Staples Center, Los Angeles, California, United States
Mike Mangini, John Myung, Jordan Rudess, James LaBrie and John Petrucci of the band Dream Theater arrive at the 54th Annual GRAMMY Awards held at Staples Center on February 12, 2012 in Los Angeles, California.
Gallery of John Petrucci
2014
Paramount theater, Denver, Colorado, United States
Dream Theater performing at the Paramount theater in Denver, Colorado on April 10. 2014.
Gallery of John Petrucci
2016
Pechanga Casino, Temecula, California, United States
John Petrucci performs on stage at Pechanga Casino on November 18, 2016 in Temecula, California.
Gallery of John Petrucci
2017
Hammersmith Apollo, London, England, United Kingdom
Dream Theater performing live on stage at the Hammersmith Apollo in London, on April 23, 2017.
Gallery of John Petrucci
2018
Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
John Petrucci performs as part of the G3 concert tour at Brooklyn Bowl Las Vegas at The Linq Promenade on January 17, 2018, in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Staples Center, Los Angeles, California, United States
Mike Mangini, John Myung, Jordan Rudess, James LaBrie and John Petrucci of the band Dream Theater arrive at the 54th Annual GRAMMY Awards held at Staples Center on February 12, 2012 in Los Angeles, California.
John Peter Petrucci is an American virtuoso guitarist, composer and producer. He is best known as a founding member of the progressive metal band Dream Theater. With his former bandmate Mike Portnoy, he produced all Dream Theater albums from 1999's Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory to 2009's Black Clouds & Silver Linings. He has been the sole producer of the band's albums released since Portnoy's departure in 2010.
Background
John Peter Petrucci was born on July 12, 1967, in Kings Park, New York, to an Italian-American family. He picked up the guitar at the age of eight because his older sister was allowed to go to bed later in order to practice the piano. However, he decided to quit the guitar when his attempts to stay up late were unsuccessful. He picked up the guitar again at the age of 12. Petrucci has said he committed to practicing guitar 6 hours a day when he discovered it was his passion. His early influences were bands like Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, AC/DC, and later developed an interest in progressive rock and heavy metal, exemplified by Rush, Yes, Iron Maiden, Dixie Dregs and Metallica.
Education
After graduating from high school, he attended the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston along with schoolmate/bassist John Myung where they fatefully met drummer Mike Portnoy and quickly formed the nucleus of what was to become Dream Theater.
John Petrucci, John Myung, Chris Collins, Mike Portnoy, Kevin Moore began playing and recording under the name of "Majesty". Releasing an eight-tune demo, Majesty Demo, as Majesty, the group sold 1,000 copies within six months. The departure of Collins in late 1986 left Majesty without a vocalist, and after a long period of auditioning possible replacements, the group settled on Charlie Dominici in November 1987. Changing its name, the group agreed on “Dream Theater,” inspired by a now-demolished California movie theater. Signing with Mechanic Records, the group began working on its first full-length album. Delays caused by label mismanagement limited the group to performing at small clubs and bars. Frustrated by its experiences with the label, Dream Theater finally severed its ties with Mechanic.
This was only one drastic change in the band’s course of action. Firing Dominici, the group spent the next couple years searching for a vocalist. The search ended in late 1991 when a demo tape from Canadian vocalist James LaBrie, formerly of Winter Rose, arrived. After flying to New York to audition, LaBrie was invited to join the band. Signing with Atco Atlantic (which came to be known as East West), Dream Theater released its second album, Images & Words, in 1992. One of three videos based on songs from the album, “Pull Me Under,” became an MTV hit. Although the band showed considerable growth with their third studio album, Awake, recorded between May and July 1994, the group continued to be hampered by personnel changes. Before the album was mixed, keyboardist Moore left the group to focus on his solo career. Hired as a temporary replacement for the band’s Waking Up the World tour, Derek Sherinian later became a permanent member. His first recording with Dream Theater was a 23-minute epic, “A Change of Seasons,” written in 1989 and released in September 1995 on the album of the same name.
