John Myung - Background

Background

Born in Chicago to Korean parents, Myung grew up in Kings Park, Long Island, New York. He played the violin from the age of five until he was asked to play electric bass in a local band when he was fifteen. He accepted, assuming the violin and bass were similar due to the number of strings. After graduating from high school he and his high school friend John Petrucci enrolled at the Berklee College of Music, where they met future bandmate Mike Portnoy. The three of them formed the band Majesty with another friend from high school, keyboardist Kevin Moore and vocalist Chris Collins. The band would later change its name to Dream Theater.

Though Dream Theater is his primary focus musically, he has appeared in a number of other projects through his career. His first non-Dream Theater venture was in the pop-prog band Platypus with Rod Morgenstein, Ty Tabor and ex-Dream Theater bandmate Derek Sherinian. He is also a member of The Jelly Jam, which consists of the same line-up as Platypus, but without Sherinian. Apart from his membership in these bands, he has appeared as a guest on numerous records. He also played keyboards in the spoof band Nightmare Cinema as Juice Malouse.

Myung's main influences include Chris Squire, Steve Harris, Geddy Lee and Cliff Burton, and their respective bands Yes, Iron Maiden, Rush, and Metallica.

Myung is married to Lisa Martens Pace, the bass player in the defunct all-female heavy metal band Meanstreak. Two other members of the band, Rena Sands and Marlene Apuzzo are married to current and former Dream Theater members: John Petrucci and Mike Portnoy, respectively.

Up until the addition of Mike Mangini, Myung had the distinction of being the only member of Dream Theater to have never performed vocals.

John Myung is a Christian, and is quite open about his faith.