Yngwie Malmsteen Tickets

A rock guitarist who manages to incorporate many classical touches into his playing, Yngwie Malmsteen is something of a virtuoso musician. Often described by music critics as playing in a neoclassical style, he is mostly associated with metal and heavy rock. Born in 1963, Malmsteen is the youngest child of a Swedish family that was noted for its musicality. According to Malmsteen himself, the young musician became obsessed with rock guitar after seeing Jimi Hendrix perform on television. Malmsteen has never looked back from that experience as a seven-year-old boy. He enjoyed considerable success in the 1980s and Malmsteen continues to write, record and perform to this day.

Like his idol, Hendrix, Malmsteen is noted for his preference for Fender guitars, especially the Stratocaster model. Malmsteen is mostly seen performing on a 1972 blonde model, with its larger-than-usual headstocks. The guitarist is also noted for customising his guitars, fitting particular pickups, for example, or re-springing the tremolo arm. He uses a DOD-250 overdrive preamp, a model that took his name for a time.

Yngwie Malmsteen's band work

Having recorded a demo to showcase his talents, Malmsteen moved to the United States and joined Steeler. The American heavy metal outfit recorded one album with Malmsteen. He received one writing credit on the LP for the song “No Way Out”, the album's third track. Malmsteen then joined Alcatrazz, contributing to the band's debut studio album, No Parole for Rock 'n' Roll, as both a writer and guitarist. A live album followed in 1984, spending 16 weeks in the US charts.

Yngwie Malmsteen's solo career

Between 1984 and 1990, Malmsteen recorded no less than five albums for Polydor, which were all hits in his native Sweden, as well as finding a considerable audience in Japan and the US. His album, Odyssey, from 1988, was his biggest UK work up to that point, reaching a high of number 27 in the British charts.

Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, Malmsteen continued to release studio albums, including the fully instrumental work Angels of Love in 2009, which saw the guitarist’s return to the US album charts. In more recent years, Malmsteen embarked on the Guitar Gods 2014 Tour alongside legends such as Ron 'Bumblefoot' Tal, formerly of Guns 'n' Roses.

Malmsteen has released a number of live albums, including Concerto Suite for Electric Guitar and Orchestra in E flat minor with the New Japan Philharmonic, in 2002. A number of retrospective and 'best of' albums have been produced, as well.

Similar acts to Yngwie Malmsteen

At StubHub you can find tickets for other neoclassical guitarists, such as Ritchie Blackmore. Alternatively, look for gigs by virtuosos such as Tommy Emmanuel.