Joe Satriani was born on July 15th 1956, in Westbury, New York State. He began learning the guitar in his mid teens, quickly became very proficient, and was soon teaching others, including future Frank Zappa and Whitesnake guitarist Steve Vai.

In 1978 he relocated to California, and was kept busy on a number of fronts. As well as guitar tuition (which he kept up professionally for a further ten years), he formed his own band The Squares, and eventually issued a self-financed solo EP in 1984, followed by his first album, 'Not Of This Earth' in 1986. By that time he was also making ends meet by touring with pop-rocker Greg Kihn.

Joe's big breakthrough came as a direct result of Steve Vai's rise to prominence in David Lee Roth's solo band in 1986-87. Vai's unstinting praise of Satriani in interviews lead to great interest in his former tutor's playing, and coincided with the appearance of his first solo album. Things really took off in 1987, when its follow up 'Surfing With the Alien' went platinum, cementing Satriani's reputation as one of the world's top guitarists. More recognition followed when he was chosen to be part of Mick Jagger's solo touring band in 1988.

Just after the release of the 'Time Machine' solo collection, Satriani was asked to replace Ritchie Blackmore on Deep Purple's 1993 Japanese tour. Although asked to become a full-time member, Satriani was unwilling (and unable) to commit, and after Purple's 1994 European tour he returned to his solo career. "I did have albums that I owed on my current contract at the time and it would have been difficult to drop that and become part of a band." His next 'outside' project was the G3 guitar showcase tour with Steve Vai and Eric Johnson in 1996, which proved popular enough to become an annual event, and spawned a live album & video in 1997.

Satriani still mainly pursues his solo career, and in 2004 toured North America as part of a package headlined by Deep Purple.