In the hard rock and metal world, fallouts rarely stay private. One comment turns into a thread, a thread turns into a rumor, and soon fans argue like they were in the van back in ’84. That’s the backdrop for Jeff Scott Soto talking openly about wanting a clean reset with Yngwie Malmsteen, decades after their early run together on Rising Force (1984) and Marching Out (1985).
During a recent interview with Artists On Record With Stefan Adika, the legendary singer explained how, when people keep asking about a broken relationship, silence becomes its own headline.
“Well, you gotta pay a little more attention to Blabbermouth and all that stuff going on out there, because if you did, you’d know that there’s absolutely no relationship between Yngwie and I right now. I’m trying to change that,” Soto said (via Blabbermouth). “Even on your show, I’ve been trying to extend that olive branch and trying to fix and change it. And the thing is, everybody thinks I want something out of Malmsteen, that, ‘Oh, you’re just doing this ’cause you’re trying to get back with him. You wanna work with him.’ No. I just want peace. I want love and harmony between me and everybody else I’ve ever worked with in my career.”
“And that’s why I keep extending, overextending that olive branch, because I’m 60 years old. Who knows how much longer I’ve got on this planet? I wanna walk away with no enemies, a clean slate. Everybody in my life, I just wanna have good relationships with them. And Malmsteen [and me], we have no speaking relationship. We don’t talk. I don’t go to his shows. He doesn’t come to mine. But hopefully one day we can change that,” Soto added.
The recent noise came from Yngwie Malmsteen taking aim online at some former vocalists for “trying to capitalize from his brand”. Jeff Scott Soto says fans immediately assumed the post targeted him, and he had to put the fire out fast.
“My phone was blowing up for two days [after Yngwie posted that]. Everybody thought he was talking about me again. And he wasn’t. He was talking about two other former singers who are going out and doing shows based on a tribute to Yngwie or a tribute to the time that they spent with Yngwie. And I guess that they were promoting that, and he caught wind of it, and that’s where that came from. Nothing to do with me,” Soto explained.
He also drew a hard line between celebrating history and cashing in on it. That distinction matters in this scene, where “tribute” can mean respect or opportunism depending on who is telling the story.
“I’m not doing anything where I’m going out doing Yngwie shows or trying to capitalize on his name or his legacy. Not at all. All I do is I post things online to celebrate — celebrate my involvement, celebrate the things I did with him, because I have a legacy too, in my own world, or however you want to call it. It’s part of my history too, so I celebrate that. I’m not trying to toe the line, I’m not trying to do anything, and try to get anything from him in those terms.”
Then there’s the other part of Yngwie Malmsteen’s jab: asking what certain singers have “recorded” and “created [in] the last 30, 40 years”. Jeff Scott Soto answered that one like a working musician who keeps receipts.
“You definitely can’t put that on me, because if you look at the past 30, 40 years, I’m on easily over a hundred records. Just my solo records alone, I’ve got eight solo records. Then you do the W.E.T., you’ve got Talisman. So I’ve been busy. You can’t ask, what have I done? I’ve done a lot,” he reflected.
“Everybody thought he was referring to me,” “They’re sending virtual hugs: ‘Dude, we got you, man. We understand what you’re going through. We read this stuff, and it’s not fair.’ I say, ‘Hey, he wasn’t talking about me. It’s cool.”
Whether you love his voice or not, that’s the reality: Jeff Scott Soto has stayed active. In metal, longevity is its own argument.
The most interesting part is how practical this whole thing is. He says he has no direct line to Yngwie Malmsteen, so he uses interviews and public appearances as the only available “message in a bottle” approach. It sounds old-school, but it fits: most legacy feuds survive because nobody wants to make the first human move.
“I wouldn’t know how. I don’t have any numbers, any contacts, or anything, so I wouldn’t know how to reach out to him. But there’s enough I put out there when I do interviews or do anything, even Cameos. I put it out there all the time that I would love to just bury the hatchet, whatever that hatchet is, and just walk away as friends again one day. I’d love to go to shows and be in the audience watching the show and not saying, ‘Oh, man, hopefully one day he’ll have me back.’ It’s not about that at all. I did my time with him. If someday, one day, he wanted to do something like that, I’d absolutely be open to it. But I’m not looking for that. I don’t need that in my life in terms of that’s the only thing I have going for me. I got a lot going for me. I just wanna be the guy’s friend again.”
And when pushed to address Yngwie Malmsteen directly, he went straight to the point: shared history, respect for the work, and a request to clear the debris.
“Hey, listen, Yngwie. We’ve got a lot of history, man. We go back over 41 years. We made some great music together. I got to sing on your two classic records that everybody loves, and somewhere along the way we’ve stumbled on some blocks, on some roadblocks, on some walls. Let’s put ’em aside. Let’s break bread again. Let’s be buddies. I don’t need anything from you. You don’t need anything from me, but I just wanna be your friend again. There’s my olive branch extended once again. I love you, I respect you, and I cherish and treasure everything I ever did with and for you. So if we can fix this someday, I’m all in.”
Finally, he framed it as bigger than business; more like unfinished life stuff. That hits different in a genre built on pride, independence, and grudges that last longer than band lineups.
“I know his wife. I never met his son, and that would be a nice thing. I’d love to meet the next generation of the Malmsteens, his son. He’s got a kid. I know his wife. Everything was cool. We had a great relationship. There were times when I was possibly coming back and singing with him back in the day. These things didn’t pan out — whatever. I don’t want or need that. I would like to just say, ‘Hey, let’s be buddies again.'”
