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DARK SECRETS: Steve vai - The Real Truth

“Dave had a beat-up, noisy cassette of Steve Vai. We listened together in some garage with the tape player on the fender of a car. I said to Dave, ‘That’s the guy’”: How David Lee Roth put Van Halen behind him with one of rock's greatest supergroups

In late 1985, Diamond Dave's Hollywood dreams were dashed – but with some help from Vai, Billy Sheehan, and Gregg Bissonette, he firmly established himself as a superstar in his own right

Guitar World

"Are you ready for the new sensation?" The 10 best David Lee Roth solo songs

David Lee Roth's solo work is composed of three basic elements: flash, bang and wallop. 40 years on from the release of his killer debut album Eat 'Em And Smile, here are 'Diamond' Dave's finest solo songs

Louder

“When you can’t articulate your discontent in a sitdown environment, you’re left with only the sh*tting option”: Devin Townsend explains why he pooed in Steve Vai’s guitar case

The prog metal polymath sang in the guitar maestro’s solo band in the early 1990s

Metal Hammer

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“The label president said, ‘Angelo, I thought you were fast?’ I was taken aback. Then he said, ‘I want you to overplay all the time.’ He wanted the record to be abrasive”: Michael Angelo Batio tells the story of Nitro, hair metal’s most extreme band

Michael Angelo Batio became known as shred's most OTT virtuoso. He explains why the critics were kind of right about Nitro, the magic he cooked up with Wayne Charvel, and why he's living the dream with Manowar

Guitar World

“I think he altered his perspective after working with us. He did some wonderful stuff after that. He got out of just heavy metal, and that's a good, good thing": John Lydon and Bill Laswell remember the making of Rise - with a little help from Steve Vai

"I think it’s one of my best pop songs" says the singer

MusicRadar

“I’m exploring my voice as a guitarist, and I’m trying to write in a space without rules – no genres, no time lengths”: Steve Vai, Nita Strauss... Bella Perron? Why the former Plush guitarist could be our next Ibanez-toting guitar superstar

Wildfire shredding and whiplash licks prove that this Maine-bred gun-for-hire can hold her own. Now based in L.A., she’s in extra-high demand

Guitar World

“It’s called Bruno…. They blowtorched it and scraped it up”: Steve Vai is bringing his original For the Love of God Ibanez with him on tour – but he isn’t playing it

The seven-string has officially been added to Vai’s touring arsenal – here’s why you didn’t see it on stage

Guitar World

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“I’d given up hope. Then Wendy Dio called me. She asked how I’d feel playing in front of 20,000 people”: Rowan Robertson was 17 years old when he joined Dio. He looks back on how he got the gig – and why it all came to an end after one album

The English guitarist recalls the advice Ronnie James Dio gave him, the demo tape that landed him the role, and why he never reunited with the iconic singer

Guitar World

Pinch harmonics made easy: how to get the perfect squeal

Our definitive guide on how Billy Gibbons, Eddie Van Halen, Steve Vai and Zakk Wylde make their guitars scream

Guitar World

Quote of the day by Steve Vai: “I don't believe in 'greatest'. I believe in favorites.” A timeless lesson on lesson on excellence, individuality and the way people judge talent

Quote of the Day: Legendary guitarist Steve Vai, celebrating his birthday, challenges the notion of 'greatest' by emphasizing personal 'favorites.' His perspective highlights the subjective nature of appreciation, urging a focus on what resonates individually rather than universal rankings. This encourages authenticity and self-worth beyond constant comparison.

The Economic Times

“He added his signature screaming guitar parts, and there it was”: Slash, Tim Henson, Guthrie Govan and Steve Vai have been assembled for an unlikely collaboration album – and it’s filled with A-list players

Composer Bear McCreary is continuing his epic metal saga with the aid of an all-star cast

Guitar World

“This might be the last time the Hydra comes out on tour”: Steve Vai might be retiring his monstrous triple-neck Ibanez

The 36-string, gadget-loaded instrument is nearing the end of a long and illustrious career

Guitar World

“I snapped, flipped him off, grabbed my coat, and stormed out of the studio. I told him to ‘get Steve Vai’”: Kim Thayil reveals his battles over Soundgarden’s Superunknown and Black Hole Sun

The Seattle guitar icon recalls the tensions behind the making of Soundgarden’s masterpiece in this exclusive excerpt from his memoir A Screaming Life

Guitar World

“You have no excuses to have bad technique nowadays”: Has Matteo Mancuso arrived as the world’s greatest guitar player?

