In a recent interview with Hear 2 Zen, Tim ‘Ripper’ Owens revealed that Yngwie Malmsteen is as bad as people say he is. However, he confirmed that there are exceptions and he never experienced that side of him.
“Well, [Yngwie] does treat people really bad — I mean, as a whole. But… he’s never treated me bad,” the rocker revealed. “I got along with him very well. I got along with Yngwie great. He would joke, and [he was] one of the easiest guys I’ve ever worked with in the studio. I think he has his moments. He doesn’t like… Please don’t ever put a white light on during a show or he’ll stop it and yell at the light man or attack the keyboard player during the night if he did something wrong. But I’ll tell you my experience with him and I… That was the only time I saw him go at somebody. But, yeah, I got along [with him] great.”
Owens also addressed the misconceptions about the guitar virtuoso and added: “I don’t think there are any misconceptions about him. I think what people think about him is probably the truth. But that doesn’t mean he’s like that to everybody. I had a great experience with him. He was sober when I was in the band. [That said], sometimes the band wasn’t allowed to even be in the dressing room; we’d have to be sitting in a closet.”
In 2015, Owens said in another interview that he left Malmsteen’s band because “he kept asking me to do shows, and I was already booked for a solo show.” Owens mentioned that Malmsteen treated him well during his time with the guitarist: “Every time I got off stage, if I didn’t have a good night, he’d be, like, ‘Man, you f*cking were great.’ I actually enjoyed my time being around him.”
Owens is continuing his career solo, and he has recently announced Australian tour dates. The tour will kick off at Melbourne’s The Corner Hotel on February 14. Owens and his band will then perform at Sydney’s Crowbar on February 20, Brisbane’s Crowbar on February 22, and Adelaide’s The Gov on February 23, before wrapping up at Perth’s Amplifier on February 24.
