Former Dream Theater drummer and current member of Sons Of Apollo, Mike Portnoy, celebrated the 81st birthday of The Beatles drummer Ringo Starr via Instagram.
As Mike shared a picture of himself where he meets Ringo in person, he also showed how an important person Ringo is by saying that Ringo is one of his greatest drumming heroes.
Later on, he talked about the story behind this picture and revealed that Ringo invited him for the soundcheck. While doing so, Mike also had a chance to play with Ringo’s own drum kit.
Moreover, Mike also pointed out that he was introduced to Ringo as ‘Drummer Of The Year,’ in which Ringo responded with a joke that he thought he was the winner. Afterward, Mike called him the ‘Drummer Of The Century.’
Furthermore, Mike said that Ringo wanted to take a proper picture with him after hearing the kind words of Mike and pointed out that the experience of meeting with Ringo was incredible.
Mike Portnoy wrote:
“Happy 81st Birthday to one of my biggest drumming heroes Ringo Starr!
This is the only pic I have of us together and there’s a funny story behind it: my friend Mark Snyder (in the center of this photo) was teching for Peter Frampton who was playing guitar in Ringo’s All Starr Band that year (it was ‘96 or ‘97) and I was invited down to soundcheck where I even played Ringo’s kit!
And finally backstage I was introduced to him (that is the moment of this photo). Mark introduced me and tells Ringo I just won ‘Drummer of the Year’ in Modern Drummer magazine and Ringo says ‘I thought I was Drummer of the Year’ jokingly and I responded, ‘no you’re Drummer of the Century!'”
At that point, he puts his arm around me and says to my dad (who was taking the picture): ‘Let’s take a proper photo…’
He continued:
“Only for us to to hear the film in the camera rewinding as this photo was the last in the roll in the camera (this was obviously before digital cameras and iPhones!) so this is the only photo I have of us! (After that experience, I’ve always been extra patient with fans having camera issues!).
But I do have this photo and I did have the experience of meeting him which was incredible! Happy Happy Birthday Ringo Starr and peace and love.”
You can check out the post below.
