Steven Siro Vai is an American guitarist, composer, songwriter, and producer.
77 Facts About Steve Vai
2.
Steve Vai embarked on a solo career in 1983 and has released eight solo albums to date.
3.
Steve Vai has recorded and toured with Alcatrazz, David Lee Roth, and Whitesnake, as well as recording with artists such as Public Image Ltd, Mary J Blige, Spinal Tap, Alice Cooper, Motorhead, and Polyphia.
4.
Additionally, Steve Vai has toured with live-only acts G3, Zappa Plays Zappa, and the Experience Hendrix tour, as well as headlining international tours.
5.
Steve Vai has been described as a "highly individualistic player" and part of a generation of "heavy rock and metal virtuosi who came to the fore in the 1980s".
6.
Steve Vai released his first solo album Flex-Able in 1984, while his most successful release, Passion and Warfare, was described as "the richest and best hard rock guitar-virtuoso album of the '80s".
7.
Steve Vai was voted the "10th Greatest Guitarist" by Guitar World magazine, and has sold over 15 million records.
8.
Steve Vai, a descendant of Italian immigrants, was born in Carle Place, New York on June 6,1960.
9.
Steve Vai is the fourth son of John and Theresa Vai.
10.
At age eleven, Steve Vai was introduced to the contemporary rock and progressive music of the era, and after hearing the guitar solo to Led Zeppelin's "Heartbreaker" at age twelve, decided to begin playing the guitar.
11.
In 1973, Steve Vai began to take guitar lessons from fellow New York native Joe Satriani, and played in local bands throughout his high school years.
12.
In 1978, to further pursue his interest in music composition and theory, Steve Vai attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts after graduating from Carle Place High School.
13.
Also while at Berklee, Steve Vai met his future spouse Pia Maiocco, with whom he has been together since; they have two children.
14.
In 2003, Steve Vai was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Music from Berklee.
15.
In 1978, Steve Vai sent both a notated transcription of Frank Zappa's "The Black Page", and a recording of his college band, Morning Thunder, to Zappa.
16.
Out of this material, Steve Vai compiled his first studio album Flex-Able.
17.
Steve Vai created his own record label, Akashic Records, which he used to take Flex-Able directly to distribution channels.
18.
Steve Vai began his rise to public acclaim in 1983 when, shortly before the release of Flex-Able, his composition "The Attitude Song" was published in Guitar Player magazine.
19.
Also in 1986, Steve Vai was cast in the film Crossroads as the Devil's guitar player "Jack Butler".
20.
In between solo work, Steve Vai replaced Yngwie Malmsteen in June 1984 as the lead guitarist of Alcatrazz, with whom he recorded the album Disturbing the Peace.
21.
Steve Vai left shortly after the subsequent tour to join David Lee Roth's band.
22.
In 1985, Steve Vai joined David Lee Roth's post-Van Halen band as lead guitarist, together with former Talas bassist Billy Sheehan on bass; and former Maynard Ferguson drummer Gregg Bissonette on drums.
23.
In 1985, after having joined Roth's band, Steve Vai designed the JEM guitar, a unique instrument that incorporated a series of groundbreaking designs that have since become staples in feature throughout the guitar industry.
24.
Steve Vai began working with Ibanez in 1986 to develop the guitar, and the first production Ibanez JEM 777 guitars were released in 1987.
25.
From 1985 to 1990, Steve Vai recorded Passion and Warfare at his home studio, his second studio solo album.
26.
In May 1990, Steve Vai released Passion and Warfare through Relativity Records, and following its release, the album had reached number 18 in the Billboard 200, selling over a million and a half copies worldwide.
27.
Steve Vai began working with Ozzy Osbourne in 1994, with whom he wrote and recorded the Ozzmosis album.
28.
In 1994, Steve Vai won a Grammy award for his performance of "Sofa", from Zappa's Universe.
29.
On September 17,1996, Steve Vai released Fire Garden, 19-track double album, through Epic, with the first half being primarily instrumental while the second half featured Steve Vai on vocals.
30.
In 1998, Steve Vai independently released a performance footage DVD of Alien Love Secrets.
31.
Also in 1998, Steve Vai started the Make a Noise Foundation with his then-manager Ruta Sepetys.
32.
At the close of the decade, Steve Vai provided guitar for Joe Jackson's Symphony No 1, released in 1999 and winner of the 2001 Grammy for Best Pop Instrumental Album.
33.
In December 2001, Steve Vai recorded two performances at The Astoria in London, with his band The Breed.
34.
In 2004, Steve Vai released twelve tracks from the DVD in an online only release.
35.
The release, which Steve Vai himself produced and engineered, won him his second Grammy award for Best Pop Instrumental Album in February 2002.
36.
In May 2004, Steve Vai premiered "The Aching Hunger", a project commissioned by the Netherlands Programme Service and performed with the Netherlands' Metropole Orchestra.
37.
In 2005, Steve Vai released Real Illusions: Reflections, the first installment in an ongoing three-part trilogy concept album.
38.
In 2006, Steve Vai joined the Zappa Plays Zappa tour as a special guest, alongside additional Zappa band alumni Terry Bozzio and Napoleon Murphy Brock.
39.
In 2008, for his performance of "Peaches en Regalia" from the Zappa Plays Zappa tour, Steve Vai won his third Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance.
