Steve Vai

Steve Vai is a guitarist, composer, songwriter, and producer from the United States. Vai, a three-time Grammy Award winner and fifteen-time nominee began his musical career as a transcriptionist for Frank Zappa in 1978 when he was eighteen years old. From 1980 to 1983, Vai was a member of Zappa's band. In 1983, he started a solo career, and as of now, he has put out eight solo albums. Along with recording with musicians like Public Image Ltd, Mary J. Blige, Spinal Tap, and Alice Cooper, he has also performed live and on tour with Alcatrazz, David Lee Roth, and Whitesnake. Vai has also headlined worldwide tours and toured with live-only outfits like G3, Zappa Plays Zappa, and the Experience Hendrix tour.

A "very independent guitarist," Vai is credited with being a member of the "generation of heavy rock and metal virtuosi who came to the fore in the 1980s." His most popular album, Passion and Warfare (1990), was hailed as "the richest and best hard rock guitar-virtuoso album of the '80s." Flex-Able, his debut solo album, was released in 1984. He has sold over 15 million records and was named the "10th Greatest Guitarist" by Guitar World magazine.