Following a mini tour, Fix for ’96, the members of Dream Theater separated for several months and became involved with a variety of outside projects. Petrucci was the busiest. In addition to joining Portnoy and keyboard player Jordan Rudess in the Liquid Tension Experiment — a group that included influential bassist/stick player Tony Levin — Petrucci played guitar with Trent Gardner’s Explorers Club and made a guest appearance on Shadow Gallery’s Tyranny album. Myung and Sherinian collaborated with King’s X vocalist Ty Tabor in the band Platypus. LaBrie worked with Mull Muzzler, a group formed with Matt Guillory and Mike Mangini.
Dream Theater experienced yet another change when Jordan Rudess was tapped to replace Sherinian, who had been fired in 1999. The band released the progressive rock-heavy Scenes from a Memory that year, a conceptual piece that followed the story of a 1928 murder of a young woman and how a modern man is haunted by the crime. It was followed by Live Scenes from New York in 2001, which suffered from an unintentional bout with controversy when its original cover featuring the city of New York in flames was pulled due to the events of September 11. The group continued in the progressive metal vein in 2002 with Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence, followed by the leaner Train of Thought in 2003 and Octavarium in 2005. The live album Score: XOX was released in 2006 and featured the band backed by a 29-piece orchestra. It was followed a year later by the new studio album Systematic Chaos, and in 2009 by Black Clouds & Silver Linings.
Sherinian went on to record as a soloist and to play with a prog and jazz fusion band, Planet X. Petrucci released an eponymously titled solo album in 2003, featuring accompaniment by Dave LaRue of the Dixie Dregs and Boston-based drummer Dave DiCenso. In late 2010, Mike Mangini joined the group, replacing drummer Mike Portnoy, who left the band in September of that year.
With a rigorous touring schedule to firmly break in new drummer Mike Mangini, Dream Theater somehow found time to record. They pre-released the track “On the Backs of Angels” to YouTube via their label, Roadrunner, in June of 2011, followed by the CD release of the aptly titled full-length, A Dramatic Turn of Events, in the fall. After a period of rigorous international touring, the band took a break though its members continued writing.
They reconvened in early 2013 and returned with a self-titled studio album in September — this one with Mangini completely involved in the writing process — followed in November with the concert recording Live at Luna Park on CD and DVD, which was recorded during the Dramatic Turn of Events tour over two nights at the Buenos Aires soccer stadium. Recorded live at the Boston Opera House on March 24, 2014, the concert recording Breaking the Fourth Wall arrived the following year, and in lste 2015 the band announced their 13th studio album, The Astonishing. A completely conceptual sci-fi offering, it was released on January 29, 2016.
Dream Theater celebrates the 25th Anniversary of the classic album Images and Words in 2017 with the worldwide ‘Images, Words & Beyond’ tour. The band will enter the studio in 2018 to work on the follow up to The Astonishing.
While Petrucci is most commonly associated with Dream Theater, he is also in the project band Liquid Tension Experiment, and has appeared as a guest on records by other artists, such as the Age of Impact album by the Explorer's Club.
Petrucci has released a guitar instructional video, Rock Discipline, which covers warm-up exercises, exercises to avoid injury while playing, alternate picking, sweep picking, chords and other techniques for developing one's guitar playing. Petrucci also has a book named "Guitar World presents John Petrucci's Wild Stringdom", which was compiled from columns he wrote for Guitar World magazine under that title.
John Petrucci is a Catholic and actively practices the religion. This is also evident in some of his songs, particularly Scarred and Voices. His wife confirmed this on a post on dreamtheaterforums.org: "I won’t normally speak for John or anyone, but he is a practicing Catholic and is very spiritually driven in the way he lives his life. He was brought up with very loving parents who were clearly devoted to the church, eucharist ministers in fact. His first gig was in church and all 3 of our children all attended catholic elementary schools. We try to go to church on Sunday even while on tour. (The service at the Vatican in July was awesome and in Italian) I do know that he is truly inspired by Jesus and strives to be a good person. Many of his songs are inspired by his views and his love of the story telling aspect of historical events and politics, as well as his own beliefs and experiences, and if they happen to include religious undertones then yes, some will reference his Christian beliefs because that is who he is. I don’t believe that it is his intention to preach to anyone and they don’t consider themselves a religiously affiliated band of any kind."
