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Yahoo
29-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Yngwie Malmsteen on guitars, Eric Clapton and what he said when Kiss came calling for him in 1982
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Fresh off celebrating the 40th anniversary of his groundbreaking debut Rising Force, Yngwie Malmsteen is once again unleashing the fury with a brand-new live album, Tokyo Live, that captures the neoclassical icon doing what he does best. 'I don't plan anything,' he tells Guitar Player. 'Not the solos, not the intros, not even the setlist. It's like jumping onto a battlefield.' And while his lifelong devotion to the compositions of Johann Sebastian Bach has shaped the intricate harmonic language he's famous for, Malmsteen reveals that his first guitar hero was actually Eric Clapton. 'I didn't even know it was him at the time,' he says of hearing John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers as a child. 'I just knew the guitar playing was amazing.' From reel-to-reel recording experiments at age nine to turning down offers from some of rock's biggest bands, the Swedish virtuoso opens up about his career, his new live album, the art of improvisation, and why he says the term sweep picking 'certainly doesn't explain' what he does with a six-string. You've released a few live records over the years. What, for you, is the secret to a great live album — aside from a great performance, of course? I learned through many years of doing this that the most important thing is to forget it's being filmed or recorded. You have to be completely at ease with it. We filmed two nights — Tokyo and Osaka. I said, 'We need both.' That way, because everything I play is improvised — solos, intros, even the set list — if something doesn't go right, there's another take. Psychologically, that's very good. I don't plan anything. Everything is completely spontaneous. So, yeah — you take a risk. Tokyo Live is packed with classics from across four decades of your music career. What's the most challenging song in your set to perform right now? The thing is, with the songs, I'm funny like that. If I know a piece, even if it's difficult to play, I'm not worried. I can play it. That's not the issue. It's the improvisation. The spur-of-the-moment stuff — I can't always control that. It depends on the audience, the sound in the hall, the lighting, the smoke bombs — all of it. Everything has to fall into place or you can knock yourself out of the right headspace. And then… you might not feel as inspired. There's something called 'tennis memory.' In tennis, you have to forget whether you won or lost the last point and just focus on the point you're playing — not the one before, not the one coming up. That's what I try to do. So it's not a piece, per se, that is challenging, it's the entire thing. It's like jumping onto a battlefield, you know? This album is a great representation of your current live show, but do you remember the first time you actually heard yourself recorded, playing? Oh my god, yeah. We're talking way back. My grandmother had this old two-track reel-to-reel. It wasn't stereo — just two mono tracks, but what I realized was, I could record my guitar on one track, play it back, and record another guitar over it. I thought I invented double-tracking! I was like, 'Yeah, that's cool!' I remember hearing more than one guitar on a Deep Purple album and thinking Ian Gillan played the second part, because there was a picture of him holding a guitar on the sleeve. So I did it. I was nine, maybe 10. There was no internet back then. You had to figure this stuff out on your own. How important do you think recording yourself and listening back was in your development as a player? Extremely important. What I realized early on was that the only way to really judge where you're at — how good or bad you are — is to record yourself. When you're playing, your brain's focused on so many things — picking, bending, everything — so you don't hear it objectively. I quickly saw that recording was the only way to tell, 'That's good. That's bad. That needs work.' And I was extremely picky — even at nine years old. Maybe younger — seven or eight. As I progressed, I understood more and more that whether it's writing, improvisation or execution, it all has to be recorded. I still have some of those early tapes. You can hear me playing arpeggios back in '77 or '78. I was already there, you know. I quickly saw that recording was the only way to tell, 'That's good. That's bad. That needs work.'" — Yngwie Malmsteen You mentioned before that at nine years old, hearing Deep Purple's Fireball had a massive impact on you. How quickly after that were you learning these Blackmore riffs? Well, the story goes a little different. Without me actually knowing, my first favorite guitar player was Eric Clapton — and I didn't know it was him. My mum had a record called John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers, and that's all I knew. I didn't really look at the record. I just heard it and thought the guitar playing was — this was when I was like seven years old — I was going, 'Oh my god, this is so amazing.' It still is. Then when I was eight, I got Deep Purple's Fireball. And back then in Sweden, there wasn't any real radio or anything like that. The only way you'd hear records was through your mates at school or whatever. So I put this record on, and the first thing I hear is double bass. And I was like… wow! And you were just learning these guitar parts by ear, I'm guessing? Yeah, by ear. Everything started with the blues box kind of thing. Then, around age 10, I heard Genesis — Selling England by the Pound — and they