Even though there are people who plays better than him, it would be a lie if I say that he is not one of the greatest guitarist ever.
Teacher of many guitarist like: Steve Vai, Kirk Hammett, Marty Friedman, Andy Timmons and more.
The very first time I heard his music I was 15 years old with "Surfing with alien" album, released in 1989; since then I can't stop doing it