Politics
In an interview with to the the Czech magazine Spark, John spoke in support of Trump: “I like Trump. I think that we should give him a chance and see what he can do. He’s obviously very different. He’s not a politician, but he’s a successful man, and let’s see what he can do, and I think great things are in store. So hopefully everybody will give him a chance and see what happens.”
Views
Petrucci is respected for his variety of guitar styles and skills. One of the most notable of these is his high-speed alternate picking which, as he himself claims, requires a "strong sense of synchronization between the two [playing] hands." John is notable for frequent use of the seven-string electric guitar, which he says he uses as a writing tool, taking advantage of the extended range for heavier riffing and to play extended range runs as part of a solo. Moreover, Petrucci often combines his metal shredding technique with a slower, emotive soloing style. His influences as a guitarist include Jimmy Page, Brian May, Eddie Van Halen, Steve Morse, Al Di Meola, Steve Howe, Allan Holdsworth, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Randy Rhoads, Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Alex Lifeson, Yngwie Malmsteen and David Gilmour.
Throughout their career, Dream Theater's live shows have gradually become bigger, longer and more diverse. Prior to Portnoy's departure, Dream Theater "rotated" its set lists to ensure that fans who attended multiple shows in the same area would not see too many (or any) songs repeated. Portnoy, who constructed the set lists, would take into account the set list from the last time the band was in a particular city for the benefit of fans who saw the band on successive tours.
There is also a significant amount of humor, casualness, and improvisation attached to a Dream Theater concert. In the midst of "A Change of Seasons" it is quite common for themes such as those for Major League Baseball and The Simpsons to be quoted, and Rudess routinely modifies his solo section in the song and others, often playing the ragtime section of "When the Water Breaks" from Liquid Tension Experiment 2. Several songs included on Once in a LIVETime include snippets of others' pieces, such as Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Free Bird" and Rimsky-Korsakov's "Flight of the Bumblebee." Other quotations include "Mary Had a Little Lamb" during "Endless Sacrifice" on the Gigantour, a calliope-inspired break between verses of "Under a Glass Moon", a quote of "Don't Cry for Me, Argentina"'s main melody played by Petrucci while performing the intro solo of "Through Her Eyes" in Buenos Aires, the Turkish March at a concert in Istanbul, and the opening riff of Rush's "A Passage to Bangkok" at a show in Bangkok, Thailand. On the "20th Anniversary World Tour" Rudess has even thrown in a short "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" theme in a break during "Endless Sacrifice," and during a concert in Israel he started a spontaneous "Hava Nagila" later accompanied by the rest of the band. In Mumbai during the 25th Anniversary tour celebrating the album, Images of Words, the band closed the tune 'As I Am' off the album ' Train of Thought' with Metallica's song Enter Sandman.
Perhaps the best example of Dream Theater's unpredictable concert structure came during Derek Sherinian's time with the band. At selected shows the band members all swapped instruments and performed an encore as the fictitious band dubbed Nightmare Cinema. They usually performed a cover of Deep Purple's "Perfect Strangers," and, on one occasion, Ozzy Osbourne's "Suicide Solution," At some shows, Sherinian, Petrucci and Portnoy would take the stage together under the name "Nicky Lemons and the Migraine Brothers." Sherinian, wearing a feather boa and novelty sunglasses, would perform a pop-punk song entitled "I Don't Like You" with Petrucci and Portnoy backing. In Chaos in Motion tour, in several concerts before "Trial of Tears," Portnoy and Petrucci would change positions.
Quotations:
"Many times we talk about the people that have come to enjoy the show. They went through a lot to get here, whatever they needed to work out in their lives; they got babysitters, they traveled, and purchased the tickets. So it's up to us to deliver the goods!"
