The musician Mike Portnoy compared to Jimi Hendrix: “I’d never seen or heard another drummer like him”
It’s true; every great band relies on a stellar drummer. While we’ve all seen countless drummers at the helm, identifying those who are truly memorable can be a daunting task. This holds true even for professionals like Dream Theater innovator Mike Portnoy, who has a relatively limited set of influences compared to the extensive list that guitarists often boast.
During his first stint, Portnoy was the foundation of the celebrated prog-metal group for 25 years, from 1985 to 2010. Whether it be their 1992 debut single ‘Pull Me Under’, the criminally underrated ‘Under a Glass Moon’ or 1999’s ‘The Dance of Eternity’, Portnoy’s highlights reel from this span is extensive, to say the least. In the years since his departure, he would also work with outfits crafting an array of complicated sounds such as Avenged Sevenfold and Transatlantic, and he was such a force that in 2023, he returned to Dream Theater.
Even Mike Mangini, Portnoy’s replacement in Dream Theater, released a statement expressing his understanding of Portnoy’s decision to reunite with the band he co-founded. Mangini clarified that his role from the outset was not to replace Portnoy but rather to facilitate the band’s continuation after his departure. Nevertheless, fans of the group were overjoyed to hear that the missing piece of the puzzle had finally returned.
A drummer who exudes the natural pizzazz characteristic of all greats, one of Mike Portnoy’s greatest triumphs is his technical prowess in every aspect while still prioritizing serving the song—a delicate balance that many fail to achieve. Given the names that Portnoy cited as his main influences, it’s understandable that he crafted an approach that revitalised drumming with intricate grooves while leaving ample room for his bandmates to construct their own complex sonic creations on top.
John Bonham, Keith Moon, Neil Peart and John Bonham are his key influences, and all, despite their unfettered technicality, provided their bands with robust energy, allowing them to stand out from the monotonous four-to-the-floor grooves of their counterparts.
However, Rush’s late hero, Neil Peart, made the greatest impact on Portnoy. Not only would his natural dynamism open his eyes to how comprehensive drumming and rhythm could be, but it also provided the entire basis for the trio’s sonic experiments, which bands like Dream Theater would not exist without. Naturally, as Portnoy found fame, he would become good friends with Peart and share many insights about the scope of his artistic power following his passing in January 2020.
Speaking to Billboard after the news of Peart’s death broke, Portnoy recalled discovering Rush in the early 1980s when he was in high school. First hearing the Canadian changed his life forever, and his impact was so immense on drumming that he even compared it to what Jimi Hendrix did for the guitar. The Dream Theater co-founder explained: “I’d never seen or heard another drummer like him. He had the same kind of impact on the drum community that somebody like Jimi Hendrix or Eddie Van Halen had on the guitar community. Like tens of thousands of other young drummers at the time, I just became obsessed with him and everything about him.”
As Portnoy continued on this journey to the past, he admitted that Peart was everything he dreamed of becoming as a drummer. He was the master of his area and surrounded by an expansive drum kit, he made strange time signatures of his own, with an array of techniques bolstering his work. Ultimately, he raised the bar for drummers, and Portnoy continues to carry his torch today.