Yngwie Malmsteen revealed he used to play the Beatles and ABBA while young.
In a new conversation with Guitarist magazine, the interviewer wanted to learn how the rocker chose the color of his guitar. To which Malmsteen responded by saying:
“I have a hilarious story for you. When I was a kid, I used to do a lot of gigging, and it was not like in America, where you could play in Top 40 bands, you know? I had a band with a real guitar player, believe it or not, and his father was a well-off guy who had his own company. So his father was like, ‘You kids can play here every weekend, as long as you play one ABBA song and one Beatles song.’ I was 12 or 13 years old and we got paid.”
He revealed why he didn’t like a black Stratocaster:
“One day, somebody filmed the show on one of these [Kodak] Super 8 cameras. I was wearing black and I was playing a black Strat. And what I saw in the picture in the film was… it looked like I was just playing a fucking pickguard. All I saw was the pickguard. I said, ‘F*ck it.’ I went home, took the guitar apart, and painted the guitar white. From then on, I said, ‘I need the lighter-coloured guitars.'”
He Covered The Beatles And ABBA Before
Malmsteen previously covered the Beatles’ ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps’ for his 2019 album, ‘Blue Lightning.’ In a press release at the time, the musician said:
“There were songs that were immediately clear I wanted to do… But then I also went for something like ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps,’ which I wasn’t sure I could do. In this case, it was about trial and error. I am delighted that I was able to do justice to the original.”
Yngwie also performed a metal cover of ABBA’s hit song, ‘Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!’ in his 2000 compilation album, ‘The Best of 1990–1999.’ In ‘Blue Lightning,’ he covered other bands like Deep Purple, ZZ Top, and the Rolling Stones.
