The Swedish virtuoso guitarist Yngwie Malmsteen achieved success in the 80’s playing in Hard Rock groups Steeler and Alcatrazz, later starting a successful solo career. Known for his incredible playing technique the musician gave his opinion on many musicians over the decades and one of them was the Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page.
Advertisement
What is Yngwie Malmsteen’s opinion on Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page
In an interview with Music Radar back in 2019, Malmsteen listed 10 guitarists that impressed him the most and one of them was Jimmy Page: “Well, I did a tribute thing to Jimmy Page along with Al Di Meola years ago. I like him because he has a very broad view for a guitar player – understanding their songs as a whole.”
“I really like the experimenting they started doing later on. And a lot of those classic recordings were done with a Telecaster. I heard about that new Fender reissue; I have to get one… Which reminds me, there’s also a new Malmsteen 30th anniversary model coming out soon. It’s done – they’ve sent me four prototypes, which are sick! The main difference is it has a maple cap, a ‘68-style neck and different colours, so I’m really proud of that. And the fact it’s my 30th anniversary, too, of course… I’m still here!”
Yngwie Malmsteen likes Jimmy Page but prefers Hendrix
Malmsteen likes Jimmy Page but when asked in an interview with Guitar World back in 2014 which one he prefered, Page or Jimi Hendrix, the guitarist answered: “I love Jimmy Page but Hendrix is little dear to my heart, you know.” He also asked to chose Hendrix or Stevie Ray Vaughan and he said: “That would definitely be Hendrix, Steve Ray was great too, but if wasn’t for Jimi nobody would be sitting in this room.”
But when asked to chose between Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, the guitarist answered Deep Purple.
He played Jimmy Page’s replica guitar dragon
The guitarist played in 2021 during a Questions and Answers sessions on his social networks the replica of Jimmy Page‘s Dragon Telecaster model, after being asked by a fan if he owned a Telecaster guitar. The musician is famous for using the Stratocaster model.
“I actually do have one, this is the one here. It’s the Jimmy Page model, I just got it. So let’s see what it sounds like. This doesn’t have any scallops and doesn’t have any stack pickups, so… It feels different. There it is, Jimmy Page.”
To celebrate Led Zeppelin’s 50th birthday, Fender decided to release a line of guitars back in 2019 inspired by the iconic designs used by Jimmy Page.
Yngwie Malmsteen was born in Stockholm, Sweden back in 1963 and at the age of 10 he formed Track On Earth, his first band that only had him and a friend from school playing the drums. He released 22 studio albums in a career spanning over 40 years.
His first solo album “Rising Force”, released in 1984 won the Guitar Player’s award for Best Rock Album and was nominated for a Grammy Award for “Best Rock Instrumental”, reaching no. 60 on the Billboard album chart.
I'm a Brazilian journalist who always loved Classic Rock and Heavy Metal music. That passion inspired me to create Rock and Roll Garage over 6 years ago.
Music has always been a part of my life, helping me through tough times and being a support to celebrate the good ones. When I became a journalist, I knew I wanted to write about my passions.
After graduating in journalism from the Pontifical Catholic University of Minas Gerais, I pursued a postgraduate degree in digital communication at the same institution. The studies and experience in the field helped me improve the website and always bring the best of classic rock to the world!
MTB: 0021377/MG
