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Mike Portnoy

American drummer (born 1967) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mike Portnoy
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For the American contemporary artist, see Michael Portnoy.

Michael Stephen Portnoy[2] (born April 20, 1967) is an American musician who is primarily known as the drummer, backing vocalist, and co-founder of the progressive metal band Dream Theater.

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In September 2010, Portnoy announced his departure from Dream Theater after 25 years,[3] with Mike Mangini taking his place as drummer of the band. In October 2023, 13 years after his departure, the band announced his return. During his time out of Dream Theater, Portnoy remained active, with a variety of bands and projects, including Adrenaline Mob, Avenged Sevenfold, Transatlantic, Yellow Matter Custard, Flying Colors, the Winery Dogs, Liquid Tension Experiment, Metal Allegiance, Sons of Apollo, the Neal Morse Band, and BPMD.

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Early life

Portnoy was born on April 20, 1967, in Long Beach, New York.[4] He is Jewish. His father, Howard Portnoy (1940–2009), worked as a DJ at a local radio station. Mike and his father later moved to Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, to work at KRML radio station after watching the 1971 film Play Misty for Me.[5] His mother died on November 16, 1984, when the private plane she was riding in, with her boyfriend, crashed off the Atlantic City coastline.[6]

His grandfather bought his first drum kit when he was 11 years old.[7] His father's job as a DJ helped Portnoy gain an appreciation for music at an early age, as he had access to his father's collection of LPs. He developed a preference for bands Rush, Kiss, Queen, Led Zeppelin, the Who, Iron Maiden, and the Beatles, among others.[citation needed]

Portnoy is mainly self-taught as a drummer, though he did take music theory classes in high school.[citation needed] During that period, he began playing in local bands. With Rising Power and Inner Sanctum, he recorded and released independent albums.[citation needed]

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Career

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Dream Theater: 1985–2010, 2023–present

Main articles: Dream Theater and Dream Theater discography
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Portnoy performing with Dream Theater in August 2007

Portnoy left Inner Sanctum, his last high school band, after being awarded a scholarship to attend the Berklee College of Music in Boston. There, he met John Petrucci and John Myung. They formed a band called Majesty, which was later changed to Dream Theater. Soon after they all left Berklee.[8]

Known for his technical skill as a drummer in Dream Theater, Portnoy has won 32 awards from the Modern Drummer magazine.[9] He is the second youngest person (after Neil Peart) to be inducted into the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame, at 37 years of age. He was one of the main songwriters during his first tenure with Dream Theater. He co-produced six of their albums with guitarist John Petrucci, starting from Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory through Black Clouds and Silver Linings.

During his tenure in Dream Theater, Portnoy played a key role in archiving and releasing rare Dream Theater music to fans through the YtseJam Records label. Known as "Official Bootleg" releases, these were broken down into four categories: Covers Series, Demo Series, Live Series, and Studio Series. Portnoy personally handpicked and decided on every title, compiled the music and videos for the CD’s and DVD’s, and oversaw the artwork and liner notes for each release.[10] Portnoy has also gone on record stating he has the entire 25 year archive of every Dream Theater studio and live recording from 1985 to 2010.[10]

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Portnoy with Avenged Sevenfold in 2010

In the spring of 2010, Portnoy filled in for Avenged Sevenfold's former drummer, Jimmy "The Rev" Sullivan, who died during the production of the band's fifth album Nightmare. On May 5, 2010, Portnoy released a statement on his status with Avenged Sevenfold on their official website, confirming his working relationship with the band.[11]

In September 2010, Portnoy announced he was leaving Dream Theater. The band hired Mike Mangini to take his place after inviting and holding auditions with seven "world-class" drummers.[12]

Avenged Sevenfold chose not to continue working with Portnoy after the Nightmare tour was completed, in part due to the significant controversy surrounding his departure from Dream Theater.[13][5] Following this, Portnoy announced that he asked to return to Dream Theater, but was turned down by their lawyer[14] as the band had already brought Mangini fully onboard and he had left his tenured teaching position at Berklee College of Music to join the band.[15]

