Dream Theater Reuniting With Founding Drummer Mike Portnoy for 16th Studio Album

Dream Theater are getting the band back together. The Grammy-winning prog rockers announced on Wednesday (Oct. 25) that founding drummer Mike Portnoy will be back in the fold when the group head back into the studio soon to work on their 16th studio album and first with Portnoy since 2009’s Black Clouds & Silver Linings.

“I understand Dream Theater’s decision to get Mike Portnoy back at this time,” said drummer Mike Mangini, who took over for Portnoy in 2010. “As was said from Day 1, my place was not to fill all the roles that Mike held in the band. I was to play the drums in order to help the band carry on. My main role of keeping our live show working tightly on a nightly basis was an intense and rewarding experience. Thankfully, I got to experience playing music with these iconic musicians, as well as some fun times laced with humor.”

Dream Theater was formed in Boston in 1985 by Portnoy, bassist John Myung and guitarist John Petrucci when the trio were enrolled at Berklee College of Music in Boston. Portnoy said he was “overwhelmed with joy to be returning home and reuniting with my brothers! There is so much shared history between us all… so many memories, so much music… to think we’re coming up on 40 years since this journey began! The idea of creating new music together is so exciting and I absolutely cannot wait to hit the road and get to play live for a whole new generation of fans that weren’t ever able to see this lineup before…There’s no place like home!!” 

Myung said it feels great to get back together with Portnoy more than four decades after the group’s formation. “I am excited to see what this next phase of Dream Theater creates for the future,” he said. “I wish nothing but the best for Mike Mangini for all the blood, sweat and tears he put into DT during his 13-year tenure with the band.”

In Portnoy’s absence the group released 2011’s A Dramatic Turn of Events, a self-titled 2013 album, 2016’s The Astonishing, 2019’s Distance Over Time and 2021’s A View From the Top of the World, for which they won a Grammy in 2022 for best metal performance for “Alien.” The band– which also features singer James LaBrie and keyboardist Jordan Rudess — recently wrapped the first Dreamsonic tour, a prog-rock package tour that also featured Devin Townsend and Animals As Leaders.

See the reunited band below.