40.
Midway through the String Theories tour in 2007, Steve Vai recorded a performance at the State Theatre in Minneapolis, which yielded the acclaimed 2009 live concert DVD and Blu-ray release of Where the Wild Things Are.
41.
In 2008, Steve Vai announced the release of his signature Ibanez Jemini distortion pedal, a twin distortion pedal with both a custom overdrive and lead distortion section.
42.
Shortly after the festival, Steve Vai embarked on the Experience Hendrix tour for a nationwide tour of the United States.
43.
In March 2011, Steve Vai set a Guinness World Record for the world's largest online guitar lesson.
44.
Each year the camp is held, Steve Vai creates a syllabus with a particular theme and invites special guests to help him teach it.
45.
Steve Vai has announced an upcoming 2016 release commemorating the 25th anniversary of Passion and Warfare.
46.
Steve Vai is a featured artist on the track "Do You Feel Love" from Jacob Collier's 2019 album Djesse Vol.
47.
On December 1,2021, Steve Vai announced the release of his tenth studio album, entitled Inviolate, alongside its lead single "Little Pretty".
48.
In 2021, Steve Vai was featured on a track called "Lost Children of the Universe" on the latest album by Star One, a project led by Arjen Anthony Lucassen.
49.
In 2022, Steve Vai was featured on Polyphia's track "Ego Death".
50.
Steve Vai later featured in the second volume of the soundtrack, where he performed on the track "Reclaimer".
51.
Steve Vai returned to re-record his Halo work for the Halo 2 Anniversary Original Soundtrack, which was released in 2014 and included as part of the anniversary edition of Halo 2.
52.
In 1987, Steve Vai performed "Amazing Grace" in the film Dudes.
53.
At the age of thirteen, after having purchased his first guitar and begun taking his first lessons from fellow New York native Joe Satriani, Steve Vai became obsessed with the discipline of practice.
54.
When inside this un-critical frame of mind, Steve Vai is able to achieve inspiration in the form of musical ideas.
55.
Steve Vai's playing style utilizes specialized guitar techniques in his music, as well as a wide range of recording techniques.
56.
Steve Vai toured with Zappa from 1980 to 1983, performing selections of this technically demanding music with Zappa's band at the time.
57.
Steve Vai designed the Ibanez JEM guitar, a unique instrument that incorporated a series of groundbreaking designs that have since become staples in feature throughout the guitar industry, in 1985.
58.
Steve Vai had several custom prototypes of these guitars built by Joe "Jem" Despagni, a custom guitar luthier and friend of Steve Vai's.
59.
Dissatisfied with the guitars returned and unwilling to compromise, Steve Vai held out on a guitar endorsement until Ibanez approached him, sending him an instrument superior to that of the other companies and willing to follow his instructions.
60.
Steve Vai explains the techniques and exercises he uses to circumnavigate one's own insecurities and thoughts of self-doubt, and encourages masterclass participants to use these tools in their own lives.
61.
Steve Vai suggested many specific concepts, such as diatonic pitch change and multi-voice harmony, that were used in the unit and have since become standard algorithms in guitar effects processors.
62.
In 1997, Steve Vai had begun working with the Carvin Corporation to design a signature series of Legacy amplifiers, which were used on his 1999 Epic Records release The Ultra Zone.
63.
In 2014, Steve Vai performed on the Chinese television station BTV's Spring Festival Global Gala, a program broadcast to over two billion viewers.
64.
Steve Vai's personal studio, The Harmony Hut, is a large edifice located in his backyard equipped with a full control room and performance room.
65.
The studio, built in 2011, is where Steve Vai currently produces, records, and mixes his new material.
66.
Steve Vai has two main signature series Ibanez JEM six-string guitars that he uses live and in the studio.
67.
Steve Vai uses his signature Carvin Legacy amplifier, as well as Morley Pedals, with whom he has his signature Bad Horsie and Bad Horsie II wah pedals, and Little Alligator volume pedal.
68.
Steve Vai uses the Ibanez Jemini distortion pedal, a signature twin distortion pedal with separate overdrive and distortion sections.
69.
Steve Vai uses EL-34 tubes by Groove Tubes in his Legacy amps.
70.
Steve Vai uses the Fractal Audio Axe-Fx II XL as the only modulation effects unit in his guitar rig.
71.
Steve Vai utilizes his stereo setup on effects like delay, where he sets up two separate delay times and allows them to alternate back and forth.
72.
Steve Vai uses AKG microphones to mic his amps, and uses a separate Carvin power amp to power a direct guitar monitor cabinet instead of relying on the PA.
73.
Since the late 1990s, Steve Vai has resided in Encino, Los Angeles with his family.
74.
Steve Vai is married to Pia Maiocco, former bassist of the band Vixen, with whom he has two children, Julian and Fire Steve Vai.
75.
Steve Vai is a vegetarian and a beekeeper, regularly tending to the beehives kept on his Encino property.
76.
Steve Vai started his recording career in 1980 with Frank Zappa, and has since recorded with a plethora of artists and bands.
77.
In 1983, Steve Vai began his career as a solo artist with his release of Flex-Able, and solidified his place as a virtuoso rock guitarist with his acclaimed 1990 release of Passion and Warfare.