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The Latest Breaking News from Mike Portnoy

“He was the leader of the band, he would write the setlist, he would deal with the fan clubs and the merchandise, co-produce the albums and co-write the music. He, to me, was a role model”: Which A-list metal drummer could Mike Portnoy be talking about?

Dream Theater man talks influences with El Estepario Siberiano

MusicRadar

“In 1989 I paid a scalper $400 for a ticket to see The Who play Tommy. It was worth every cent”: Mike Portnoy on his top prog songs and artists, and why the Rolling Stones have the greatest-ever prog album sleeve

The Dream Theater drummer’s musical world includes Rush, Yes, King Crimson, Roger Waters and Frank Zappa – alongside the Bee Gees

Louder

"I'm scared for my life and career at this point." Dream Theater's Mike Portnoy jokes he's worried about his job after spate of drummer firings

Josh Freese, Zak Starkey and Jason Bonham have been let go – which Portnoy says makes it a weird time for drummers

Metal Hammer

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“Everything I’m doing is purposely very different. If I’d wanted to keep doing what Dream Theater do, I’d still be in Dream Theater”: How Mike Portnoy reinvented himself after the trauma of leaving two massive bands

In 2011, while trying to find homes for his enormous collection of Dream Theater drumkits, Mike Portnoy was planning a new direction with Flying Colors, Adrenaline Mob, PSMS and Transatlantic

Metal Hammer

“I oversaw every element - not just the music and the lyrics and the melodies and the production, but also the merch and the fan clubs and everything”: Mike Portnoy talks about his years away from Dream Theater

“I was fried” he says, “but I went off from there to form, like, 87 bands”

MusicRadar

“I made a decision that essentially was very selfish”: Mike Portnoy admits he “hurt” Dream Theater bandmates with 2010 exit

“We had just played Madison Square Garden with Iron Maiden and then, like, a month later I left the band”

Metal Hammer

“He says he’s mediocre. I understand – I say the same thing. But he’s a great musician, and that has nothing to do with ability”: What Mikael Åkerfeldt’s peers really think of him

Steven Wilson, Mike Portnoy, Steve Hackett and Arjen Lucassen list the reasons they like and admire Opeth leader Mikael Åkerfeldt

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The best metal albums of 2025 (so far)

From Cradle of Filth to Whitechapel, Bloodywood to Spiritbox, these are some of the best metal releases of 2025 so far.

Metal Hammer

“A new drummer affects everyone in Dream Theater. We all play off the time keeper”:John Myung on how the return of Mike Portnoy has changed the band – and his bass playing

Parasomnia is Dream Theater's first new album with drummer Mike Portnoy for 16 years

Guitar World

“I used really weird things like the Tristan chord and the Prometheus chord to give some of the songs a mystical vibe”: With the return of Mike Portnoy, Dream Theater are fully reborn – and John Petrucci's still not done exploring new guitar frontiers

Wielding naught but his signature Ernie Ball Music Man Majesty, Petrucci has been studying different types of scales and different types of chords – and he says having Portnoy back on the drum stool makes the prog-metal institution feel like they're all 18 again

Guitar World

“I went from being James LaBrie’s biggest critic to being his biggest cheerleader. I want him to succeed more than anybody”: Now Mike Portnoy is back in Dream Theater, he only wishes it had happened sooner

Co-founding drummer discusses how easy 16th album Parasomnia came together, his sadness when he thought a reunion might not happen, and how he’s not quite the control freak some people think he is

Metal Hammer

“In between songs, we had to ask if there was a chiropractor in the house and literally stopped the show": How Mike Portnoy has played through pain for over two decades

Dream Theater man is latest drummer to feel the strain

MusicRadar

“A fan said the teaser was 36 seconds long and already better than The Astonishing… another said they already knew they wouldn’t buy it. You’ve got to love that stuff”: When Dream Theater slimmed down for Distance Over Time

The prog metal giants’ sleek, super-powerful 14th album was a conscious move away from its complex, opinion-splitting predecessor

Metal Hammer

"I love them, they just sing, they’re absolutely gorgeous:" Mike Portnoy just crashed Sabian’s party with seven sexy cymbals

The Dream Theater maestro just MAX’ed out the cymbal collection for his favourite brand

MusicRadar

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Louder

“Most is more than familiar… but there’s a sense of excitement in having this chemistry back in place”: Dream Theater’s Parasomnia largely lives up to the hype

It’s back to the future as Mike Portnoy returns to the prog metal giants – bringing a little of their old magic with him

Metal Hammer

"The daddy of prog metal drumming finally came home with the milk." Mike Portnoy is back with Dream Theater, and he's helped them make a banger of an album in Parasomnia

Dream Theater needed something special to justify the hype following Portnoy's return, and they've delivered

Louder

Steven Wilson's return to the prog fold features on the front cover of the new issue of Prog Magazine, which is on sale now!

Plus Bill Bruford, Dream Theater, Readers' Poll Results, Jon Camp, Neal Morse, Mogwai, Tiger Moth Tales, White Willow, Matt Berry, Marko Hietala, Ritual and loads more

Metal Hammer

Dream Theater share tour diary music video for new track Midnight Messiah

Dream Theater's will release Parasomnia, their first new album with Mike Portnoy for 16 years, in February

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Metal Hammer

Watch Dream Theater's prog metal legend Mike Portnoy attempt to play along to Taylor Swift's Shake It Off with absolutely no idea what he's listening to

"Taylor, I'm really sorry, I totally ruined your song!"

MusicRadar

“I’m sorry I ruined your song!”: Mike Portnoy hears Taylor Swift's Shake It Off for the first time and plays along... with surprising results

The Dream Theater drummer gets put on the spot but emerges as brilliant as he is baffled

Guitar World

“Bach was one of the only guys who really understood the range of the bass. All his cello pieces are right in the 5-string bass range”: John Myung plays for one of rock’s most ambitious bands, and he’s tackling the challenge with extraordinary discipline

The Dream Theater maestro explains what every bassist can learn from Bach, how he developed the Bongo 6-string bass with Ernie Ball, and why he runs a Mesa/Boogie Triple Rectifier on bass…

Louder

"If I wake up one day and I can hold a pair of drumsticks then I will have a crack at it": Watch the trailer for the new documentary about the drumming life of Phil Collins

The Phil Collins documentary Drummer First will premiere later this month

Metal Hammer

Dream Theater share hard-hitting video for new single A Broken Man

Dream Theater's first new album with Mike Portnoy for 16 years, Parasomnia, will be released in February

Metal Hammer

“It worries the hell out of me. We’ve been outcasts for our whole career. If what we do becomes some sort of trend, will we die with it?”: How Dream Theater became the kings of progressive metal – and stayed there

In 2009, Dream Theater released Black Clouds & Silver Linings – an album the prog metal giants claimed could give Slipknot and Trivium a run for its money in heaviness

Metal Hammer

"I love programming all of the pre-show house music": Listen to the audience playlist Mike Portnoy compiled for the Dream Theater tour

Mike Portnoy's DT40 audience playlist includes songs by Snarky Puppy, Queens Of The Stone Age, Frank Zappa, Jack White and many more

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