An article recently published on Yngwie Malmsteen has caused a flurry of criticism.
The original article talked with the guitarist about his past use of vocalists and why he is no longer interested in using them in his shows. Malmsteen said, without naming any names, that he fells comfortable singing his songs himself.
I always wrote everything — I wrote all the lyrics, I wrote all the melodies, everything; it’s just somebody else sung it. And to me, the singer is nothing else than a different… like a bass player or a keyboard player — they’re not more important than any other musician. And they, unfortunately, seem to think that they are. And I’ve kind of had it with their sort of… self-absorbed sort of way, and I’m very much against it. No. I don’t like that. I don’t like any of those people, and I don’t like to do anything with them ever again.
Unfortunately, a number of those past singers took offense to the comment and fired back at Yngwie. Joe Lynn Turner, who joined Malmsteen’s band in 1987, wrote on social media:
MALMSTEEN ARTICLE REBUTTAL
In regard to the recent Malmsteen article, I feel compelled to rebut his delusional statements.
The ‘Odyssey’ album was his biggest success that he has not since and will never repeat again. It’s undeniable that I am responsible for 50% of the writing credits namely the melody and lyrics and 100% of the vocal performances.
Malmsteen’s statements can only be taken as the rantings of a megalomaniac desperately trying to justify his own insecurity. His claim that ‘singers’ are too egotistical is moronic and pathetic coming from him. The fact that he would lash out at all the great vocalists and respectful gentlemen that he had the good fortune and honor to work with is simply outrageous.
How sad does a man become when he has to downgrade others to make himself feel big and important. This man thrives on public approval and needs total control because
he lives in personal fear. I quit ‘Rising Force’ because of his intolerable and twisted ego.If your pride is bigger than your heart and your ego is bigger than your head grow up or you will be alone for life. But after all, who can blame a child who shits his pants because he just doesn’t know any better.
JLT
Jeff Scott Soto, who had a couple of stints with Malmsteen in the 80’s and 90’s, also wrote:
This is a fabulous statement, oh my! Can’t say I blame him, his vocal prowess has increased .05fold the past two decades! Why would he want to work with horrible hacks like myself, Ripper or Joe…and deal with our egos…like wanting to hear ourselves onstage within the cavalcade of Marshall’s, or getting our measly salaries on time (or at all)…or maybe it was the desire to be ‘buds’ that got in the way? Carry on there Sing-vay, you got this!
On a side note, I wrote more than 3/4 of the lyrics and 1/2 melodies for I’ll See The Light Tonight, all of the lyrics for Caught In The Middle and Don’t Let It End (he wrote the title and got 50% of authorship) and all off On The Run Again (title included). So much for writing EVERYTHING but you must admit, a Puerto Rican ‘faking’ the praises about a Viking was pretty convincing no? ?
So far, there have not been any statements from others that the guitarist worked with such as Tim “Ripper” Owens, Mark Boals and Doogie White.
Which brings us to Sunday (July 30) when representatives for Malmsteen tried to explain his position and calm the fires:
STATEMENT REGARDING PAST VOCALISTS:
Hello all,
Firstly, we would like to apologize in advance that this statement must even be written, but it seems that some comments from past vocalists that Yngwie has worked with in the past have been getting twisted and blown out of proportion. Allow me to set the record straight.
I think the response to Yngwie’s off-hand comments (of which his previous hired vocalists were not specifically named) has only served to prove them true – because Yngwie said something that they didn’t like, they came out enraged, spitting insults and profanities at him. This of course leads to the media bloating their responses and proclaiming it to be some sort of “feud” when it’s absolutely nothing of the sort.
Yngwie never mentioned any of them by name (the journalist did, however) – he merely stated that he was not interested in working with any singers anymore because he did not feel it conducive to his style of writing and performing. If Yngwie had a problem with his hired musicians having an ego, he had every right to fire them (they did not “quit” or “leave” as they would like to have you believe) because it was, and still is his own project. He leads and he has the final word.
It’s very unfortunate that these past hired vocalists must resort to mudslinging and insults to elicit any kind of media attention towards them. Such classless, puerile words are ungentlemanly at best and absolutely disgraceful at worst.
Meanwhile, these hired vocalists have been attempting to reach Yngwie throughout the past 35 years and to as recent as this year, have tried to reconnect with Yngwie, start projects and/or be rehired by him, among other things. At the same time, they have repeatedly spouted out these increasingly juvenile insults – a recent incident telling Yngwie to “sit on this” (a picture of the vocalist’s middle finger) on social media sticks out particularly – which makes it very hard to believe their reaching out is based in any sort of goodwill. These incidents tend to increase in frequency when their attempts are not humored.
Above all, the most laughable thing about the statements from all of these different singers is that they all claim to be individually and solely responsible for Yngwie’s success! How strange and amazing is it that they all did it by themselves? It would be slightly more believable if they had the ability to generate media coverage without attaching Yngwie’s name to themselves – but alas, this is not the case, and as such their stories only seem to be about their tantrums toward Yngwie.
It is simply impossible, then, for one to take such statements seriously when these vocalists have sung such a different tune when dealing with our end. To literally take a picture of yourself flipping off Yngwie’s family and then right afterward show up at his concert asking for free tickets does not do a lot to instill trust. Such behavior simply comes across as being disingenuous and trying to ride on Yngwie’s coattails.
I think that these past hired vocalists would find it in their best interests to do as Yngwie does by moving on and focusing on creating and performing new music, instead of grasping as tightly onto the past as they can.
Thank you for your time and I bid you a good day.~Daniel Baker, Malmsteen Management
