The guitarist Joe Satriani was born on this day in 1956.
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Born in New York, Satriani took up guitar at fourteen years old; like many young guitarists of his generation, he had been influenced by Jimi Hendrix. Later, he would gain some harder rock influence from Van Halen in the 1980s. From early in his career onwards, Satriani also worked as a guitar teacher, instructing such students as Steve Vai.
In 1993, with only a few weeks’ notice, Satriani was asked to step into Deep Purple after their former guitarist Ritchie Blackmore abruptly quit mid-tour. He was recommended for the part by Purple’s Japanese promoter, who suggested correctly that he would be able to hold Japanese crowds disappointed by Blackmore’s absence. Satriani finished the tour in July of 1994, after which he chose to focus on his budding solo career, leaving him with the band for just under eight months in total. While he is the shortest-tenured member of Deep Purple by absolute numbers, he is also one of the most influential, having been credited by Ian Gillan and others with keeping the band going to this day. Satriani has since guested with the group.
Satriani has also been the sole member of the touring outfit G3, which features him and two other guitarists. He has counted among his guests his former student Steve Vai, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Yngwie Malmsteen, Steve Morse, John Petrucci, Robert Fripp, Uli John Roth, and Steve Lukather. Just looking at the names on the list, one can tell the enormous variety in genres present in the G3 logbooks, from country to progressive rock. Throughout his career, Satriani has released a total of seventeen solo albums, the most recent coming in April 2020.
We here at gotta hear ’em all wish Mr. Satriani a very happy birthday, and many happy returns.
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