Steve Vai looked back on his life-long relationship with fellow guitar wizard Joe Satriani, noting how he "can't even fathom what [his] life would be like" without the other guitarist. Steve Vai and Joe Satriani - name a more iconic duo, I'll wait. Both of these prodigious players came from Italian-American families from Long Island, New York, and both of them came to be considered virtuosos without match. Moreover, they share a deeply personal bond on several levels.

Three years his senior, Satriani was one of Vai's first guitar teachers, and as such instilled in the younger player a sense of dedication and discipline needed to develop such impressive skills. The two also went to Carle Place High School together, shared some of their guitar mentors, and even embarked on the first of Satriani's famous G3 tours together in 1996.