestra bassist Svante Henryson, Keyboardist Mats Olausson, and drummer Michael von Knorring. The band's first album, Eclipse proved that Malmsteen could write radio material with out sacrificing his classical style. Due to poor promotion by Polygram records, the album didn't do as well in the US as it should have. However, it went gold and platinum in Japan and Europe. Following this release, Yngwie left Polygram records, not on good terms, and signed with Elektra by march of 1991.

In May of 1991, Malmsteen married Swedish pop star Erika Norberg. The marriage lasted less than a year, and the couple was divorced in April of 1992.

Following his divorce, Malmsteen left on his Fire and Ice tour, his first with Elektra Records. It was with this album that he finally realized his dream to record with an orchestra. This album debuted number 1 in Japan, and sold over 100,000 copies on the day of it's release. It also reached gold and platinum status in Europe and Asia.

In June of 1992, Yngwie returned to Miami to rest and start work on his next album. Unfortunately, due to many unforeseen circumstances, the new album was held at a standstill. Hurricane Andrew destroyed his house in 1992, His long-time manager Nigel Thomas died of a heart attack in January of 1993, in March Yngwie learned that Elektra had dropped him from their roster, in July, he broke his hand in a freak accident, and in August he was the victim of a false arrest which made international news. In September, all charges against him were dropped.

He then signed a contract with Japan's Pony Canyon Records, and began to concentrate on his music again.

In December of 1993, Yngwie married again. This time it was Amberdawn Landin. The couple married in Stockholm, Sweden in the historic Storyrkan Cathedral which was used by Swedish royalty.

In February of the same year, the band began to rehearse for their world tour in promotion of their album Seventh Sign. Upon its release, the album reached number 1 on the international charts, and went triple platinum in Japan. After nearly a year on tour, the band returned home.

In December of 1994, Yngwie started construction on his own recording studio. He also started work on his next album, Magnum Opus.

In 1996, he released Inspiration, a tribute to the artists that Malmsteen admired the most. Following its release, he went on to produce his first classical album, Concerto Suite for Electrical Guitar and Orchestra in Eb minor, Op 1.

His latest studio album was Facing the Animal. It was hailed as a great success among fans and critics. During this tour, he recorded Yngwie Malmsteen Live!

In 2003 Yngwie toured with Satriani and Vai on the G3 tour.