Dream Theater

Dream Theater is an American progressive metal band formed in 1985 in Boston, Massachusetts. The band comprises John Petrucci (guitar), John Myung (bass), Mike Portnoy (drums), James LaBrie (vocals), and Jordan Rudess (keyboards).

Dream Theater was formed under the name Majesty by Petrucci, Myung and Portnoy—all from Long Island, New York—while they attended Berklee College of Music. They dropped out to concentrate on the band. Dream Theater has undergone various lineup changes, with Petrucci and Myung being the only constant members. Portnoy remained until 2010, when he was replaced by Mike Mangini after deciding to leave to pursue other musical projects, before rejoining the band in October 2023. After a brief stint with Chris Collins, followed by Charlie Dominici (who was dismissed from Dream Theater shortly after the release of their 1989 debut album When Dream and Day Unite), LaBrie was hired as the band's singer in 1991. Dream Theater's original keyboardist, Kevin Moore, left the band after three albums and was replaced by Derek Sherinian in 1995 after a period of touring. They recorded one album (and an EP) with Sherinian, who was replaced by current keyboardist Jordan Rudess in 1999.

Dream Theater has released sixteen studio albums. The band's highest-selling release is their second album Images and Words (1992), which reached No. 61 on the Billboard 200 chart. Other albums such as Awake (1994) and Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence (2002) also entered the charts at No. 32 and No. 46 respectively, and each received critical acclaim. Their fifth album, Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory (1999), was ranked number 95 on the October 2006 issue of Guitar World magazine's list of the greatest 100 guitar albums of all time. It was also ranked as the 15th Greatest Concept Album in March 2003 by Classic Rock magazine.

By 2018, Dream Theater had sold over 12 million records worldwide; they have received four Grammy Award nominations, including one win in 2022. Along with Queensrÿche and Fates Warning, the band has been referred to as one of the "big three" of the progressive metal genre, responsible for its development and popularization. Additionally, the staff of Loudwire named them the 38th best metal band of all time.

In 1985, guitarist John Petrucci, bassist John Myung, and drummer Mike Portnoy decided to form a band while attending Berklee College of Music in Boston. Petrucci and Myung were childhood friends from Kings Park, New York, and met Portnoy of Long Beach, New York while at Berklee. The trio started by covering Rush and Iron Maiden songs in the rehearsal rooms at Berklee.

Myung, Petrucci, and Portnoy agreed on the name Majesty for their newly formed group. According to The Score So Far... documentary, they were waiting in line for tickets to a Rush concert at the Berklee Performance Center while listening to the band on a boom box. Portnoy commented that the ending of the song "Bastille Day" sounded "majestic".

Petrucci asked his high school bandmate Kevin Moore to play the keyboard, and another friend from home, Chris Collins, was recruited as lead vocalist after band members heard him sing a cover of "Queen of the Reich" by Queensrÿche. During this time, Portnoy, Petrucci, and Myung's hectic schedules forced them to abandon their studies to concentrate on their music, as they did not feel they could learn more in college. Moore also left his college, SUNY Fredonia, to concentrate on the band.

The beginning months of 1986 were filled with various concert dates in and around the New York City area. During this time, the band recorded a collection of demos, titled The Majesty Demos. The initial run of 1,000 sold out within six months, and dubbed copies of the cassette became popular within the progressive metal scene. The Majesty Demos were later released officially on CD, through Portnoy's YtseJam Records (and on InsideOut in 2022, after YtseJam Records was shut down).