“My stock answer was, ‘No.’ Most people who approach me to do something like that are looking to relive the glory days of ’80s rock”: Why Steve Vai dropped his anti-supergroup stance to help revive some of King Crimson’s most celebrated work

Steve Vai and Adrian Belew performing onstage with the Beat.

Steve Vai says he has turned down offers to join supergroups in the past, but when the prospect of forming BEAT – the King Crimson-honoring project created with Robert Fripp’s blessing – came along, he was forced to rethink his supergroup stance.

Alongside Crimson alumni Adrian Belew and Tony Levin, and Tool drummer Danny Carey, Vai was cast in Robert Fripp’s role as electric guitar provocateur as part of the supergroup’s lineup.