Steve Stevens Top Gun Anthem Official Music Video

Steve Stevens (born as Steven Schneider on May 5, 1959, in Brooklyn, New York) is an American guitarist and songwriter.

He is best known for playing for other artists (most notably Michael Jackson, Billy Idol, and Vince Neil) and less known for his critically acclaimed solo efforts (Atomic Playboys and Flamenco A Go-Go), collaborations (Bozzio Levin Stevens, a.k.a.
Steve Stevens attended New York City's prestigious Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Performing Arts as a music major, studying the guitar, and graduating in 1977.

In 1979 Steve played in a band called One Hand Clap with lead singer Ray Melnik. They played Long Island clubs almost six nights a week for about a year. Steve and Ray eventually moved on to join the Fine Malibus in New York City. The Fine Malibus all lived and rehearsed in a 3,000-square-foot (280 m2) loft on west 30th street. They caught the attention of Jimmy Miller who originally produced some of the first Rolling Stones albums and he arranged for them to record an album at Compass Point Studios in Nassau, Bahamas, which was funded by Chris Blackwell of Island Records. They spent 2 months there in 1981 and even played a local club at night. They wrote & recorded an album of the same name with Island Records but it was never released. At Compass Point Studios is where Steve met singer Robert Palmer. Steve moved on when the manager of the Fine Malibus introduced him to Billy Idol.

His hit-making collaboration with Billy Idol began when Idol moved from the UK to the U.S., shortly after the latter's band Generation X disbanded. Stevens co-wrote and played on the albums Don't Stop EP, Billy Idol (1982), Rebel Yell (1984), Whiplash Smile (1986), and the remix collection Vital Idol (1985). Musical differences during the Whiplash Smile sessions led to the pair's parting of ways (namely, Steve's jazz-laden guitar work on the cut "Man For All Seasons"). In (1987) Michael Jackson hired Stevens to back him on the Dirty Diana track.

Following his departure from Billy Idol's band, Stevens pursued a solo career, releasing his first album Atomic Playboys in 1989 and receiving good comments from the critics and a moderate commercial response.

In 1991 he recorded an album with Michael Monroe called Jerusalem Slim, only released in Japan in 1992.

In 1992, Mötley Crüe singer Vince Neil was put into the studio to record a single for the movie Encino Man called "You're Invited But Your Friend Can't Come" with Jack Blades and Tommy Shaw of Damn Yankees fame, respectively. To help record the song, Vince put together a solo band, bringing Stevens in to play guitar. The following year, a $4 million deal was closed for Neil at Warner Bros. (Stevens was brought back into the fold and subsequently played all bass and guitar tracks on the debut album at the Record Plant in Los Angeles.) The album, Exposed, was released on April 27, 1993. It debuted at #13 on the charts, although it soon began a downward spiral. It had notable quasi-successful singles with the songs "Sister of Pain", "Can't Have Your Cake", and the aforementioned "You're Invited But Your Friend Can't Come". The album was moderately successful Mötley Crüe-styled rock. It sold somewhere between 200,000 and 400,000 copies. Afterward, the band, including Stevens, toured opening for Van Halen in 1993, and then embarked on a '93-'94 club tour. Upon completion of the tour, Stevens left the band.

Stevens recorded his second solo album, Flamenco A Go-Go, in his home studio entirely by himself. This effort stemmed from the inspiration he received after attending a concert by Flamenco virtuoso Paco de Lucía.

Stevens (along with Harold Faltermeyer) won a Grammy in 1987 for his performance on the Top Gun soundtrack and has worked with a host of other artists such as Thompson Twins, Joni Mitchell, Peter Criss, Steve Lukather, Ric Ocasek, Ben Watkins of Juno Reactor, Greg Bissonette, Pink, Jill Jones, Robert Palmer, Jizzy Pearl, Terry Bozzio and Tony Levin (releasing two albums under the name Bozzio Levin Stevens) on Magna Carta Records.

After an extended hiatus, Stevens and Idol reunited in 1999 for a series of tours across the USA and Australia. This era included a recording captured for the VH1 show Storytellers, which was subsequently released on CD and DVD. Stevens also appeared in the Billy Idol episode of VH1's Behind The Music.

Such was the success of this renewed collaboration, in 2005, along with producer Keith Forsey, the duo released Billy Idol's Devil's Playground album. This was the first album to feature the trio since 1986's Whiplash Smile. Also touring with Idol was keyboardist Derek Sherinian - Stevens played and co-wrote three songs on Sherinian's 2004 solo album "Mythology".

Stevens has an additional following in Japan tied to his appearances with Japanese rock singer Kyosuke Himuro, who is Stevens' junior by one year. Stevens was first involved with Himuro's big hit single "Native Stranger" in 1996, and appeared in this song's music video. Stevens participated in Himuro's album "I・DE・A" in 1997 as a guitarist, songwriter and arranger. source: wikipedia