On October 25, 2023, Dream Theater announced that Portnoy was returning to the band,[16] Portnoy having gradually reconciled with the band throughout his 13-year absence before lastly reconciling with James LaBrie in 2022 at the band's show at the Beacon Theatre in New York.[17][18] Shortly thereafter, the band announced their first tour with Portnoy in fourteen years, titled the "40th Anniversary Tour 2024 – 2025", which began with a month-long European leg in October 2024.[19] Portnoy's first album with the band in 15 years, Parasomnia was released on February 7, 2025.[20]

In addition to reclaiming his spot behind the drumkit, Portnoy was also once again tasked with creating Dream Theater's live setlists.[21] This resulted in Dream Theater returning to form with more dynamic setlists for the 40th anniversary tour, including surprising fans with rarities and deep cuts to commemorate special shows. Such examples include performing the Christmas classic "O Holy Night" on the second night of back-to-back shows in Santiago, Chile,[22] performing "The Best of Times" live for the first time ever at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York,[23] and performing a full-length cover of Pink Floyd's "Echoes" at the historic Amphitheatre of Pompeii in Pompeii, Italy.[24]

Former and current projects: 1997–2023

Portnoy is known for his many side projects and tribute bands. He is a founding member of Liquid Tension Experiment, an instrumental progressive rock band featuring fellow Dream Theater members John Petrucci and Jordan Rudess along with bassist Tony Levin. He is also a founding member of Transatlantic, a progressive rock "super-group" featuring former Spock's Beard keyboardist/vocalist Neal Morse, Flower Kings guitarist Roine Stolt and Marillion bassist Pete Trewavas. Outside of Transatlantic, Portnoy has worked with Neal Morse extensively, appearing on most of his solo albums. He is a member of The Neal Morse Band, featuring guitarist/vocalist Eric Gillette, bassist Randy George, and second keyboardist/vocalist Bill Hubauer. Portnoy has also recorded and/or toured/performed live with Umphrey's McGee, OSI, Hail!, Stone Sour, Fates Warning, Overkill and G3. Over the years, Portnoy has created tribute bands to the Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Rush, and the Who.[25]

After his departure from Dream Theater, Portnoy formed several new bands, starting with Adrenaline Mob, a traditional heavy metal/hard rock band with singer Russell Allen (of Symphony X) and guitarist Mike Orlando.[26] On June 4, 2013, however, Portnoy announced his departure from Adrenaline Mob, citing scheduling conflicts.[27]

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Portnoy performing at a concert in 2010

Portnoy is a founding member of Flying Colors, a progressive rock band also featuring Steve Morse, Neal Morse, Dave LaRue, and Casey McPherson.

He also founded The Winery Dogs, a power trio also featuring bassist Billy Sheehan (Mr. Big) and guitarist Richie Kotzen (formerly of Mr. Big and Poison); Sons of Apollo, a progressive metal supergroup also featuring Sheehan, Derek Sherinian, Jeff Scott Soto and Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal; Metal Allegiance, a thrash metal/groove metal band also featuring Mark Menghi, David Ellefson (Megadeth) and Alex Skolnick (Testament); and BPMD, a supergroup/cover band also featuring Menghi, Phil Demmel (Vio-lence) and Bobby "Blitz" Ellsworth (Overkill). He was also a member of PSMS, with Tony Macalpine, Billy Sheehan and Derek Sherinian.

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Portnoy with Twisted Sister in 2016

Portnoy also drummed with Twisted Sister from 2015 to 2016, following the death of longtime drummer A. J. Pero.[28] He also played with the band at their one-off performance in 2023.[29]

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Artistry and influences

In the April 2001 edition of Modern Drummer and Portnoy's website, he names Neil Peart, Ringo Starr, Phil Collins, John Bonham and Keith Moon as influences.[30] Later, he also mentioned Lars Ulrich.[7]

