Michael Stephen "Mike" Portnoy
 |
Member
Studio musician
Live musician
Guest musician
|
Interviews
| 09.12.2007 | Dream Theater |
Personal information
Born on: 20.04.1967
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Mike Portnoy was born and raised in Long Beach, New York, on Long Island. According to a post made by Jordan Rudess on his forum, Mike is Jewish but does not practice Judaism as a religion. His father worked as a DJ at a local radio station, helping Portnoy gain an appreciation for music at an early age through bands like Queen, Led Zeppelin, The Who, Yes and The Beatles. Although Portnoy taught himself how to play the drums, he did take music theory classes in high school. During that period he began playing in local bands Intruder, Rising Power and Inner Sanctum, the last two of which released an album. He left Inner Sanctum after being awarded a scholarship to attend Berklee College of Music in Boston. There he met John Petrucci and John Myung with whom he formed the band (originally called Majesty) that would become Dream Theater.
Portnoy names his biggest influences as Rush drummer Neil Peart, composer/guitarist Frank Zappa, and the Santa Clara Vanguard Drum and Bugle Corps.
Portnoy has won 23 awards from Modern Drummer magazine, including "Best Up & Coming Talent" (one time), "Best Clinician" (two times), "Best Educational Video/DVD" (two times), "Best recorded performance" (6 times) and "Best Progressive Rock Drummer" (for 12 consecutive years), and is also the second youngest person (at 37 years of age) to be inducted into the Rock Drummer Hall of Fame since Neil Peart was inducted in 1983 (at 31 years of age).
Official Website
show more
Mike Portnoy was born and raised in Long Beach, New York, on Long Island. According to a post made by Jordan Rudess on his forum, Mike is Jewish but does not practice Judaism as a religion. His father worked as a DJ at a local radio station, helping Portnoy gain an appreciation for music at an early age through bands like Queen, Led Zeppelin, The Who, Yes and The Beatles. Although Portnoy taught himself how to play the drums, he did take music theory classes in high school. During that period he began playing in local bands Intruder, Rising Power and Inner Sanctum, the last two of which released an album. He left Inner Sanctum after being awarded a scholarship to attend Berklee College of Music in Boston. There he met John Petrucci and John Myung with whom he formed the band (originally called Majesty) that would become Dream Theater.
Portnoy names his biggest influences as Rush drummer Neil Peart, composer/guitarist Frank Zappa, and the Santa Clara Vanguard Drum and Bugle Corps.
Portnoy has won 23 awards from Modern Drummer magazine, including "Best Up & Coming Talent" (one time), "Best Clinician" (two times), "Best Educational Video/DVD" (two times), "Best recorded performance" (6 times) and "Best Progressive Rock Drummer" (for 12 consecutive years), and is also the second youngest person (at 37 years of age) to be inducted into the Rock Drummer Hall of Fame since Neil Peart was inducted in 1983 (at 31 years of age).