YNGWIE MALMSTEEN On A.I. In Music: 'People Are Not Gonna Go To An Arena And Buy Tickets To Watch A Robot Play'

During an appearance on the October 27 episode of SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk", legendary Swedish guitarist Yngwie Malmsteen spoke about artificial intelligence and its growing use in the music creation process. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I'm not really using [A.I.] for anything, but I kind of know what it is.

"I think A.I. is probably a good tool in certain things, like in legal matters and whatever, where you just wanna have a lot of information. But I think that if it gets into wrong hands, it could be also bad," he explained.

"I think technology's not bad on its own. I think technology could be used for a bad purpose, but I don't think it itself is bad."

Asked if he is concerned at all about A.I. replacing artists, particularly when it comes to the songwriting process, Yngwie said: "Yes and no. I think that it could be a temporary trick almost. But I think ultimately — think about this — people are not gonna go to an arena and buy tickets to watch a robot play. I don't think so. I think people still want to have some sort of human interaction. But I could be wrong. Hopefully not. I don't think that it's gonna replace it. It could be adding a lot of things that are fake, but we'll see. But at the same time, even with all the trends coming back and forth, going out and in and stuff like that, it's always gonna be an urge for that rock and roll, or whatever you wanna call it, impact of some real people playing. I'm pretty sure of that. But I could be wrong, I guess."

Malmsteen will release his new studio album, "Hell Or High Water", on November 13 via Music Theories Recordings/Artone Label Group.

After working with some of the top hard singers of the past four decades, Yngwie now handles much of the lead vocals himself in his own band, backed by a lineup that includes keyboardist Nick Marino, bassist Emilio Martinez and drummer Kevin Klingenschmid.

Yngwie released a new live album, "Tokyo Live", in April 2025 via Music Theories Recordings. The concert was recorded at the Zepp DiverCity, Tokyo on May 11, 2024 as part of Yngwie's 40th-anniversary world tour.