2011
Les Paul Award:
Steve Vai
Named for one of the industry's most revered personalities, the Les Paul Award was created in 1991 to honor individuals or institutions that have set the highest standards of excellence in the creative application of recording technology.
 Steve
Vai’s sheer breathtaking facility
on the guitar is acclaimed in the rock
world and beyond. Vai began his professional
music career at eighteen, transcribing
scores for Frank Zappa. He then recorded
and toured with Zappa for three years
before launching his solo career.
With
his groundbreaking multi-platinum album Passion
and Warfare in
1990, and throughout the years since, the
brilliance of Vai’s
musicianship has awed fans of all genres.
With career sales of over 15 million
records, 15 Grammy nominations, and 3
Grammy wins, Steve is the laureate of
countless awards for his innovative style
and artistic contributions.
As an accomplished
audio producer, Vai has written, produced,
and engineered all of his solo albums and
is the owner of two recording studios.
Vai’s own
music combines rich compositional skills
with creative recording techniques to sonically
articulate his ever-expanding artistic
vision.
In 1985 Vai designed
his signature Ibanez JEM guitar. It contained
first-of-its-kind elements that have
since been adapted by others in the industry.
The Jem is now one of the longest running
and most successful signature series
guitars in history. Its sister model,
the RG, is second in historic sales only
to the Fender Stratocaster. Vai also
designed the first commercial 7 string
electric guitar for Ibanez called “The
Universe.” With the 7th string tuned
down, this guitar revolutionized the sound
of new metal. In additon to his creation
of signature guitars, Vai teamed with Carvin
Corporation to design a series of “Legacy” amplifiers,
and has contributed innovative ideas to
dozens of equipment manufacturers worldwide.
In
1997 Vai launched Favored Nations, an independent
record label that went on to release over
70 albums by legendary musicians such as
Tommy Emmanuel, Steve Lukather, Eric Johnson,
Billy Sheehan, Larry Carlton and many more.
Vai now releases all of his solo work through
Favored Nations.
In 1998 Vai created “The Make A Noise
Foundation,” a non-profit that raises
funds for music education. He also supports
many worthwhile organizations such as Hollywood
Arts and MusiCares. Vai spent three years
as Governor and five years as Trustee of
The Recording Academy (NARAS). During his
terms he wrote and championed proposals
to support the needs of the industry and
also to recognize historical recording
artists.
For Vai, virtuosity
and versatility are not mutually exclusive.
Steve has created music for blockbuster
films, bestselling video games, national
sports franchises, and corporate brand
initiatives. His career accomplishments
have earned him honorary doctorates from
Berklee College of Music and Musicians
Institute.
Vai’s latest
live album and DVD, Where the Wild Things Are, is certified
platinum. Most impressive, however, is
that he continues to evolve. Through orchestral
composition, Vai now strives to unearth
a greater musical vocabulary to convey
the range of human experience. His symphonic
works integrate rock band with orchestra
in inimitable ways.
For more than three decades, Vai has dedicated
his talents to creatively advance the language
of music. While many artists fit easily
into a single category, Steve Vai remains
unclassifiable. He is a musical alchemist
of the highest order. |
2011
Steve Vai
Past recipients:
2010 Lindsay Buckingham
2008 Ray Benson
2007 Al Kooper
2006
Steve Miller
2005 David Byrne
2004 Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis
2003 Bruce
Springsteen
2002 Robbie
Robertson
2001 Steely Dan
2000 Paul McCartney
1999 Sting
1998 Neil Young
1997 Stevie Wonder
1996 Brian Wilson
1995 Alan Parsons
1994 Herbie Hancock
1993 Peter Gabriel
1992 Bob Clearmountain
1991 Bob Ludwig
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