John Petrucci

John Peter Petrucci (born July 12, 1967) is an American guitarist, best known as a founding member of the progressive metal band Dream Theater.

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 around the age of eight because his older sister was allowed to go to bed later in order to practice the organ.

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 six 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.

Eventually, his childhood friend and future Dream Theater keyboardist Kevin Moore invited Petrucci to join his cover band.

Petrucci attended Berklee College of Music in Boston with childhood friend John Myung (bass), where they met future bandmate Mike Portnoy (drums).

While in Berklee they often covered two of their biggest influences, Iron Maiden and Rush.

These three, in addition to Kevin Moore, formed the band Majesty.

Because there was already another band with the same name, the group later became Dream Theater.

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.

In 2001, Joe Satriani and Steve Vai invited Petrucci to tour with them on the popular G3 guitar tour, which exposed him to a massive number of new fans and inspired a solo album.

Petrucci has also released two solo albums: Suspended Animation (2005) and Terminal Velocity (2020).

The album, Suspended Animation, was released on March 1, 2005, and was available for order from his web site.

Petrucci also appeared on the 2005 and 2006 G3 tours, and in 2007, went on G3 tour again, this time with Paul Gilbert and Joe Satriani.

In a video with Larry DiMarzio, Petrucci announced that he is working on a follow-up to his 2005 album, Suspended Animation and a new Dream Theater album.

Petrucci also wrote and recorded two instrumental soundtrack songs for a Sega Saturn game titled Digital Pinball: Necronomicon.

Each track is roughly two minutes long, and are named simply Prologue and Epilogue.

In a spoof rock band, Nightmare Cinema (which was the Dream Theater members changing instruments for encores), he used the "alternate stage name" Johnny James.

He produced or co-produced (often with Mike Portnoy before his initial departure from the band in 2010) all of Dream Theater's albums from Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory (1999) to A View from the Top of the World (2021), and has been the sole producer of the band's albums released since A Dramatic Turn of Events (2011).

Petrucci's first solo album in 15 years, it reunited him with Mike Portnoy for the first time since the drummer left Dream Theater in 2010.

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."

He 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.

Petrucci is Dream Theater's most prolific lyricist, with each album including at least three songs featuring his lyrics.

Some of Petrucci's notable songs include "Metropolis, Pt. 1: The Miracle and the Sleeper", "The Spirit Carries On", "The Great Debate", "In the Presence of Enemies", and "Through Her Eyes".

Petrucci has occasionally used real-life experiences for lyrical inspiration, as heard in songs such as "The Count of Tuscany", "A Nightmare to Remember" and "Endless Sacrifice".

Petrucci has acted as a backing vocalist live since the Awake Tour.

He is a baritone, producing a sound darker than that of James LaBrie's tenor voice.

In 2012, Petrucci was invited once again to join Joe Satriani on the G3 tour, along with Steve Morse.

He was accompanied by bassist Dave LaRue and drummer and Dream Theater bandmate Mike Mangini.

In 2018, Petrucci joined Joe Satriani on the G3 tour.

They were accompanied by Uli Jon Roth on the European leg of the tour, and Phil Collen in North America.

His second solo album, titled Terminal Velocity was released in 2020.