Yngwie Malmsteen regrets not joining David Lee Roth’s solo band

The virtuoso Swedish guitarist Yngwie Malmsteen first rose to fame as a member of Alcatrazz, where he showcased his talent. After leaving the band, he released “Rising Force” (1984), his first solo album, which launched his acclaimed solo career. But in the 1980s, he received an invitation to join David Lee Roth’s solo band and turned it down. In an interview with Eonmusic, he said he probably should have accepted the offer back then.

Yngwie Malmsteen regrets not joining David Lee Roth’s solo band

“What happened was that I was on tour with my solo band in 1985, and I had a band called Talas as an opening act, and the bass player in Talas was Billy Sheehan. Roth would come to the shows all the time, and he had just left Van Halen. And he wanted to get the hottest guitar player, I guess. So he told me he thought we could do a great thing together. And I think he’s an awesome guy, and I really like the Van Halen albums with him; they’re really good and everything. I probably should have done it, but I didn’t.”

“So I just basically said, ‘Thanks, but no thanks. I’m honored, but I’m really on a roll now,’ which I kind of was, but not really. (Laughs) So we’re on a friendly basis. He would give me a lot of advice about how to deal with the press and shit. A very, very smart guy. And then he got Steve (Vai), which was great, so it all worked out,” he said.

Curiously, it was Steve Vai who replaced Malmsteen in Alcatrazz. So the Swedish musician was part of their debut album “No Parole From Rock N’ Roll” (1983) and Vai worked with them on “Disturbing the Peace” (1985). So far Yngwie released more than 20 studio albums, the most recent one being “Hell or High Water” (2026).