In a recent interview with Eonmusic Yngwie Malmsteen revealed some interesting details about his past. Actually, he talked about how he was approached and offered a spot in some famous bands and Ian Gillan not being too fond of him.
So, when he was asked if he was approached by any bands in his career he said: “Yeah, of course. Quite a lot, actually. I was offered a gig in UFO, I was offered a gig with David Lee Roth. There was some murmur about the Ozzy thing. Ronnie James Dio, he talked about it all the time.”
More surprisingly, the guitar virtuoso also revealed that Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons were interested in retaining him, presumably for the role that was eventually filled by Vinnie Vincent in 1982. “When I actually lived in Sweden”, he said, “I was offered a gig in KISS. The wanted to talk to me. They called me up, and the guy said, ‘Are you hot?’ And then he asked me, ‘Are you six feet tall?’ And I’m metric, right? I’m six-foot-three; I’m actually quite tall — I’m 192 centimeters. So I said, ‘No, I’m 192.’ And he goes, ‘What the fuck’s that?’ So they never called back, so I didn’t end up with an ankh on my face!”
It was when asked if he was ever approached by Deep Purple that Malmsteen made the revelation that Gillan doesn’t appear to be a fan. “There was murmurs,” he said: “Me and Roger Glover always got along. I got along with Ritchie Blackmore too, but Ian Gillan, for some reason he… I did a show with him once, and we had the greatest time, it was a lot of fun, but then I did a tour with him a few years ago, and he didn’t seem to like me a lot, so I don’t know.”
