Founded Majesty...

Dream Theater is a progressive metal band formed by three students at the Berklee College of Music in 1985. In the 22 years since their inception, they have become one of the most commercially successful progressive bands since the height of progressive rock in the mid-1970s, despite being relatively unknown in mainstream pop/rock circles. Their two highest selling albums are Images and Words (1992), which was awarded a gold record and is consistently regarded as a seminal progressive metal release, although it reached only #61 on the Billboard 200 charts; and Awake (1994) which reached #32 on the Billboard 200. Dream Theater has sold over 2 million albums in the U.S and over 6 million albums and DVDs worldwide.

The band is well known for the technical proficiency of each instrumentalist, winning many awards from music magazines. They are highly respected by many of rock and metal's biggest names, leading to collaborations between Dream Theater members and many other well known musicians. In a famous example, guitarist John Petrucci was named as the third player on the G3 tour with Steve Vai and Joe Satriani, following in the footsteps of Eric Johnson, Robert Fripp, Yngwie Malmsteen and other influential guitarists.