What Is Yngwie Malmsteen's Net Worth?
Yngwie Malmsteen is a Swedish heavy metal guitar virtuoso who has a net worth of $5 million. His net worth might not seem like much compared to more popular "rock gods," but Yngwie Malmsteen is generally considered the top artist in his field and a true rock master on a technical level. His career has spanned over 40 years, with 22 albums to his name as a result. He continues to play live music and release successful studio and compilation albums into the present day.
Early Life
Yngwie Malmsteen was born Lars Johan Yngve Lannerback on June 30, 1963 in Stockholm Sweden. Raised in a musical family with two siblings, Malmsteen created his first band at the age of 10 called Track on Earth. When he was 12, he began using his mother's maiden name, Malmsten, as his last name, changing it slightly by adding the extra E. He was heavily influenced by classical music as a teenager, studying 19th-century composers like Niccolo Paganini and Bach. He has named Ritchie Blackmore as his most important guitar influence.
Career
Yngwie's career is said to have begun when he saw a TV news report about the death of famous guitarist and singer Jimi Hendrix on September 18, 1970. Although Malmsteen claims to not be musically influenced by Hendrix, his official website states that "[t]he day Jimi Hendrix died, the guitar-playing Yngwie was born." He was heavily influenced by images of Hendrix smashing and burning his guitar in 1967 at the Monterey Pop Festival.
In 1982, Mike Varney of Shrapnel Records heard a demo tape of Malmsteen playing and brought him to the U.S. His recording career began as a heavy metal guitarist with the band Steeler and several other rock acts, including the band Alcatrazz. Yngwie played with Alcatrazz on its 1983 debut, "No Parole from Rock and Roll," and on their live album "Live Sentence" in 1984. Malmsteen clashed with Alcatrazz lead singer Graham Bonnet, and after a fight during a show, Yngwie was fired on the spot.
Malmsteen's first solo album came out in 1984. The album, "Rising Force," was originally supposed to be an instrumental side project, but it eventually evolved into a full-fledged solo album for Yngwie. The album won "Guitar Player" magazine's award for Best Rock Album and was nominated for a Grammy for Best Rock Instrumental. It also reached #60 on the "Billboard" album chart. He then released two more albums with a band, "Marching Out" in 1985 and "Trilogy" the following year. The tour in support of "Trilogy" was canceled after Malmsteen was injured in a serious car accident. He ran his Jaguar into a tree and was in a coma for a week. During this time, his mother died of cancer.
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Yngwie's neoclassical, highly virtuosic style of guitar playing continued to characterize his albums throughout the '80s and '90s, becoming popular in Europe and Asia after his style of "shredding" guitar solos had grown unfashionable in the United States. He released two more albums in the late '80s, "Odyssey" and "Trial by Fire: Live in Leningrad." During this time, he shook up the lineup of his band and changed a few members out. Yngwie released eight solo albums in the nineties: "Eclipse," "Fire & Ice," "The Seventh Sign," "Magnum Opus," "Inspiration," "Facing the Animal," "Concerto Suite for Electric Guitar and Orchestra," and "Alchemy." By 1996, he joined forces with his former band members Marcel Jacob and Jeff Scott Soto to create the album "Human Clay."
Malmsteen signed a contract with the U.S. record label Spitfire in 2000 and released his nineties catalog on the U.S. market. He and singer Mark Boals recorded "War to End All Wars," after which Boals left the band and was replaced by Doogie White, whose vocals were well-liked by fans. Yngwie made guest appearances on Derek Sherinian's albums "Black Utopia" and "Blood of the Snake" in 2003 and 2006, respectively. He released "Unleash the Fury" in 2005. According to an issue of "Guitar World" magazine, Malmsteen titled the album after an airline incident that occurred on a flight to Japan in 1988 during a tour: "He was drunk and behaving obnoxiously, until he fell asleep and was roused by a woman pouring a jug of iced water on him. Enraged, he shouted, 'You've released the fucking fury!' The audio from this incident was caught on tape by a fellow band member." Yngwie followed up the release of the album with a DVD release of "Concerto Suite for Electric Guitar and Orchestra," the album that he considers his masterpiece. The filming of the DVD was his first time playing in front of a live audience with a full orchestra.
In 2009, Malmsteen released "Angels of Love," an all-instrumental album that featured acoustic arrangements of some of his most popular songs. That same year, "Time" magazine placed Yngwie at #9 on its list of the 10 best electric guitar players of all time. He released "Relentless" in November 2010. Malmsteen made an appearance on "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" on February 3, 2011, his first television appearance in the United States. A few months later, he played a rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner" before the first pitch in a baseball game between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Florida Marlins. He returned to Sweden in 2012 to play a gig there. In December 2012, Yngwie released the album "Spellbound," and the following year, he released "Relentless," his official autobiography. It was announced in 2018 that Malmsteen had signed with Mascot Records. In 2019, he released a blues-rock album mainly consisting of covers called "Blue Lightning." Yngwie released another album called "Parabellum" on July 23, 2021.
Personal Life
Yngwie and Swedish singer Erika Norberg were married for one year, from 1991 to 1992. Malmsteen was married to Amber Dawn Landin from 1993 to 1998. He has been married to April Malmsteen since 1999, and the family calls Miami Shores, Florida, home. They have one child named Antonio.
