Michael Stephen Portnoy was born on 20 April 1967, in Long Beach, New York USA, of Jewish descent. Mike is a drummer, best known to be a co-founder and former member of the progressive rock band Dream Theater. He’s well known for his skills on the drums, winning over 30 awards throughout his career. All of his efforts have helped put his net worth to where it is today.
How rich is Mike Portnoy? As of mid-2016, sources estimate a net worth that is at $8 million, mostly earned through a successful career in music. He’s helped create numerous albums, and is the second youngest person to be inducted into the Modern Drummer’s Hall of Fame. He’s also had many side projects, and as he continues his career it is expected that his wealth will increase.
Mike Portnoy Net Worth $8 million
Portnoy’s father was a DJ, and he gained an appreciation for music because of his father’s job. He had access to a lot of music, and became interested in several bands, which included Queen, Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, and Iron Maiden. He is said to be a self-taught drummer, having only taken music theory classes during high school. He then started playing with local bands, but was offered a scholarship to attend the Berklee College of Music, where he met John Myung and John Petrucci, with whom he would eventually form the band Dream Theater.
They left the school and started working on their numerous albums. Mike helped co-produce a total of six albums of the band, including “Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory”, “A Change of Seasons”, and “Black Clouds and Silver Linings”. His popularity also helped him get numerous side projects; he formed other groups such as the Liquid Tension Experiment and Transatlantic. He also performed with bands such as Overkill, Avenged Sevenfold, and G3. Mike has also created various tribute bands, playing the songs of Rush, The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, and many others. All projects have added to his net worth.
In 2010, Mike toured with Avenged Sevenfold, replacing Jimmy “The Rev” Sullivan who had passed away during the production of the album “Nightmare”. Afterwards, he mentioned to Dream Theater that the band should take a break because they had been recording and touring consistently; the other band members decided that they could still perform, which prompted Mike to leave the band. He was replaced by Mike Mangini in an audition that brought in some of the best drummers from around the world. After Portnoy was dropped from Avenged Sevenfold, he would ask to return to Dream Theater, but was turned down after it was revealed that they already had a new drummer.
After being with Dream Theater for 25 years, he would start working on two new projects, bands called Adrenaline Mob and Flying Colors. The two bands released albums in 2012 and also started touring. While with these bands, he filled in for other groups as well, including Stone Sour. In 2013 he worked with Billy Sheehan and Richie Kotzen to create a band called The Winery Dogs, and he then left Adrenaline Mob in 2013 due to scheduling conflicts.
For his personal life, it is known that Mike married Marlene Apuzzo in 1994, and they have two children. Marlene used to be a guitarist in a band called Meanstreak while two other members of the band married Dream Theater members as well. Their son Max is also a drummer, who opened for Adrenaline Mob in 2013.
