Joe Satriani

Joe Satriani earned admiration from fellow guitarists long before he achieved the uncommon breakthrough of turning instrumental music into mainstream rock success. By 1987 his album Surfing with the Alien had propelled him to widespread recognition, launching a string of charting releases that encompassed 1989’s Flying in a Blue Dream and 1998’s Crystal Planet. Worldwide tours accumulated steadily, interspersed with stints supporting Mick Jagger during the 1980s, filling the guitarist role for Deep Purple in the 1990s, and collaborating in the supergroup Chickenfoot alongside Sammy Hagar, Chad Smith, and Michael Anthony. That momentum carried forward across decades, allowing Satriani to issue fresh recordings into the 2020s, among them 2022’s The Elephants of Mars.

Born July 15, 1956, in Westbury on Long Island and raised in nearby Carle Place, the young Satriani first picked up the guitar at age fourteen. Jimi Hendrix served as his earliest influence, and within a few years he studied under jazz musicians Lennie Tristano and Billy Bauer. He attended Five Towns College while simultaneously offering guitar instruction, counting Steve Vai among his earliest prominent students—a player later recognized for “stunt guitar” contributions to Frank Zappa’s recordings. Relocating to Berkeley, California, in 1978, Satriani supported himself by teaching and performing locally. Over subsequent years his pupils expanded to include Kirk Hammett, who joined Metallica, jazz fusion guitarist Charlie Hunter, Larry LaLonde of Primus, Kevin Cadogan of Third Eye Blind, and David Bryson of Counting Crows. Satriani himself secured a foothold as a performer, first with the Squares, for whom he self-released an EP in 1984, and then with the Greg Kihn Band in 1986 as the power-pop group’s chart run was waning.

That association with Kihn proved timely. Satriani funded his debut album, Not of This Earth, via credit cards, and steady live work helped him clear the resulting obligations. Issued by Relativity in 1985, the record coincided with former pupil Steve Vai’s recruitment by David Lee Roth, an opportunity that elevated Vai nationally and prompted frequent public acknowledgments of his teacher. Such developments paved the way for Surfing with the Alien, released on Relativity in fall 1987. The album garnered enthusiastic coverage in guitar-focused outlets and advanced steadily toward broader rock audiences. Within the following year “Satch Boogie” and “Surfing with the Alien” appeared on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock chart, while the LP itself reached number 29 on the Billboard 200; it later received gold certification from the RIAA and ultimately platinum status, a distinction rare for an instrumental project.

The sudden visibility drew an invitation from Mick Jagger to handle guitar duties on the Rolling Stones vocalist’s 1988 solo tour of Japan. Satriani accepted, and after issuing the mostly live EP Dreaming #11 he prepared his follow-up, Flying in a Blue Dream. Released in 1989, the album featured a pair of tracks with Satriani on lead vocals, a choice that may have aided its climb to number 23 on the Billboard 200; singles “One Big Rush” and “Big Bad Moon” each peaked at number 17 on the Mainstream Rock chart. Signature Ibanez models further sustained his profile during work on 1992’s The Extremist. Powered by the instrumental “Summer Song,” which became his highest-charting single at number five on Mainstream Rock, the album reached number 22—Satriani’s peak Billboard 200 placement—and earned RIAA gold certification. The archival double-disc collection Time Machine followed in 1993, incorporating the 1984 EP, live material, and new recordings; that same year Satriani joined Deep Purple’s lineup in place of the absent Ritchie Blackmore.

A self-titled studio album produced by Glyn Johns appeared in 1995, yet the next major undertaking came in 1996 when Satriani united with Steve Vai and Eric Johnson for the G3 tour spotlighting guitar virtuosity. The initial outing was documented on the 1997 live CD/DVD set G3: Live in Concert, and Satriani transformed the concept into a recurring series featuring rotating guitarists across the ensuing decade. Crystal Planet, his seventh studio release, surfaced in 1998, peaking at number 50 on the Billboard 200 and attaining gold status in the United Kingdom. Engines of Creation arrived in 2000, incorporating electronic textures, followed by the double-disc Live in San Francisco in 2001 and 2002’s Strange Beautiful Music. The 2003 anthology Electric Joe Satriani: An Anthology preceded an especially prolific stretch that included Is There Love in Space? in 2004, another G3 live album, 2006’s Super Colossal, the concert set Satriani Live!, and 2008’s Professor Satchafunkilus and the Musterion of Rock. Late that year Satriani initiated a lawsuit against Coldplay, alleging that “Viva la Vida” incorporated substantial portions of his 2004 composition “If I Could Fly”; the matter was resolved privately.

Satriani next formed Chickenfoot with former Van Halen members Sammy Hagar and Michael Anthony plus Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith. The supergroup issued a self-titled debut in 2009 and toured, yet Satriani maintained his solo output with 2010’s Black Swans and Wormhole Wizards. Chickenfoot III followed in 2011, after which Satriani released the live album Satchurated in 2012 and Unstoppable Momentum in 2013. A Complete Studio Recordings box set appeared in 2014, succeeded by Shockwave Supernova in 2015. What Happens Next arrived in January 2018, recorded with Chad Smith on drums and Glenn Hughes on bass. For his eighteenth studio album, Shapeshifting, Satriani collaborated with producer Jim Scott and assembled a core band of bassist Chris Chaney, drummer Kenny Aronoff, and keyboardist Eric Caudieux; guests included pianist Lisa Coleman of Wendy & Lisa and musician Christopher Guest on mandolin. During the COVID-19 pandemic Satriani continued composing extensively while live performances remained suspended, resulting first in 2022’s The Elephants of Mars, introduced by the single “Sahara.”