John Peter Petrucci was born on the 12th July 1967, in Kings Park, Long Island, New York USA, of part-Italian ancestry and is a guitarist, producer, singer – songwriter, best known to the world as a founding member of the progressive metal band Dream Theater, with which he has released 13 studio albums, including “Awake“ (1994), “Train of Thought” (2003), “A Dramatic Turn of Events” (2011), and “The Astonishing” (2016), among others. He has also collaborated with other musicians, which include playing as a part of a G3 tour six times, then he played with Derek Sherinian and Jordan Rudess, among others.
Have you ever wondered how rich John Petrucci is, as of mid- 2017? According to authoritative sources, it has been estimated that Petrucci’s net worth is as high as $3.2 million, an amount earned through his successful career in the music industry, which began in 1984.
John Petrucci Net Worth $3.2 Million
John started playing guitar when he was only eight years old, not due to a desire to play, but to beat his sister who took up piano lessons, and would stay up late. However, young John couldn’t stay as long as his sister and dropped out of playing. Nevertheless, when he was 12, he again started playing guitar, and practiced for six hours a day. He discovered his love for music, for bands such as Black Sabbath, AC/DC and Led Zeppelin, and as he got older he listened to Rush, Iron Maiden, and Metallica among others. After finishing high school, John enrolled at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, alongside his longtime friend John Myung. Also, one of his longtime friends, Kevin Moore, asked John to join him in his cover band which he accepted, and brought in Myung, and then in college he met Mike Portnoy. With the addition of Chris Collins, they called themselves Majesty, and played covers of such bands as Iron Maiden and Rush.
Satisfied with how their musical career began, John, Mike and Myung left college and focused more on the group. Before they officially became professionals, they had to change the band’s name, since Majesty was already taken, so Dream Theater was born. Before the release of their debut album, Collins left the group, and was replaced by Charles Dominici, who was in the band only for the debut album.
They signed a contract with MCA Records, and in 1989 released their debut album “When Dream and Day Unite”, which spawned such hits as “Afterlife”, and “A Fortune in Lies”. The album sold more than 37,000 copies, which inspired them to continue with their work together. In replace of Dominici came James LaBrie, who now is the only long-time member of Dream Theater next to Petrucci and Myung. In 1992 they released a second album, entitled “Images and Words” (1992), their first album to chart, reaching No. 61 on the Billboard 200, and achieving gold status in the USA, which only increased Petrucci’s net worth.
They continued successfully with such albums as “Awake” (1994) and “Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory” (1999), which both sold more than 120,000 copies. However, the band reached higher commercial success in the mid- 2000s, with albums “Systematic Chaos” (2007), which reached No. 19 on the Billboard 200 chart, then “Black Clouds & Silver Linings” (2009), which became their first top 10 album as it peaked at No. 6. Two years later, another successful release came out, “A Dramatic Turn of Events”, which reached No. 8, the first album without Mike Portnoy, who was replaced by Mike Mangini. In recent years, they have released two more albums – “Dream Theater” (2013), and “The Astonishing” (2016).
Aside from Dream Theater, John has worked on several other projects, including Liquid Tension Experiment, which is a collaboration with Portnoy, then an album with Jordan Rudess, and also a solo ablum – “Suspended Animation” – released in 2005.
John became known for frequently using a seven-string electric guitar and for his high speed alternate picking. He states Steve Morse, Steve Howe, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Joe Satriani, Steve Vai and Yngwie Malmsteen as his guitar influences.
Regarding his personal life, John has been married to Rena Sands since 1993; the couple has three children together.
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