YNGWIE MALMSTEEN Recalls Being Offered Guitarist Gig In DAVID LEE ROTH's Solo Band: 'I Probably Should Have Done It'

In a new interview with Eamon O'Neill of Eonmusic, legendary Swedish guitarist Yngwie Malmsteen spoke about some of the offers he had received over the years to join established bands or collaborate with well-known musicians, including David Lee Roth's post-VAN HALEN solo band. Yngwie said: "What happened was that I was on tour with my solo band in 1985, and I had a band called TALAS as an opening act, and the bass player in TALAS was Billy Sheehan. Roth would come to the shows all the time, and he had just left VAN HALEN. And he wanted to get the hottest guitar player, I guess. So he told me he thought we could do a great thing together. And I think he's an awesome guy, and I really like the VAN HALEN albums with him; they're really good and everything. I probably should have done it, but I didn't. So I just basically said, 'Thanks, but no thanks. I'm honored, but I'm really on a roll now,' which I kind of was, but not really. [Laughs] So we're on a friendly basis. He would give me a lot of advice about how to deal with the press and shit. A very, very smart guy. And then he got Steve [Vai], which was great, so it all worked out."

Last year, Malmsteen told Guitar Player contributor Jonathan Graham about the offer to join Roth's band: "What happened was that he was leaving, or left already, VAN HALEN, and I was doing a big American tour [with] AC/DC. And then right after that I did my own tour of America with a band called TALAS opening up, which was Billy Sheehan's band. And Dave would come to the shows all the time. Plus, we would hang out too, at the Troubadour and stuff, back in the party days. And it would've been a great thing, but I think that… I mean, he obviously asked Billy Sheehan too, so Billy took it. I mean, it wasn't officially on a paper like this or something like this, but it was very obvious what he was thinking about. And at the time, I was thinking, 'Oh, no. I'm doing great,' whatever."

In a separate interview with Classic Rock magazine, Yngwie stated about Roth's VAN HALEN bandmate, iconic guitarist Eddie Van Halen: "I never said a bad word about him. I never will. Because I think he was amazing. But I used to know a guy that worked in the grocery store where Eddie would shop, and the guy would ask him: 'Hey, what do you think about Yngwie Malmsteen, the new Swedish kid?' And Eddie would say: 'I don't know who that is.' Meanwhile, Dave Roth told me that Eddie would have his ghetto blaster, playing my shit on it all day long."

According to Yngwie, Eddie even ignored him when they both attended the Grammy Awards in 1986. At the time, Malmsteen was nominated in the "Best Rock Instrumental Performance" category for his album "Rising Force".

"I go to the show — I had my tux on and everything — and I see Eddie there," Yngwie told Classic Rock. "I'm waving at him, trying to get his attention, and he sees me… and he runs away. He literally ran away."

Malmsteen went on to suggest that Van Halen was so threatened by him that he pulled out of a scheduled VAN HALEN show in the Netherlands where the two guitarists would have finally shared the stage.

"I was doing a concert festival in Holland, and VAN HALEN were headlining," Yngwie recalled. "I'm, like, 'Great. I finally get to meet Eddie and give him my concerto.' Because I'm proud of my concerto, you know?' But I find out they canceled the show. They said Alex Van Halen had broken his little finger or something. And then I hear that the promoter got a phone call from Eddie himself, who said: 'Just to let you know, if Yngwie Malmsteen is playing, I'm not playing. And I will never fucking play the same stage as Yngwie Malmsteen.' I'm, like, 'What?' He obviously felt threatened. Which is crazy to me. You're fucking Eddie Van Halen. No one could threaten you."

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.