What Is Yngwie Malmsteen 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 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 

He 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 ten called Track on Earth. When he was 12, he adopted his mother's maiden name Malmsten to 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

His career is said to have begun when he saw a TV news report of 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 Malmsteen 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. Malmsteen 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, Malmsteen 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 Malmsteen. The album won the Guitar Player's award for Best Rock Album and was nominated for a Grammy for Best Rock Instrumental. It also reached No. 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, Malmsteen's mother died of cancer.

Yngwie Malmsteen Net Worth

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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 line up of his band and changed a few members out. Malmsteen 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. Malmsteen 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 in 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." He followed up the release of the album with a DCD 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 Malmsteen at number nine 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." Malmsteen released another album called "Parabellum" on July 23, 2021.

Personal Life

He and Swedish singer Erika Norberg were married for one year, from 1991-1992. 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.

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