John Myung

John Myung is Dream Theater's founding bassist and the only member present on every one of the band's albums, from 1989 to the present. Born in Chicago in 1967 to a Korean family, he grew up on Long Island and met John Petrucci while still at school — the two went on to Berklee together, where they formed the group with Mike Portnoy. His bass is a six-string and his technique extreme. Myung uses two-handed tapping, plays lines in unison with the guitar in passages most bassists would simplify, and treats the instrument as an independent melodic voice — the intro of "Metropolis Pt. 1" and the passages in "Dance of Eternity" are reference points among bassists for exactly that reason. The contrast with the rest of the band is striking. In a group where everyone else speaks publicly, gives interviews and keeps a presence online, Myung is known for his silence: he rarely gives interviews, barely speaks on stage and lets the instrument answer for him. He did, however, write some of the most quoted lyrics in the repertoire, among them "Learning to Live" and "Trial of Tears". He has crossed every phase — Kevin Moore's departure, Portnoy's in 2010, the Mangini era and the 2023 return — without ever leaving the post.