Swedish hard rock took its first big step abroad in the early 80s, when a young Yngwie Malmsteen sent a demo cassette across the Atlantic and became a guitar god overnight. Now Swedish hard rock bands perform all over the world on the biggest stages. This is the story of how Swedish hard rock became an export success.
Yngwie Johan Malmsteen is a world-renowned Swedish guitarist and bandleader. As a young boy, Yngwie originally had no interest in music, but that all changed on September 18th, 1970 when he saw a TV special on the late Jimi Hendrix. Seven-year-old Yngwie watched in awe as Hendrix blasted the audience with torrents of feedback and sacrificed his guitar in flames. Malmsteen first became known in the 1980s for his neoclassical metal playing style in heavy metal, and has released 20 studio albums in a career spanning almost 40 years. Drawing influence from classical composers such as Bach, Paganini, and Vivaldi, Yngwie is responsible for birthing the neo-classical genre to the world of rock. In 2009, Time magazine rated Yngwie Malmsteen as among the 10 greatest electric guitar players of all time.