It was that combination that led him to his big break working with Frank Zappa and, eventually, putting his impressive electric guitar skills to work as the maestro’s so-called stunt guitarist. “I was 16, and I’m in my little teenage bedroom, practicing, practicing,” Vai explains to Billy Corgan’s Magnificent Others podcast. Cool!’ ‘Pat Benatar!’“And then he gets to the Zs and says, ‘I have Frank Zappa’s phone number.’ And I went, ‘You have what! He immediately took down Zappa’s phone number. In related news, Vai recently revealed the grueling practice routine that helped him become a virtuoso—and why he did it.