20 de Abril de 1967.

Nasce Mike Portnoy. Portnoy is a drummer in the progressive metal band Dream Theater. Mike Portnoy was born on April 20, 1967 and raised in Long Beach, New York, where his interest in music started at an early age. Although Portnoy taught himself how to play the drums, he did take music theory classes in high school. During that time he began playing in local bands Intruder, Rising Power and Inner Sanctum, the latter of which released their own album. He left the band after being awarded a scholarship to attend Berklee College of Music in Boston. An avid collector of many things, Portnoy has a vast array of Dream Theater memorabilia including bootlegs, posters, clippings and everything else under the sun with the band's name on it. He is also responsible for capturing everything the band does on video tape and DAT (see YtseJam Records). His huge video collection includes favorite films such as 2001 - A Space Odyssey, A Clockwork Orange, Jacob's Ladder and The Wall along with episodes of The Simpsons and memorable boxing matches. Portnoy says his biggest influences are Rush drummer Neil Peart and Frank Zappa. Other favorites include drummers Terry Bozzio, Vinnie Colaiuta, Simon Philips, John Bonham, Keith Moon, Ringo Starr and Bill Bruford and bands such as The Beatles, Queen, Yes, Rush, Pink Floyd, Metallica, Jellyfish, Iron Maiden, U2 and Jane's Addiction. In the late 1980s and early 1990s he was also a fan of rap music, but his interest has since waned.

Portnoy has won 19 awards from Modern Drummer magazine, including "Best recorded performance" (5 times) and "Best Progressive Rock Drummer" (10 times in a row), and has been added to their Rock Drummer Hall of Fame. He has also been the catalyst for founding several other progressive rock groups: TransAtlantic, Liquid Tension Experiment, and O.S.I.. Mike and his wife Marlene live in Rockland, New York with their daughter Melody Ruthandrea, son Max John, dog Bongo and cats E.T. and Cypress.

Wikipedia.