Joe Satriani Biography

Joe Satriani was born in 1956 in Westbury, New York. Satriani began playing guitar was he was only fourteen years old, and within a few years he was teaching others to play. A move to California in the late 1970’s expanded his teaching circle significantly, and he can be credited with teaching future guitar legends such as Larry LaLonde (Primus), Kirk Hammett ( Metallica), and David Bryson ( Counting Crows.)

Satriani released his first solo album, Not of This Earth, in 1986, to critical acclaim. He followed up with Surfing with the Alien one year later, and the album reached gold status. Flying in a Blue Dream came next in 1989, with Satriani debuting for the first time on vocals, and a string of successful albums followed for the next decade:  The Extremist (1992), Time Machine (1993), Joe Satriani (1995), and Crystal Planet (1998.)

In the 1990’s, Joe Satriani founded the Ibanez Co. and launched his own line of guitars, and his song “One Big Rush” was featured in the hit film Say Anything, by Cameron Crowe.  Satriani entered the new millennium with what is considered to be among his most ambitious releases, Engines of Creation, which garnered him a Grammy nomination. Four addition albums followed in the decade: Strange Beautiful Music (2002), Is There Love in Space? (2004), Super Colossal (2006), and Professor Satchafunkilus and the Musterion of Rock (2008.)  

In 2009, Joe Satriani joined up with Michael Anthony and Sammy Hagar, formerly of Van Halen, to create the group Chickenfoot, and in 2010, Satriani released Black Swans and Wormhole Wizards. In addition to his own releases, Joe Satriani has contributed tracks to albums for some of the greatest legends in music, including Alice Cooper and Blue Oyster Cult.

Joe Satriani continues to write, record, and perform. His fourteenth studio album, Unstoppable Momentum, arrived in 2013, and in the following year, Joe Satriani: The Complete Studio Recordings, presented fans with re-mastered editions of nearly all his albums. Satriani is currently back in the studio working on his next album. The work—titled What Happens Next—is scheduled to arrive in 2018.