Yngwie Malmsteen
Yngwie Johan Malmsteen ( ING-vay MAHLM-steen; born Lars Johan Yngve Lannerbäck on 30 June 1963) is a Swedish guitarist, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and bandleader. Malmsteen first became known in the 1980s for his neoclassical metal playing style in heavy metal.
Biography
Early life
Malmsteen was born Lars Johan Yngve Lannerbäck in Stockholm, Sweden, the third child of a musical family. Malmsteen has stated that Jimi Hendrix had no musical impact on him and did not contribute to his style, but watching the 18 September 1970 TV special where Hendrix smashed and burned his guitar made Malmsteen think, "This is really cool". Malmsteen created his first band "Track on Earth" at the age of 10, consisting of himself and a friend from school on drums. At the age of 12 he took his mother's maiden name Malmsten as his surname, 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 violinist composer Niccolò Paganini, and also discovered his most important guitar influence, Ritchie Blackmore. Uli Jon Roth is also cited as a significant influence, as is Brian May.
