1. Michael Stephen Portnoy was born on April 20,1967 and is an American musician who is primarily known as the drummer, backing vocalist, and co-founder of the progressive metal band Dream Theater.
31 Facts About Mike Portnoy
1. 2.
In September 2010, Portnoy announced his departure from Dream Theater after 25 years, with Mike Mangini taking his place as drummer of the band.
3.
Mike Portnoy was born on April 20,1967, in Long Beach, New York.
4.
Mike Portnoy's mother died on November 16,1984, when the private plane she was riding in, with her boyfriend, crashed off the Atlantic City coastline.
5.
Mike Portnoy developed a preference for bands Rush, Kiss, Queen, Led Zeppelin, The Who, Iron Maiden, and The Beatles, among others.
6.
Mike Portnoy left Inner Sanctum, his last high school band, after being awarded a scholarship to attend the Berklee College of Music in Boston.
7.
Mike Portnoy is the second youngest person to be inducted into the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame, at 37 years of age.
8.
Mike Portnoy was one of the main songwriters during his first tenure with Dream Theater.
9.
Mike Portnoy co-produced six of their albums with guitarist John Petrucci, starting from Metropolis Pt.
10.
On May 5,2010, Mike 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, Mike Portnoy announced he was leaving Dream Theater.
12.
On October 25,2023, Dream Theater announced that Mike Portnoy was returning to the band, Mike 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.
13.
Mike Portnoy is known for his many side projects and tribute bands.
14.
Mike Portnoy 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.
15.
Outside of Transatlantic, Mike Portnoy has worked with Neal Morse extensively, appearing on most of his solo albums.
16.
On June 4,2013 Mike Portnoy announced his departure from Adrenaline Mob, citing scheduling conflicts.
17.
Mike Portnoy is a founding member of Flying Colors, a progressive rock band featuring Steve Morse, Neal Morse, Dave LaRue, and Casey McPherson.
18.
Mike Portnoy was a member of PSMS, with Tony Macalpine, Billy Sheehan and Derek Sherinian.
19.
Mike Portnoy played with the band at their one-off performance in 2023.
20.
Mike Portnoy played bass when Dream Theater performed as the fictitious band Nightmare Cinema.
21.
Mike Portnoy played bass guitar and xylophone during a song on Liquid Tension Experiment 2.
22.
Mike Portnoy has contributed lead and harmony vocals to numerous projects.
23.
Mike Portnoy is often cited for a recurring drum fill he uses in songs, that has become colloquially known as "the Mike 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.
24.
Mike Portnoy himself has credited Terry Bozzio with the originator of it.
25.
In 2014, Mike Portnoy rebooted Progressive Nation as a 4-day cruising music festival called Progressive Nation at Sea.
26.
Mike Portnoy organized the cruise with help from Derek Sherinian, and music festival company, Sixthman.
27.
Mike Portnoy performed in three different bands on the cruise, Transatlantic, Mike Portnoy, Sheehan, MacAlpine, Sherinian, and Bigelf.
28.
Since Progressive Nation at Sea 2014, Mike Portnoy went on to join forces with another cruising progressive rock music festival, Cruise to the Edge, to merge the vision and musical lineups.
29.
Mike Portnoy is a recovering addict and has openly discussed it.
30.
Mike Portnoy edged away from alcohol and drugs in April 2000; he has remained sober since.
31.
Mike Portnoy endorses Tama drums, Sabian cymbals, Promark drumsticks and Remo drumheads.