Steve Vai is a guitarist and songwriter hailing from Carle Place, New York, U.S who was born on June 6th 1960. Since his debut in 1978 he has become one of the most succesful and famous virtuoso guitarists in the world, and has released eight studio albums since 1984.
Incredibly enough, Steve Vai only started playing guitar at the age of 13 years old. This is practically ancient compared to most virtuoso instrumentalists, as most of them are childhood prodigies who received lessons before they could walk. Not for Vai, he just picked up the guitar in 1973 and after some lessons from Joe Satriani himself, he was leading his own band, fittingly named The Steve Vais. After only five years of playing the instrument, he was accepted into the Berklee College of Music, but dropped out early as he had secured a job performing with Frank Zappa.
Vai had sent a transcription of a Zappa guitar solo to the man himself and Zappa was so impressed with the results that he employed the to transcribe a number of his guitar parts. This eventually lead to Vai joining Zappa’s band The Mothers of Invention, where Vai’s sheer skill was so overpowering that Zappa credited him in his album linear notes as playing “stunt guitar”. Vai first went on tour with Zappa in 1980, and stayed for two years before leaving for Los Angeles, California to focus on his solo career.
His debut solo album was released in 1984, and while it wasn’t a huge success it did secure him a spot in the heavy metal band Alcatrazz, filling in the lead guitarist spot that some no-hoper called Yngwie Malmsteen vacated. It was his time in the band that secured him the spot that would hurl him into the public spotlight, playing lead guitar in Diamond David Lee Roth’s new band. His first album with The David Lee Roth Band was released in 1986, sold over 2 million copies and set Vai up as the next Eddie Van Halen in the eyes of many, many people.
Ever since leaving the David Lee Roth band in 1989, Vai has worked as a journeyman guitarist and a solo artist in his own right. He’s enjoyed successful stints in bands like Whitesnake and Public Image LTD while also having hit solo records like 1993’s “Sex And Religion” and 1999’s “The Ultra Zone”. He remains an inspiration to multiple generations of guitarists the world over, and still comes highly recommended.
George Clanton
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