The fusion maestro says we might be living in golden age of guitar virtuosity but this is not time for “guitar battles”

MusicRadar

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Louder

"I thought: 'Can I even play this stuff?' Y'know, a sixty-five-year-old Steve Vai taking on Robert Fripp at thirty-five." Steve Vai on the challenge of playing King Crimson with BEAT – and the one change he's made

In 2024, four monster instrumentalists teamed up to play music from three killer King Crimson albums – and they're finally coming to Europe

Guitar World

“I wanted to have the most Steve Vai song possible on the record”: Matteo Mancuso reveals the advice his hero gave him – after they ended up working together

The two virtuosos trade licks on Mancuso’s new song, Solar Wind

MusicRadar

“I wanted to have the most Steve Vai song possible on the record – but I didn’t want it to be the classic guitar battle”: Matteo Mancuso on his blockbuster Steve Vai collaboration – and the advice the guitar icon gave him

The Sicilian guitar maestro wrote the breathtaking Solar Wind to be the most Steve Vai song he could possibly write – and for the man himself to guest on

Guitar World

Nuno Bettencourt and Rick Beato form unlikely partnership to rip through a Thin Lizzy Classic at the Six-String Sanctuary

The two guitarists were joined at the Las Vegas guitar camp by Steve Vai, Eric Gales and Mateus Asato

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Guitar World

“It was a whole library of tapes. It was such great stuff”: Steve Vai on the time Eddie Van Halen played him never-before-released material – at the guitar legend’s house

Vai has also had his say on Steve Lukather's involvement in the much-anticipated new Van Halen record, which will revive old material

The Independent UK

Shakira teases new song for the FIFA World Cup 2026 with Afrobeats star Burna Boy called 'Dai Dai'

Shakira is back

Guitar World

“Yngwie was replaced for becoming difficult. We auditioned Steve Vai in secret”: Gary Shea’s never-say-never approach to Alcatrazz, New England… and maybe even Vinnie Vincent

The left-handed bassist discusses the pitfalls of being with Kiss’ management, selling his Ampeg gear to Malmsteen’s band, and releasing a record that shows what might have been with Vincent

Guitar World

“The original idea was Steve Stevens, but he was busy with Billy Idol”: How Steve Vai ended up joining David Lee Roth's post-Van Halen band – thanks to Billy Sheehan

While Vai wasn’t his original choice, the Sheehan-Vai dynamic proved strong enough to outlast Roth’s project

Guitar World

“The poor guy died out there and wasn’t discovered for 2 weeks. A perfect place to make beautiful music, right?” Steve Vai’s LA property – and his Harmony Hut guitar sanctuary – has been listed for $11.7 million

Despite a slightly chilling past, Vai used the space as a functioning studio and a home for his guitar collection, which included guitars personally gifted to him by Yngwie Malmsteen and Joe Satriani

Guitar World

“I had a two-neck guitar, then Steve Vai came out with his three-neck guitar. My label wanted me to challenge Steve to a duel”: Michael Angelo Batio on the origin of his four-neck guitar

The Quad was designed to go toe-to-toe with Steve Vai's three-neck creation

MusicRadar

“Evidently not content with redefining what was technically possible on the guitar, he also managed to rewrite pretty much the whole of music theory”: How Allan Holdsworth blew Eddie Van Halen’s mind and inspired the next generation of virtuosos

We unpack the brilliance of jazz-fusion trailblazer Allan Holdsworth, with some help from Steve Vai, Guthrie Govan, Paul Gilbert and Eddie Van Halen

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