Steve Vai

Along with his onetime teacher Joe Satriani, Grammy Award-winning six-string wizard Steve Vai set the standard for rock guitar virtuosity in the '80s. From his stints as a sideman for such rock royalty as Frank Zappa and David Lee Roth to his work as a sessionman for a number of diverse acts like Whitesnake, Alice Cooper, Public Image Ltd., and Joe Jackson -- all capped with an impressive solo résumé -- Vai has dominated the scene as a true "guitar god" since the 1980s. Born on June 6, 1960, and raised in Carle Place, New York, Vai became interested in the guitar via such le...