“We parked up outside Steve Vai’s caravan. His guitar tech saw me. Next thing you know, Steve’s there, and I’m trying my best to play Tobacco Road”: He was a guitar god at 8, then he disappeared – the unlikely story of Thomas McRocklin

We think of child guitar prodigies as a product of the YouTube era. Li-sa-X shredding Scarified at eight years old. Nine-year-old Maituo going viral with death-defying sweeps. America’s Got Talent contestants wowing judges with guitars bigger than they are. But Thomas McRocklin was tearing up an Ibanez JEM back in the 1980s – and winning over some of the biggest names in guitar with abilities far beyond his years.

At eight years old he landed a support slot with Ozzy Osbourne. By nine, he’d caught the attention of his hero Steve Vai, who helped secure him a record deal, and produced his band Bad4Good’s first album – but not before giving him a starring role in the Audience is Listening music video and handing over the original Passion and Warfare seven-string.