Today we will tell you about the well-known virtuoso bassist John Myung, known from "Dream Theater".
(Photo: Dream Theater Official Site)
1. Myung was born on January 24, 1967 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. His full name is John Ro Myung.
2. He is a Korean-American and the founding member of the "Dream Theater". He's one of the two members of the band that has been in it since its inception along with guitarist John Petrucci.
3. He played the violin from the age of five, until he was asked at the age of 15 to play bass guitar in a local band.
4. After graduating from high school he enrolled with his guitarist friend John Petrucci to Berklee College of Music, where they met drummer Mike Portnoy. The trio formed the band "Majesty", to which they added keyboardist Kevin Moore and vocalist Chris Collins.
5. The band will change its name to "Dream Theater", shortly before the release of their first album.
6. In the band's first album - "When Dream and Day Unite" from 1989, Myung still played a standard 4 strings bass guitar. Later Myung will switch to a 6-string bass guitar, thus expanding the range of sounds he produces from the instrument.
7. From the second album, Myung participated in writing the band's songs, including: "Learning to Live", "Lifting Shadows Off a Dream", "Trial of Tears", "Scene Three: II. Fatal Tragedy" and more.
8. Although "Dream Theater" is at the center of Myung's musical activities, he has collaborated and appeared on a number of other projects during his career. One of them is the supergroup "Platypus", with Rod Morgenstein, Ty Tabor and former "Dream" friend keyboardist Derek Sherinian.
9. After "Platypus" disbanded in 2000, Myung, Tavor and Morgenstein recorded four albums as part of the band "Jelly Jam".
10. In addition to his membership in these bands, he has appeared as a guest on several albums such as: Sean Malone's Band "Gordian Knot" and "Raising the Mammoth" of "Explorers Club".
11. On the "Dream Falling Into Infinity" Tour, Myung served as the keyboardist of the "Nightmare Cinema", a fictional band that features "Dream" members playing musical instruments other than their original ones.
12. Myung was influenced by bands like "The Beatles", "Black Sabbath", "The Who", "Iron Maiden", "Rush", "Yes", "Jethro Tull", "Genesis".
13. He noted the following bassists as influencing his playing: Geezer Butler, John Entwistle, Chris Squire, Steve Harris, Geddy Lee and of course Jaco Pastorius.
14. Myung's wife was the bassist of the female metal band "Meanstreak", which also starred the wifes of John Petrucci and Mike Portnoy, his friends in "Dream Theater".
15. Myung released 15 studio albums and 9 live albums as part of "Dream".
16. In 2010 he won the "Music Radar" readership poll as the best bassist of all time.