were using pedal tones and intervals, and I was like, 'Wow, what is going on?' Because it wasn't just the five-note thing anymore. Then I got into Johann Sebastian Bach. My mom had hundreds of records — Bach, Vivaldi, Beethoven, Mozart — and a lot of jazz, too. But for some reason, jazz never clicked with me. I had already fallen in love with distorted guitars and double bass drums, and I didn't want to change that, but when I heard those tonalities and chord progressions from Bach — the counterpoint and all that — I was hooked. I'd never heard anyone take the actual thought process of Baroque classical and apply it to hard rock. Sure, some bands did little bits here and there, but it was always rooted in the blues, and maybe they'd toss in one idea — but that's where it stopped. As a prodigy yourself, where do you stand on the whole 'natural talent vs hard work' debate? That's a really good question. My mum always would say to me, 'You have a gift from God,' and I'd say, 'Yeah, sure — but I'm working my ass off,' you know? But I guess I must have had some sort of pitch, or playing gift, because I remember very clearly being very, very young — I mean right off the bat — that I realized when you bend and vibrate and stuff like that, there's a pitch there that has to be correct. I realized that from day one. You're a master of many guitar techniques, but in the past you've rejected the claim that you incorporate sweep picking in your playing. Do you kind of feel as if the term sweep picking is almost a little bit of a derogatory term toward the way you play? If sweep picking just means two downstrokes in a row, then one up, then down-up, like alternate picking — you can't really call that sweep picking." — Yngwie Malmsteen Well, it certainly doesn't explain it, you know. Because if sweep picking just means, like, two downstrokes in a row, then one up, then down-up like alternate picking — or two down and two up or whatever — you can't really call that sweep picking. You could call it string skipping or something else. I was never really taught, per se. I more or less invented my technique, because I never heard anyone play what I was hearing in my head. And it's not always the same either. So I didn't think about it in terms of mechanics as much as I thought about how it sounded. In terms of visualization of the fretboard, was there a breakthrough moment for you — or was it just piecemeal, bit by bit? Kind of. I talk about this in my book Relentless — the only book worth buying. The first two notes I played — I'm talking about the first day I started playing — I noticed a pattern and thought, Okay, you can do the exact same things on different strings. I learned that really quick. I don't remember exactly how it happened. I just figured it out myself. Well, it was hearing it and then kind of seeing it too, you know. I always thought in linear modes, but very early on realized that there was much more going on than just a box. When you first arrived in the U.S., you quickly joined the band Steeler, but I understand there were a few other big offers you had to turn down over the years? Yeah. The first show with Steeler was at the Reseda Country Club in Reseda — 30 people there. I remember it like it was yesterday. The second show we did was at the Troubadour in Hollywood. And it's a classic moment, you know, because I'm in the dressing room upstairs — you can see the street from the window, and it's lines around the block. I'm standing there tuning my guitar, and I go like, 'Hmm,' and I ask somebody that worked there, 'Hey, who's playing tonight?' And he goes, 'You are!' It was the talk of the town, you know, this crazy kid from Sweden playing. It was a funny moment in time. In the early days with Steeler, I was offered to join UFO. And on the same day, I got contacted by what became Alcatrazz. It wasn't called Alcatrazz yet. They didn't have any songs. I wrote all of them. I chose Alcatrazz because I wanted to write songs. As much as I liked UFO, I didn't want to step into someone else's thing. I was also asked to join David Lee Roth's band. He was leaving — or had just left — Van Halen. At the time, I was on a big U.S. tour with AC/DC, and then I did my own American tour with Talas opening — Billy Sheehan's band. Dave would come to the shows all the time. We'd hang out, too, at the Troubadour and places like that — back in the party days, you know? He obviously asked Billy too, and Billy took it. It would've been a great thing, I think. I was offered to join Kiss. They called me up in 1982, saying, 'You're hot, you're hot.'' — Yngwie Malmsteen It wasn't officially on paper or anything, but it was clear what he was thinking. I was thinking, Oh no, I'm doing great, so I didn't do anything. Before all of that, I was offered to join Kiss. They called me up in 1982, when I was still in Sweden, because a tape of me had been circulating. They called me saying, 'You're hot, you're hot.' I'm like, 'Huh?' They wanted someone over six feet tall. I'm six-foot-three, but I didn't know that at the time because I used metric. I said, 'I'm 192.' They didn't know what that meant, so that was the end of it. Through all the lineup changes and different personnel over the years, your 1972 Fender Stratocaster — the Duck — has been the one constant throughout your career. Is there a chance we'd ever see it on the road again? No, but here's the thing — Fender made me a copy to use onstage that's just like the real one. It's got the same cracks, everything — even down to the screws a tech put on wrong and a rusty tremolo bar. Fender's been amazing. They just released a 30th anniversary model, and yesterday, I was talking to them about doing a 40th. So keep an eye out for that.
