MIKE PORTNOY Says He Has Turned Down Several Book Deals: 'If I'm Gonna Do A Book, I've Gotta Be Honest'

October 18, 2018

In a recent interview with "Live With Lilo", drummer Mike Portnoy (SONS OF APOLLO, ex-DREAM THEATER) was asked if he has ever thought about writing a book. He responded (see video below): "Actually, I've been asked to write a book several times; I've had several publishers come to me and offer me book deals. Especially right after I left DREAM THEATER and AVENGED SEVENFOLD, there was a lot of drama going on in my life, so the book companies came at me thirsty for blood and gossip. And I turned down all the deals.

"Maybe someday I will, but, honestly, if I'm gonna do a book, I've gotta be honest — I've gotta tell it like it is," he explained. "I won't pull punches; I'm not gonna bullshit. And it's like the Jack Nicholson line from 'A Few Good Men'; it's, like, 'You want the truth? You can't handle the truth.' [Laughs]

"So I feel like if I was to write a book and say the truth of what has really gone down with some of these bands, I'd just be asking for trouble," he added. "I could see the Blabbermouth headlines already. So I've kind of just been avoiding it. 'Cause if I do it, I wanna be honest. And if I'm honest… You know, the truth hurts. So I've been avoiding it."

Portnoy, who co-founded DREAM THEATER more than 30 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 He has since been replaced by Mike Mangini (ANNIHILATOR, EXTREME, JAMES LABRIE, STEVE VAI).

Following Jimmy "The Rev" Sullivan's death, AVENGED SEVENFOLD recruited his favorite drummer, Portnoy, to record the drum tracks for 2010's "Nightmare" album and all its tour dates before dismissing him at the end of that year.

AVENGED SEVENFOLD guitarist Zacky Vengeance later said that being caught in the middle of the drama between Portnoy and DREAM THEATER "was causing us a lot of heartache, to be honest — to see our name in this drama-filled love triangle. [Mike] helped us out at a really vulnerable time, and for that we will always be extremely appreciative," he said. "But for us, we were so unstable at that point that any unneeded attention was just very harmful to us."

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