Mike Portnoy - Awards and Recognition

Awards and Recognition

Modern Drummer

Mike Portnoy won the following Modern Drummer magazine Reader's Poll awards:

1. Best Up & Coming Talent (1994)
2. Best Progressive Rock Drummer (1995–2006)
3. Best Recorded Performance (1995 for Awake, 1996 for A Change of Seasons, 1998 for Falling Into Infinity, 2000 for Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes From a Memory, 2002 for Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence, 2007 for Score) and 2011 for Nightmare (Avenged Sevenfold).
4. Best Clinician (2000, 2002)
5. Best Educational Video/DVD (2000, 2002)
6. Hall of Fame Inductee (2004)

He has co-founded several progressive rock groups and projects, including Transatlantic and Liquid Tension Experiment.

He has released three instructional videos, "Progressive Drum Concepts", "Liquid Drum Theater", which has won awards from Modern Drummer Magazine, and his latest "In Constant Motion". He has released many "Official Bootlegs" on his website, including footage of the studio sessions for the Dream Theater albums Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence, Train of Thought, Octavarium and the Transatlantic release Bridge Across Forever. He has released bootlegs of his tribute bands Hammer of the Gods (a Led Zeppelin tribute), Yellow Matter Custard (The Beatles), Cygnus and the Sea Monsters (Rush), and Amazing Journey (The Who).

On September 18, 2006 within his website's forum Portnoy cagily stated that he had finally met one of his drummer heroes from youth from the band Rush; drummer Neil Peart (one of the few heroes from his youth Portnoy had never met, owing to Peart's legendary privacy), that "Neil and I have finally met and we spent some time together this week and had a great time...", and that a possible collaboration was underway/had been discussed with the teasing statement of "Patience everybody... all will soon be revealed!" It has now been revealed that this meeting was for an interview Portnoy did for his stint as guest editor of Rhythm Magazine. Portnoy had previously written the liner notes for the Japanese pressing of Rush's 2002 release Vapor Trails, but publicly denounced Peart in 2000 after Peart called the people involved in the Rush tribute "bar bands" .

In the October 2009 issue of Rhythm Magazine, Portnoy was listed as #5 in their list of the Top 50 Drummers of All Time.

He was featured on Fuse TV's Talking Metal where he joined with Bobby Ellsworth and the show's hosts in covering Motörhead's "Overkill."

In June 14, 2010, Mike Portnoy won the Metal Hammer Golden God Award for Best Drummer.

As voted on by 6,500 drummers worldwide, Portnoy won the Drummies Award for Best Progressive Rock drummer in 2010, while Joey Jordison of Slipknot/Rob Zombie/Murderdolls won the award for Best Metal drummer.

At the Revolver Golden God Awards in April 20, he won the "Best Drummer Award" for his work with Avenged Sevenfold.

In June 7, 2011, Portnoy posted on his Facebook that he had won DRUM! Magazine's "Drummer of the Year Award" and the "Metal Drummer Award".