DREAM THEATER Has 'No Plans' To Reunite With MIKE PORTNOY

February 22, 2017

John Petrucci says that there are "no plans" for DREAM THEATER to reunite with drummer Mike Portnoy for a show or a tour.

Portnoy, who co-founded DREAM THEATER more than thirty years ago, abruptly quit the band in September 2010 while on tour with AVENGED SEVENFOLD. He has since been replaced by Mike Mangini (ANNIHILATOR, EXTREME, JAMES LABRIE, STEVE VAI). Portnoy later revealed that he tried to rejoin DREAM THEATER, only to be rebuffed.

During a February 8 question-and-answer session in Tilburg, The Netherlands, Petrucci and DREAM THEATER keyboardist Jordan Rudess were asked by a fan if they would be willing to play with Portnoy again, possibly at a show celebrating a band anniversary. The DREAM THEATER guitarist responded (see video below): "There's no plans to do anything like that. Mike's great, and he's doing many, many projects right now."

Rudess jokingly added: "He's too busy for us."

Continued Petrucci: "Yeah, he's in twenty bands. I don't think he has time. But, yeah, this tour celebrating 'Images [And Words]', we won't be having any past-member guests."

DREAM THEATER is celebrating the 25th anniversary of its milestone RIAA-gold-certified album "Images And Words" on a European tour, which kicked off on January 30 in Rome, Italy. Each performance sees the iconic progressive rock band delivering an unparalleled live set of "Images And Words" in its entirety along with fan favorites from their renowned catalogue.

In a 2016 interview with Metal Rules, Portnoy stated about his time with DREAM THEATER: "I'm proud of everything I did for those 25 years. That was my life for a quarter of a century, my half of lifetime. DREAM THEATER was my baby. I formed it from the beginning, out of college and I lived a lifetime with them. So I'm proud of every one of those albums and every one of the shows. I left behind a legacy and there is a lot of people that still talk about seeing me with them. I don't count on that happening. I wouldn't count on it. I wouldn't bet money on it. If it happens, then, sure, I'm up for it. Because I'm a very sentimental person and I still love the guys and I love the fans. But I surely don't count on it and I don't plan on it, and I'm happier than ever with everything I'm doing now."

Find more on Dream theater

Prev More News Next

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).