Mike Portnoy

His father, Howard Portnoy (1940–2009), worked as a DJ at a local radio station.

Michael Stephen Portnoy (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.

Portnoy was born on April 20, 1967 in Long Beach, New York.

He is Jewish.

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.

His mother died on November 16, 1984, when the private plane she was riding in, with her boyfriend, crashed off the Atlantic City coastline.

Portnoy's father's job helped him gain an appreciation for music at an early age particularly, as Portnoy has pointed out, because he had access to his father's collection of LPs.

He developed a preference for bands including Rush, Queen, Led Zeppelin, The Who, Iron Maiden, and the Beatles, among many others.

Portnoy claims to be self-taught as a drummer, though he did take music theory classes in high school.

During that period he began playing in local bands, two of which (Rising Power and Inner Sanctum) recorded and released independent albums.

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, initially taking the name "Majesty" before changing their name to Dream Theater.

They left Berklee soon after.

Known for his technical skill as a drummer in Dream Theater, Portnoy has won 31 awards from the Modern Drummer magazine.

He co-produced six Dream Theater albums with guitarist John Petrucci, starting from Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory through Black Clouds and Silver Linings; he was also one of the main songwriters during his tenure.

He is the second youngest person (after Neil Peart) to be inducted into the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame, at 37 years of age.

In the April 2001 edition of Modern Drummer and Portnoy's website, he names Neil Peart, Ringo Starr, John Bonham and Keith Moon as influences.

In September 2010, Portnoy announced his departure from Dream Theater after 25 years, 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.

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, concluding his working relationship with the band.

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.

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.

Following this, Portnoy announced that he asked to return to Dream Theater, but was turned down by their lawyer 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.

On October 25, 2023, Dream Theater announced that Mike Portnoy was returning to the band.

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.

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.

On June 4, 2013, however, Portnoy announced his departure from Adrenaline Mob, citing scheduling conflicts.

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.