{"id":3709,"date":"2010-09-08T22:03:00","date_gmt":"2010-09-09T02:03:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southeastofheaven.com\/?p=3709"},"modified":"2010-09-08T22:03:00","modified_gmt":"2010-09-09T02:03:00","slug":"mike-portnoy-announces-his-departure-from-dream-theater","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.southeastofheaven.com\/?p=3709","title":{"rendered":"Mike Portnoy Announces His Departure From Dream Theater"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Dream Theater’s founding member\/drummer Mike Portnoy has recently been drumming for metal band Avenged Sevenfold in the wake of losing their drummer Jimmy “The Rev” Sullivan.\u00a0 Sullivan passed away before their latest album “Nightmare” was completed and Portnoy was asked to finish up the album by the band.\u00a0 Portnoy also joined A7X recently on the Uproar Festival tour filling the drum seat on all dates.\u00a0 He had stated that he’d love to spend more time with A7X but that his commitments to Dream Theater would not allow him to do so.<\/p>\n

This evening Mike Portnoy released this statement via his Official Facebook Page<\/strong><\/a>:<\/p>\n

I am about to write something I never imagined I’d ever write: <\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

After 25 years, I have decided to leave Dream Theater….the band I founded, led and truly loved for a quarter of a century. <\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

To many people this will come as a complete shock, and will also likely be misunderstood by some, but please believe me that it is not a hasty decision…it is something I have struggled with for the last year or so….<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

After having had such amazing experiences\u00a0playing with Hail, Transatlantic and Avenged Sevenfold this past year, I have sadly come to the conclusion that I have recently had more fun and better personal relations with these other projects than I have for a while now in Dream Theater… <\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

Please don’t misinterpret me, I love the DT guys dearly and have a long history, friendship and bond that runs incredibly deep with them…it’s just that I think we are in serious need of a little break…<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dream Theater was always my baby…and I nurtured that baby every single day and waking moment of my life since 1985…24\/7, 365…never taking time off from DT’s never-ending responsibilites (even when the band was “off” between cycles)…working overtime and way beyond the call of duty that most sane people ever would do for a band…<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

But I’ve come to the conclusion that the DT machine was starting to burn me out…and I really needed a break from the band in order to save my relationship with the other members and keep my DT spirit hungry and inspired.<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

We have been on an endless write\/record\/tour cycle for almost 20 years now (of which I have overseen EVERY aspect without a break)\u00a0and while a few months apart from each other here\u00a0&\u00a0there over the years has been much needed and helpful, I honestly\u00a0hoped\u00a0the band could simply agree with me to taking a bit of a “hiatus” to recharge our batteries and “save me from ourselves”… <\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sadly, in discussing this with the guys, they determined they do not share my feelings and have decided to continue without me rather than\u00a0take a\u00a0breather…I even offered to do some occasional work throughout 2011 against my initial wishes, but it was not to be…<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

While it truly hurts for me to even think of a Dream Theater without Mike Portnoy (hell, my father named the band!!), I do not want to stand in their way…so I have decided to sacrifice myself and simply leave the band so as to not hold them back against their wishes…. <\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

Strangely enough, I\u00a0just read an interview that I recently did that asked me about the future of DT and I talked about “always following your heart and being true to yourself”…sadly I must say that at this particular moment, my heart is not with Dream Theater…and I would simply be “going through the motions”, and would honestly\u00a0NOT be true to myself if I stayed for the sake of obligation without taking the break I felt I needed. <\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

I wish the guys the best and hope the music and legacy we created together is enjoyed by fans for decades to come…I am proud of every album we made, every song we wrote and every show we played….<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

I’m sorry to all the disappointed DT fans around the world…I really tried to salvage the situation and make it work…I honestly just wanted a break (not a split)…but happiness cannot be forced, it needs to come from within….<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

You DT fans are the greatest fans in the world and\u00a0as you all know, I have always busted my ass for you guys and I hope that you will stay with me on my future musical journey, wherever it may lead me….(and as you all know my work ethic, there will surely be no shortage of future MP projects!)<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sadly…<\/strong><\/p>\n

Your fearless ex-leader and drummer,<\/strong><\/p>\n

MP<\/strong><\/p>\n

This is a HUGE shock to not only Dream Theater fans but the Metal world in general. Who on this fucking mudball called Earth could even come close to replace Portnoy in the very band that he started back in 1985. I guess we can only wait and see. Maybe they can all take a break and get it back together. Take some time off fellas. Let Mike to the A7X thing, let James LaBrie do his solo run and then regroup. Either way, my best wishes go out to both sides of the Dream Theater family!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dream Theater’s founding member\/drummer Mike Portnoy has recently been drumming for metal band Avenged Sevenfold in the wake of losing their drummer Jimmy “The Rev” Sullivan.\u00a0 Sullivan passed away before their latest album “Nightmare” was completed and Portnoy was asked to finish up the album by the band.\u00a0 Portnoy also joined A7X recently on the Uproar Festival tour filling the drum seat on all dates.\u00a0 He had stated that he’d love to spend more time with A7X but that his […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[277],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3709","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-music-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.southeastofheaven.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3709","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.southeastofheaven.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.southeastofheaven.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.southeastofheaven.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.southeastofheaven.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3709"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.southeastofheaven.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3709\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.southeastofheaven.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3709"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.southeastofheaven.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3709"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.southeastofheaven.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3709"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}