Express Tribune
27-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Express Tribune
Rick Derringer, 'Hang on Sloopy' singer and 'Real American' writer, dies at 77
Rick Derringer, the iconic American rock guitarist, singer, and songwriter best known for the No. 1 hit 'Hang on Sloopy' and the wrestling anthem 'Real American', has died at the age of 77 in Ormond Beach, Florida. The news was confirmed by his caretaker Tony Wilson and Guitar Player magazine. A cause of death was not revealed, but Derringer had been in poor health in recent months. Born Richard Dean Zehringer in Ohio, Derringer rose to fame in 1965 with the McCoys' chart-topping single 'Hang on Sloopy'. He later found solo success with 'Rock and Roll Hootchie Koo', a classic that re-entered pop culture through Stranger Things. He also produced Edgar Winter's 'Frankenstein', which hit No. 1 on Billboard in 1973. Derringer was a session guitarist for major acts like Steely Dan, Kiss, Barbra Streisand, and Bonnie Tyler. His powerful guitar solos featured on 'Total Eclipse of the Heart' and Air Supply's 'Making Love Out of Nothing at All.' In the mid-1980s, Derringer became a key figure in pro wrestling music, co-writing and producing 'Real American' for Hulk Hogan. The track became a political anthem, used by Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and Donald Trump. Derringer toured with Ringo Starr's All Starr Band, collaborated with Cyndi Lauper, and later embraced Christian music alongside his wife, Jenda. His lasting influence on rock, wrestling, and American pop culture remains unmatched.
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Rick Derringer, Singer of ‘Hang on Sloopy,' Writer of ‘Rock and Roll Hootchie Koo' and ‘Real American' Wrestling Theme, Dies at 77
Rick Derringer, whose six-decade career spanned teen stardom as lead singer of the '60s smash 'Hang on Sloopy,' a '70s solo hit with 'Rock and Roll Hootchie Koo,' session work with artists from Steely Dan to Barbra Streisand, and extensive work as a writer and producer of wrestling themes like Hulk Hogan's seemingly ageless 'Real American,' has died, according to an announcement from his caretaker, Tony Wilson, and Guitar Player magazine. Wilson's post states that Derringer died Monday evening in Ormond Beach, Fl. No cause of death was announced although Derringer had been in ill health in recent months; he was 77. A fiery and remarkably versatile guitarist, a strong singer and a high-profile presence on New York's rock scene of the '70s and '80s, Derringer also produced the Edgar Winter Group's 1972 smash single 'Frankenstein' and served as the band's guitarist for several years; worked closely with Winter's brother Johnny as a guitarist and producer; produced 'Weird' Al Yankovic's first album; and even gave Patti Smith her first major credit, on the song 'Jump' from Derringer's 1973 debut solo album, 'All-American Boy.' His eponymous band released several albums and toured heavily throughout the mid and late '70s — the band's final major incarnation featured Neil Giraldo, who immediately afterward scored major success as Pat Benatar's cowriter and guitarist (and husband to this day). Derringer and his first wife, Liz, were also members of Andy Warhol's extended circle and frequently appeared in rock magazines of the era. In his later years he worked extensively with singer Cyndi Lauper and wrote and produced many popular theme songs for wrestlers, including Hulk Hogan's 'Real American,' which has the curious legacy of being used as a theme song by Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. Born Richard Dean Zehringer in Ohio in 1947, the young Derringer received a guitar for his ninth birthday and began playing local gigs with his uncle, a country musician, before he was in high school. As a teen he formed a band called the McCoys with his brother Randy. In the summer of 1965 the songwriting-production team the Strangeloves — comprised of Richard Gottehrer, Jerry Goldstein and Bob Feldman, who'd scored a major hit with 'I Want Candy' — hired the group as a backing band and soon after enlisted them to record a cover of the song 'My Girl Sloopy,' originally released by the Vibrations the previous year. With the title altered to 'Hang on Sloopy,' the song reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 that summer — replacing Barry McGuire's grim 'Eve of Destruction' — around the time Derringer (still working under his born name) turned 18. The hit has become a kind of theme song for Derringer's home state and, in a foretelling of his later years making music for professional sports, has been a staple of Ohio State football game for decades. The McCoys, who opened for the Rolling Stones on their first major North American tour, had minor follow-up hits but did not repeat that success, and began working with blues guitarist Johnny Winter in the late 1960s and, later, his brother Edgar, touring with both and playing on and producing their albums. The