Guitarist John Petrucci, bassist John Myung, and drummer Mike Portnoy were students at Berklee College of Music in 1985 when they decided to form a band in their spare time; they called themselves Majesty.  In the beginning, they covered Rush and Iron Maiden songs in the rehearsal rooms.

Dream Theater

There's nothing more rewarding than playing a song we've played over 1,000 times through the years but seeing the excitement on the faces of the audience that are hearing it in person for the very first time!

The Early Years

Guitarist John Petrucci, bassist John Myung, and drummer Mike Portnoy were students at Berklee College of Music in 1985 when they decided to form a band in their spare time; they called themselves Majesty.  In the beginning, they covered Rush and Iron Maiden songs in the rehearsal rooms.  They recruited Kevin Moore for keyboards and vocalist Chris Collins.  The three founding members left college to pursue a career in music.

In 1986, they performed every gig they could find, in and around the New York City area, while recording a series of demos.  The Majesty Demos sold out of their iniitial 1,000 copies, and dubbed copies became popular among the progressive music scene.  Late in the year, they fired Chris Collins, and replaced him with Charlie Dominici.  Around this time, a Las Vegas group named Majesty contacted them and threatened legal action.  They changed their name to Dream Theater.

The Recording Years

They released their debut album, When Dream and Day Unite, in 1989.  Mostly comprised of older material, the album received very little attention from critics and sold primarily to the cult following they had accrued in and around New York City.  Their recording company, Mechanic,, did not come through on a number of contractual agreements, and the band was restricted to tour only locally.  During this tour, Dominici was fired from the band, and was not permanently replaced for two years.

In 1991, Dream Theater hired Kevin James Labrie, and were able to release their second album, Images and Words, the following year.  The album was a turning point for the band, appearing at #61 on the Billboard Top 200.  Dream Theater released seven more albums through 2007, each charting in the United States and across Europe.  They toured aggressively between albums, across North America, Europe, and Asia, building an enormous fanbase.

Present and Future

In 2009, Dream Theater released the album, Black Clouds & Silver Linings.  The single, Wither, was released exclusively in digital form.  Fans could listen to the song for free via audio streaming or purchase the download in mp3 format.  The album peaked at #6 the Billboard Top 200 and at #9 on the UK charts, demonstrating the best chart activity of any of their previous albums.

They are currently on tour in South America with Bigelf.  They will be supporting Iron Maiden on the US and Canada legs of their tour during the summer of 2010.  

Did you know . . .

1. The single, Pull Me Under, which appears on Images and Words, is their only #1 single to date.

2. Their cover for their CD, Live Scenes of New York, depicted a burning heart, with the Twin Towers in the center of the flame.  Coincidentally, it was scheduled for release on the day of the attacks.  They immediately stopped the release and rescheduled it for a later date.

3. Dream Theater's drummer, Mike Portnoy, is the drummer on the upcoming album release from Avenged Sevenfold.

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