“I’m not thinking about an epitaph with, ‘Look, it’s Yngwie, the man who conceived classical metal through guitar!’ I don’t care”: Why Yngwie Malmsteen isn’t too bothered about his legacy

It's been over four decades since Yngwie Malmsteen burst onto the scene with his signature neoclassical approach to the electric guitar. In fact, this year marks the 40th anniversary of his second album, Marching Out – which features one of his most beloved tracks, I’ll See the Light Tonight (who can forget the iconic diminished coda on the two lowest strings?). That longevity and milestone is no mean feat considering the transient nature of the industry.

However, despite celebrating his illustrious career with last year's 40th Anniversary World Tour and Tokyo Live, Malmsteen insists he doesn't think about his legacy too much.

“I’d like to be remembered, that’s it, but I don’t really think like that,” he tells Guitar World in a new interview. “When I was growing up, I was constantly told I was shit and useless. I became oblivious to it all. I didn’t cry about it, I just didn’t care. Then I came to America and everyone was telling me I’m the greatest thing. Neither affected me. I know if I’m doing good or bad. I don’t have to be told.

“It’s nice if people think you’re good, but you shouldn’t do things just to hear them say that. I’m not thinking about an epitaph with ‘Look, it’s Yngwie, the man who conceived classical metal through guitar!’ I don’t care.”

He continues, “There’s one magazine cover I kept from early on which had a big picture of me next to photos of Jimi Hendrix and Edward Van Halen. I like that one because I’m with the greatest guys ever. But what excites me most is when I complete something great and then I move onto the next one.”

Elsewhere in the interview, Malmsteen reflects on the jamming session that led to I’ll See The Light Tonight – and the incredulously short time it took to actually write it.

“I had this shitty little house somewhere in California back in 1984,” he relays. “My Marshall stacks and a reel-to-reel were set up in the living room. I remember getting my drummer to have a jam at 3 am. How long is that song? Around three minutes? Well, that’s how long it took to write.

“I just started riffing that Ab power chord against the open string and put it all together. I knew it was good straight away.”

The trailblazer recently spoke about putting together the music video for the single – describing how he pulled out all the stops by filming at the Conan The Barbarian set in Universal Studios.