partnership with Edgar produced a massive single with 1972's 'Frankenstein,' an instrumental the band had been playing around with for years; the title came from the look of the master tape, which had so many segments spliced together that the musicians said it resembled the horror-movie character's stitches. The song, produced by Derringer, topped the Billboard Hot 100 in May of 1973; he went on to replace Ronnie Montrose in the band shortly after and remained the Edgar Winter Group's guitarist and producer for the next three years. Also in 1973, Derringer enjoyed his first solo hit with 'Rock and Roll Hootchie Koo' (which has had such a long life that it was used in the fourth season of 'Stranger Things') and, after leaving Winter, launched his self-titled solo band, which toured extensively throughout the decade and released several albums; their concerts were heavy on guitar dueling and showmanship, and climaxed with Derringer and his second guitarist dramatically throwing their guitars to each other from opposite sides of the stage. Throughout the 1970s and '80s Derringer also worked extensively as a session musician, playing on albums by Steely Dan (including 'Countdown to Ecstasy,' 'Katy Lied' and 'Gaucho'), Todd Rundgren, Kiss and even Barbra Streisand. In the early 1980s he soloed on two massive singles written by Meatloaf mastermind Jim Steinman: Bonnie Tyler's 'Total Eclipse of the Heart' and Air Supply's 'Making Love Out of Nothing at All.' In the mid-1980s he began working with singer Cyndi Lauper, touring in her band and playing on three of her albums (including the hit 'True Colors'), but perhaps more significant was the fact that it led to his entrée into the world of professional wrestling. In 1985, he produced the World Wrestling Federation's 'The Wrestling Album,' which consisted primarily mostly of pro wrestlers' theme songs, many of which he co-wrote. Most notable among these was Hulk Hogan's theme song 'Real American,' which was used by President Barack Obama at the 2011 White House Correspondents' Dinner when unveiling his birth certificate; as a campaign song by Hillary Clinton; and, inevitably, frequently by President Donald Trump. In his later years he toured with Ringo Starr's All Starr Band as well as Peter Frampton, Carmine Appice and others, aligned with conservative causes and released several Christian-themed albums with his wife, Jenda. Best of Variety 'Harry Potter' TV Show Cast Guide: Who's Who in Hogwarts? New Movies Out Now in Theaters: What to See This Week Emmy Predictions: Talk/Scripted Variety Series - The Variety Categories Are Still a Mess; Netflix, Dropout, and 'Hot Ones' Stir Up Buzz
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Dave Navarro Claims There's ‘No Chance' of Jane's Addiction Reunion
Jane's Addiction guitarist Dave Navarro has apparently put to bed any hopes of further shows from the group, claiming there's 'no chance' of them playing live together again. Navarro's comments came about in a recent interview with Guitar Player where the famed musician looked back on the best and worst gigs of his career. More from Billboard Nessa Barrett Announces 2025 Australian Arena Tour Sombr Announces 2025 Australia and New Zealand Headline Tour Eddie Vedder Covers Springsteen's 'My City of Ruins' After Trump Clash In the latter category, Navarro turned to the band's last run of shows in 2024, noting that some of those gigs were his favorite, with the group working together in perfect unison. 'If you combined Grateful Dead and Radiohead, there were moments like that — just weird, experimental jams that we'd never done before as a band,' he claimed. However, it's Jane's Addiction's final performance, at Boston's Leader Bank Pavilion on Sept. 13, that takes the dubious honor of being his least favorite. That show made headlines last year when frontman Perry Farrell threw a punch at Navarro during a rendition of 'Ocean Size.' Navarro walked off stage following the incident, ending the show early, and soon after, Jane's Addiction announced the cancellation of the remainder of their tour dates. The announcement included a statement signed by Navarro, bassist Eric Avery, and drummer Stephen Perkins highlighting the 'behavior and the mental health difficulties of our singer Perry Farrell'. According to Navarro, the incident is 'still very tender and unresolved,' with the guitarist taking care not to be 'naming names and pointing fingers' while speaking to Guitar Player. 'There was an altercation onstage, and all the hard work and dedication and writing and hours in the studio, and picking up and leaving home and crisscrossing the country and Europe and trying to overcome my illness — it all came to a screeching halt and forever destroyed the band's life,' he explained. 'And there's no chance for the band to ever play together again.' Much of the sadness around the unexpected and unfortunate end to Jane's Addiction relates to the fact that the shows prior to their final performance were some of Navarro's favorite. 