"It's a balance between getting the right string gauge that's thick enough where it sound good, and not rubber bands - but not too thick where your hands start to get real tired."
"When I think of a lot of the players I admire, they could always play their parts without hiding behind distortion and sustain. Put the time in. Hear your mistakes. Yeah, it sucks, it's humbling, it makes you want to throw the guitar out the window. But if you work on your mistakes, they'll eventually go away, and you'll become a strong player."
"Music is a communication. It's a two-way street. You need people to play to in order to make that connection complete. That's the way we look at it."
"Music is a communication. It's a two-way street. You need people to play to in order to make that connection complete. That's the way we look at it."
"Obviously the best way to retain the most profit is to not give any of it away. That's something that you certainly learn through the years."
"I remember feeling for the first time going somewhere where I was part of a community where I didn't feel like an outcast. I felt like I belonged. Everyone had a guitar strapped to their back."
"A lot of people around the world were, like, very frustrated, you know "Why don't you just release the name? Why is it taking so long?" But the cool thing is that it brought people together, like you said, it brought our fans into the experience, it sort of exposed us, exposed the process, and I think it welcomed Mike Magini, because people saw what happened to get to that point."
"Real thick strings - your hands start to get fatigued. As much as you practice, and as much experience as you have, and as long as you've been playing, there is a fatigue point during the show, as with anything that's physical. So I wanted to basically pace myself better."
"Stay focused when you're playing alive, so you're not distracted by something going on."
"If someone is feeling out of sorts or detached it's a great time to bring them in and restate why we are here and what we are trying to do."
"I do a lot of the stuff that I started out doing that I think any guitar player that's concerned about the craft needs to do. It's basic practicing of the basic elements. I try to practice like a well rounded regiment of things where I can kind of do whatever I wanna do and I also have to practice the actual songs to keep that under my fingers as well."
"I really rely a lot more on memory. I'm definitely not as good of a sight reader."
"We're always in that head space about the audience and less about us at that moment."
"The Majesty guitar symbolizes the very reason why I am so proud to be a Music Man artist. I had the idea for this guitar a couple of years ago but it is because of their innovative spirit and dedication to the art of guitar building that it is now a reality. I am so grateful that I am able to collaborate with the best guitar company on the planet and so incredibly proud that together we have created what is to me, the perfect musical instrument for guitar players. I really hope you get a chance to play one and am confident that you will feel the same!"
"The C+ amps is vintage at this point, and it definitely has a certain sound to it. I wanted something that was going to keep Dream Theater in more of a current musical landscape, as far as being the producer and producing the type of album I wanted to hear."
"Guitar players get inward and analytical about their playing but when you start to get positive feedback from other players it makes you think that it is coming together."
"Usually we're all comfortable playing the songs, but during the song there might be one part where you're like „oh, this part's coming up, I have to really focus", a lot of songs have those moments in them."
"When we came out, the kind of music that was popular was Nirvana, Soundgarden and Alice In Chains, all that stuff. That was when we released our second album, 'Images And Words', and it was something people werent used to hearing maybe, and it sort of rose above all that somehow, being progressive, or whatever."
Membership
Petrucci is a voting member of National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.
Personality
To many, Petrucci seems like the more quiet counterpart to Mike Portnoy, seeming to be an amiable yet reserved individual. Petrucci has working relationships with many musicians, though if he has any friendships with them, they are kept private.
Petrucci's relationship with his fans is also reserved. As opposed to Portnoy, who goes out of his way to converse and meet with fans, Petrucci does not seek them out, however fans have noted him to be approachable and amiable in person. Petrucci, like Portnoy has a website with a forum, however his posts are infrequent and usually related only to his music.
Interests
bodybuilding, bearding, barbeque, video games
Writers
H.P. Lovecraft
Sport & Clubs
football
Music & Bands
Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, AC/DC, Rush, Yes, Iron Maiden, Dixie Dregs, Metallica
Connections
John has been married to Rena Sands since September 19, 1993. They have three children.