Forgotten Guitar: Steve Vai's Mind-Blowing Live Solo at Donington in 1990

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Steve Vai began his music career at age 18 as a transcriptionist for Frank Zappa.

He went on to join Zappa's band in 1980 before embarking on his award-winning solo career. Since then, he's sold more than 15 million records worldwide.

In addition to releasing eight studio albums, two EPs and eight live albums, Vai has found the time to record and tour with the likes of Alcatrazz, David Lee Roth and Whitesnake. He performed with the latter August 18, 1990, at Castle Donington during the legendary Monsters of Rock festival.

Introduced by David Coverdale as "His Royal Darkness, the Seven-String Sorcerer," Vai performs an eight-minute solo (which can be seen in the video below) during the band's set. It features a medley from his second studio album, Passion and Warfare, including, "For the Love of God" and "The Audience Is Listening."

Jonathan Graham is an ACM UK graduate based in London studying under the likes of Guthrie Govan and Pete Friesen. He is the creator of ForgottenGuitar.com, a classic-guitar media website, and is completing his debut album, Protagonist, due for release in 2016. Updates also can be found at Graham's YouTube channel.

Jonathan Graham
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