Guitar virtuoso Yngwie Malmsteen recently made the bold claim that the late Eddie Van Halen felt “threatened” by his presence in the 1980s guitar scene — and even went out of his way to avoid him.
Speaking to Classic Rock (via Guitar), Malmsteen recalled a number of alleged incidents that, in his view, suggested Van Halen was both aware of and intimidated by his rapid rise. While Van Halen is widely recognized as a revolutionary figure who redefined electric guitar in the late ‘70s with the release of Van Halen (1978), Malmsteen emerged a few years later with a radically different style — a fusion of classical music and high-speed shred that brought a new flavor to the world of rock guitar.
“I never said a bad word about him. I never will. Because I think he was amazing,” Malmsteen said, acknowledging Eddie’s groundbreaking contributions to music. However, he also claimed that Eddie would pretend not to know who he was — despite allegedly listening to his music frequently. “I used to know a guy who worked in the grocery store where Eddie would shop, and the guy would ask him: ‘Hey, what do you think about Yngwie Malmsteen, the new Swedish kid?’ And Eddie would say: ‘I don’t know who that is.’”
Yet, according to Malmsteen, Van Halen was secretly a fan. “Dave Roth told me that Eddie would have his ghetto blaster, playing my s**t on it all day long.”
Malmsteen also recounted a moment at the 1986 Grammy Awards where he said he was snubbed by Eddie in person. Nominated for Best Rock Instrumental Performance, Malmsteen described how he spotted Van Halen at the event and attempted to say hello — only to be completely avoided. “I’m waving at him, trying to get his attention, and he sees me… and he runs away. He literally ran away!”
Perhaps the most dramatic claim from the Swedish shredder involved a festival in Holland. Van Halen was scheduled to headline, and Malmsteen was looking forward to finally meeting his fellow guitar icon and even giving him a copy of his classical rock concerto. But things took a strange turn. “They said Alex Van Halen had broken his little finger or something,” Malmsteen said. “Then I hear that the promoter got a phone call from Eddie himself, who said: ‘Just to let you know, if Yngwie Malmsteen is playing, I’m not playing. And I will never fu**ing play the same stage as Yngwie Malmsteen.’”
Reflecting on the alleged avoidance, Malmsteen expressed disbelief. “He obviously felt threatened. Which is crazy to me. You’re fu**ing Eddie Van Halen. No one could threaten you!”
Writer and extreme metal devotee, Ialdagorth has spent over a decade covering the darkest corners of heavy music. A black metal lifer, he spends his free time wandering the Carpathian Mountains, likely humming blast beats to the trees.
