Legendary Swedish guitarist Yngwie Malmsteen has taken aim at some of the vocalists from his early solo years, accusing them of “trying to capitalize from [his] brand”.
Now 62, Malmsteen has shared the stage and studio with a long list of well-known singers over the years, including Jeff Scott Soto, Mark Boals, Joe Lynn Turner, Göran Edman, Michael Vescera, Mats Levén, and Tim “Ripper” Owens. More recently, Nick Marino has covered some live vocal parts.
On Thursday, December 18, Malmsteen posted a message on social media that was later deleted. In it, he wrote: “So it has come to my attention that these hired and paid singers that I hired for my solo records are all trying to capitalize from my brand!”
“Let’s be clear: performing on MY SOLO records does not equal ownership, authorship, or legacy. Writing a line here and there doesn’t make someone a songwriter, and singing my material doesn’t make it theirs. They were merely given a salary (work for hire) to put down MY written parts, just like the keyboard player, bassist, drummer, etc.”
“If the only way you can tour or get attention is by leaning on my brand and using my name and album titles and my SOLO catalog, then you’ve already answered the question of who actually built something. And -What have they recorded/created the last 30,40 years?”
What set off the latest comments isn’t confirmed, but the timing lines up with news involving Mats Levén. Levén recently said he’ll perform two shows in Japan in May 2026, and those dates are expected to lean heavily on songs connected to the one Yngwie Malmsteen release he sang on: 1997’s Facing The Animal.
Earlier this month, a fan asked Mats Levén whether he had a hand in writing lyrics for Facing The Animal. He replied: “Well, a bit different from song to song…a song like ‘Braveheart’, Yngwie had the title to the song, and then I wrote most of the lyrics and some melody lines. Yngwie was quite open to letting me contribute. I wrote 30-35% of the Facing The Animal album.”
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These days, after decades of working with hard-rock and metal vocalists, Yngwie Malmsteen often handles lead vocals himself. His current lineup includes keyboardist Nick Marino, bassist Emilio Martinez, and drummer Kevin Klingenschmid.
Vocals play a limited role on Yngwie Malmsteen’s most recent album, 2021’s Parabellum, appearing on only four tracks. The title comes from Latin and is commonly translated as “Prepare For War.”
