Sons of Apollo is an American

progressive metal Progressive metal (sometimes shortened to prog metal) is a broad :Fusion music genres, fusion music genre melding heavy metal music, heavy metal and progressive rock, combining the loud "aggression" and amplified electric guitar, guitar-driven s ...

supergroup Supergroup or super group may refer to: * Supergroup (music), a music group formed by artists who are already notable or respected in their fields * Supergroup (physics), a generalization of groups, used in the study of supersymmetry * Supergroup ...

formed in 2017 and composed of drummer

Mike Portnoy Michael Stephen Portnoy (born April 20, 1967) is an American musician who is primarily known as the former drummer, backing vocalist, and co-founder of the progressive metal band Dream Theater. In September 2010, Portnoy announced his departur ...

, bassist

Billy Sheehan William Sheehan (born March 19, 1953) is an American musician. He is best known for playing the bass guitar with acts such as Talas, Steve Vai, David Lee Roth, Mr. Big, Niacin, and The Winery Dogs. He is also known for his "lead bass" playing ...

, keyboardist

Derek Sherinian Derek Sherinian (born August 25, 1966) is an American keyboardist who has toured and recorded for Alice Cooper, Billy Idol, and Joe Bonamassa, among others. He was also a member of Dream Theater from 1994 to 1999, is the founder of Planet X and ...

, vocalist

Jeff Scott Soto Jeff Scott Soto (born November 4, 1965) is an American rock singer of Puerto Rican descent. He is best known for being the vocalist on Yngwie Malmsteen's first two albums, and (briefly) the lead vocalist for Journey in 2006–2007. Soto also sa ...

, and guitarist

Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal Ronald Jay Blumenthal (born September 25, 1969), better known by his stage name Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal or just simply as Bumblefoot, is an American guitarist, songwriter, and producer. He adopted his nickname from the bacterial infection of the s ...

History

Sherinian and Portnoy played together in progressive metal band

Dream Theater Dream Theater is an American progressive metal band formed in 1985 under the name Majesty by John Petrucci, John Myung and Mike Portnoy while they attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. They subsequently dropped out of the ...

, from which Sherinian was asked to leave in 1999, while Portnoy later left in 2010. Sheehan and Portnoy formed rock group

The Winery Dogs The Winery Dogs are an American rock supergroup formed in 2012 by Richie Kotzen, Billy Sheehan and Mike Portnoy. Background The idea of the band started out as a project featuring drummer Mike Portnoy and bassist Billy Sheehan, who were aimin ...

with Sheehan's former Mr. Big bandmate,

Richie Kotzen Richard Dale Kotzen Jr. (born February 3, 1970) is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. As a solo artist, Kotzen has back catalogue of more than 20 album releases. He was a member of glam metal band Poison from 1991 to 1993, Mr. Big ...

. Portnoy, Sheehan, and Sherinian also worked together on a short-lived, live instrumental project with

Tony MacAlpine Tony MacAlpine (born August 29, 1960) is an American musician and composer. In a career spanning four decades, he has released twelve studio albums. MacAlpine is best known as an instrumental rock and heavy metal solo guitarist, although he has ...

called PSMS. Because of this, Portnoy considers MacAlpine to be part of Sons of Apollo's history as well as "part of the extended family". While touring, Sherinian asked Portnoy to join him in a full-time project. When Portnoy's schedule allowed, he agreed and suggested Soto and Bumblefoot to complete the line-up, having previously worked with Bumblefoot on Metal Allegiance and knowing Soto after his solo band opened several The Winery Dogs shows in South America. Members have insisted in multiple interviews that the supergroup is a full-time band, and not just a side project. The name of the band was proposed by Sherinian after he scrolled through a list of suggestions by Portnoy and saw the word "Apollo" among them. It was picked due to

Apollo Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label=Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label= ...

being the god of music. But because the band suspected there could be another band called Apollo, they thought of possible variations and that's how their name was chosen. Their debut album, ''

Psychotic Symphony ''Psychotic Symphony'' is the debut studio album by American supergroup Sons of Apollo. It was released on October 20, 2017. The album was produced by drummer Mike Portnoy and keyboardist Derek Sherinian under the name "The Del Fuvio Brothers" ...

'', was produced by Portnoy and Sherinian (as "The Del Fuvio Brothers") and was released on October 20, 2017 via

Inside Out Music Inside Out Music is a German independent record label originally based in Kleve, North Rhine-Westphalia, and dedicated to the publication of progressive rock, progressive metal and related styles. In 2009, it formed a partnership with Century Med ...

Sony Music Sony Music Entertainment (SME), also known as simply Sony Music, is an American multinational music company. Being owned by the parent conglomerate Sony Group Corporation, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is owned by Sony Entertainment ...

. On August 30, 2019, the band released their first live album ''Live with the Plovdiv Psychotic Symphony'', filmed at the

Plovdiv Roman theatre The Roman theatre of Philippopolis ( la, Theatrum Trimontense; bg, Пловдивски античен театър, ''Plovdivski antichen teatar'') is one of the world's best-preserved ancient Roman theatres, located in the city center of mo ...

Plovdiv Plovdiv ( bg, Пловдив, ), is the second-largest city in Bulgaria, standing on the banks of the Maritsa river in the historical region of Thrace. It has a population of 346,893 and 675,000 in the greater metropolitan area. Plovdiv is the c ...

, Bulgaria. Their second album '' MMXX'' was released on January 17, 2020.

Members

Current Lineup

– lead vocals, acoustic guitar *

– guitar, vocals *

– bass, vocals *

– keyboards, string arrangements *

– drums, percussion, vocals, co-lead vocals

Touring Members

Felipe Andreoli Felipe Andreoli (born March 7, 1980) is a Brazilian musician best known as the bassist for the heavy metal band Angra. Andreoli first started playing the bass at age 13, when a school band needed a bass player. After joining Angra at age 20, ...

– bass (2022)

Discography

Studio albums * ''

'' (2017) * '' MMXX'' (2020) Live albums * ''Live with the Plovdiv Psychotic Symphony'' (2019) Extended plays * ''Alive/Tengo Vida'' (2018) Singles * "Signs of the Time" (2017) * "Coming Home" (2017) * "Just Let Me Breathe (Live)" (2019) * "Labyrinth (Live)" (2019) * "Goodbye Divinity" (2019) * "Fall to Ascend" (2019) * "Desolate July" (2020) * "Asphyxiation" (2020)

References

External links

* - Seems to be down {{Authority control American progressive metal musical groups Musical groups established in 2017 2017 establishments in the United States Rock music supergroups Inside Out Music artists