'I'll just say that the experience prior to that gig, when we were in Europe and gelling, really, for the first time — because at our ages, in our 50s and 60s, everybody's done what they're gonna do, and we weren't competitive with each other — we were getting along,' he explained. 'There was no ego issue; it was just four guys making great music, just like we did in the beginning. I was just us on a stage, with people going f–king crazy. 'And that gig, September 13th, in Boston, ended all of that,' he added. 'And for that reason, that is my least favorite gig that I have ever played.' In the wake of Jane's Addiction's final gig, Navarro, Perkins and Avery have reportedly been working on new music together, though it's unclear exactly what form this will take. Best of Billboard Chart Rewind: In 1989, New Kids on the Block Were 'Hangin' Tough' at No. 1 Janet Jackson's Biggest Billboard Hot 100 Hits H.E.R. & Chris Brown 'Come Through' to No. 1 on Adult R&B Airplay Chart
USA Today
18-05-2025
- Entertainment
- USA Today
Dave Navarro on reuniting with Jane's Addiction after Perry Farrell fight: 'No chance'
Dave Navarro on reuniting with Jane's Addiction after Perry Farrell fight: 'No chance' Show Caption Hide Caption Jane's Addiction concert ends in band dust up A Jane's Addiction concert in Boston ended when band members got into a fight. Former Jane's Addiction guitarist Dave Navarro isn't looking to get the band back together anytime soon. Navarro, who comprised the Grammy-nominated rock band alongside singer Perry Farrell, bassist Eric Avery, and drummer Stephen Perkins, opened up about the future of the band after an explosive onstage altercation between him and Farrell derailed the group in September 2024. The band's infamous Boston concert, part of a long-awaited reunion tour, came to a shocking halt when Farrell punched Navarro, according to concert footage shared by fans at the time. Farrell was restrained by crew members and a man who appeared to be Avery as he threw punches and was pulled away from Navarro. "I have to say that's my least favorite gig, without throwing animosity around and without naming names and pointing fingers," Navarro told Guitar Player in an interview published May 17, adding that the situation is "still very tender and unresolved." While the cause of the fight remains unclear, concert photographer Brian Mackenzie said in a statement at the time that Farrell "had a huge bottle of wine with him all evening," while "Navarro and Avery kept chatting with each other the whole show and seemed angrier than normal." Prior to the conflict in Boston, Navarro said the band had been "gelling, really, for the first time" while touring in Europe. "There was no ego issue; it was just four guys making great music, just like we did in the beginning," he said. "There was an altercation onstage, and all the hard work and dedication and writing and hours in the studio and picking up and leaving home and crisscrossing the country and Europe and trying to overcome my illness — it all came to a screeching halt and forever destroyed the band's life," Navarro continued. "And there's no chance for the band to ever play together again." Jane's Addiction split, explained: Perry Farrell punches Dave Navarro during concert Days after Navarro and Farrell's altercation, Jane's Addiction revealed to fans that it was canceling the remainder of its tour to "take some time away as a group." But in a follow-up joint statement, Navarro, Avery, and Perkins cited Farrell's behavior as the reason for the cancellation. "Our concern for his personal health and safety as well as our own has left us no alternative. We hope that he will find the help he needs," the musicians said. "We can see no solution that would either ensure a safe environment onstage or reliably allow us to deliver a great performance on a nightly basis." Farrell apologized to Navarro and his bandmates in a statement shared with USA TODAY in September 2024: "Unfortunately, my breaking point resulted in inexcusable behavior, and I take full accountability for how I chose to handle the situation." Jane's Addiction cancels tour after Perry Farrell, Dave Navarro fight This isn't the first time Navarro and Farrell have had friction. In July 1991, the men got into a fight mid-performance while playing at the inaugural Lollapalooza festival. Apart from the single "True Love," released five days after Navarro and Farrell's altercation, Jane's Addiction has not released any new material. In January 2025, Avery teased in an Instagram post that he was writing new music with Perkins and Navarro, though he did not specify if the collaboration was for a Jane's Addiction project. "The experiences are there, but the potential of having those types of experiences ended that night," Navarro told Guitar Player. "And so, you know…it is what it is. And that's my answer." Contributing: Jay Stahl and Taijuan Moorman, USA TODAY