Portnoy played bass when Dream Theater performed as the fictitious band Nightmare Cinema. Before live performances of "Trial of Tears", he would sometimes switch instruments with John Petrucci and play a fragment of "Eruption" by Van Halen. In Nightmare Cinema, he went by the stage name "Max Del Fuvio".[31]

Portnoy played bass guitar and xylophone during a song on Liquid Tension Experiment 2. He has also contributed lead and harmony vocals to numerous projects.[citation needed]

The "Portnoy fill"

Portnoy is often cited for a recurring drum fill he uses in songs, that has become colloquially known as "the Portnoy fill": it consists of a repeating pattern of two sixteenth notes played on either the snare or a tom, followed by two sixteenths on the double bass. Portnoy himself has credited Terry Bozzio as the originator of it.[32]

Progressive Nation

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Portnoy performing in 2014

In 2008, Portnoy organized a tour called Progressive Nation. Dream Theater headlined the touring festival and were joined by Opeth, Between the Buried and Me and 3. Portnoy stated, "I've been wanting to assemble a package tour like this for many years now. With all of the festivals and package tours that go through America, I've been talking with our manager and agent for over 10 years now about doing something that focuses on the more progressive, musician-oriented side of hard rock and metal. I decided it was time to stop talking the talk, lace up and finally walk the walk."[33]

In 2009, the tour returned with Dream Theater headlining once more and joined by Zappa Plays Zappa, Pain of Salvation, and Beardfish.[34]

In 2014, Portnoy rebooted Progressive Nation as a 4-day cruising music festival called Progressive Nation at Sea. The event took place on the Norwegian Pearl on February 18–22, 2014 sailing from Miami, FL to the Bahamas. Portnoy organized the cruise with help from Derek Sherinian, and music festival company, Sixthman. Portnoy performed in three different bands on the cruise, Transatlantic, Portnoy, Sheehan, MacAlpine, Sherinian (PSMS), and Bigelf. Also rounding out the cruise were a large number of other progressive rock artists, Jon Anderson, Adrian Belew's Power Trio, Devin Townsend Project, King's X, Spock's Beard, the Flower Kings, Pain of Salvation, Anathema, Riverside, Periphery, Animals as Leaders, the Safety Fire, Tony Harnell & Bumblefoot, Beardfish, the Dear Hunter, Haken, Jolly, Anneke Van Giersbergen, Mark Mikel, and his son, Max Portnoy's band, Next to None. Portnoy describes what the cruise was like: "Progressive Nation at Sea still remains one of my proudest career memories…at the time, music cruises were just beginning to blossom and to be given the opportunity to assemble such an amazing lineup was a dream come true for me".[35]

Since Progressive Nation at Sea 2014, Portnoy went on to join forces with another cruising progressive rock music festival, Cruise to the Edge, to merge the vision and musical lineups. CTTE has been sailing annually since then.[35]

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Personal life

Portnoy and his wife Marlene (née Apuzzo) live in Upper Saucon Township in the Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania with their children, Melody Ruthandrea (born May 3, 1997)[36] and Max John (born March 7, 1999).[37]

Portnoy is a recovering addict and has openly discussed it. The five song set Twelve-step Suite deals with his experience of substance abuse. Portnoy edged away from alcohol and drugs in April 2000; he has remained sober since.[38]

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Equipment

Portnoy endorses Tama drums, Sabian cymbals, Promark drumsticks and Remo drumheads. Though Portnoy is mainly a drummer and backing vocalist he also contributes lead vocals,[39] bass guitar,[40][41] and keyboards.

Discography

Main articles: Mike Portnoy discography and Dream Theater discography

Dream Theater

Liquid Tension Experiment (including other variations of band)

Transatlantic

Avenged Sevenfold

Neal Morse

The Neal Morse Band

Flying Colors

Adrenaline Mob

BPMD

  • American Made (2020)

Haken

Metal Allegiance

  • Metal Allegiance (2015)
  • Fallen Heroes (2016)
  • Volume II: Power Drunk Majesty (2018)

OSI

Sons of Apollo

The Winery Dogs

John Arch

Between the Buried and Me

Bigelf

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References

External links

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