5 Things Godsmack Fans Should Know About New Drummer Mike Mangini

The drumming community got a surprise in June 2026 when hard rock stalwarts Godsmack revealed another new drummer onstage: Mike Mangini.

It struck some as a surprising match, as Mangini had previously played with progressive metal legends Dream Theater from 2010 to 2023, replacing co-founding drummer Mike Portnoy. But for decades, Mangini's illustrious drumming career has been defined by versatility, an openness to new opportunities a steadfast commitment to self-improvement. Playing with his fellow Bostonians in Godsmack is just another feather in his cap.

Here are five things Godsmack fans should know about Mike Mangini.

1. Before Music, He Was Into Missiles

Before he became one of the most famous metal drummers in the world, Mangini worked as a software programmer. After obtaining a computer science degree from Bentley University, he took a job at Raytheon and helped design the software for the Patriot missile program. But he couldn't ignore the call of music for long.

"I started out as an engineering aide because I didn't have a degree, so I started working at Raytheon and working on the documentation," Mangini explained in a 2012 interview with ArtisanNewsService. "And once I learned how to use a computer again, I worked my way in and I ended up, at the end of my tenure, being awarded a full-time staff position. So that meant that I could be creative with the programming. And the very day I got the stack of programs, I stared at them in my office, and I stared at them, and all I thought was, 'It's time for me to now go.' And I started my own teaching business [and] I started playing."

2. He Was a Berklee Music Professor

They say those who can't do, teach, but sometimes those who can do also teach. Mangini is a prime example, having taught at Berklee College of Music for a decade, first as an associate professor and later as a full-time professor in the Percussion Department. He left the position in 2010 after getting the Dream Theater gig following an intense audition, of which his students were supportive — and he wanted them to see it as proof positive that practice and scholarship pay off.

"I didn't want to say anything to them in part because I didn't want it to interfere with our studies, because no matter what you say, it changes things," Mangini told Drum! magazine in 2011. "But on the other side, I wanted to tell them screaming at the top of my lungs with joy saying, 'You see? The methods, they work!' Well, I used to say that a lot anyway, but winning this audition helps validate some things."

3. He's Played With a Lot of Guitar Virtuosos

Following a brief stint with thrash metal band Annihilator (playing on '93's Set the World on Fire... and, later on, another pair of LPs in the 2000s), Mangini joined Boston hard rockers Extreme, playing a handful of songs on their 1995 album Waiting for the Punchline. He continued working with guitarist Nuno Bettencourt after Extreme disbanded, appearing on the guitar wizard's 1997 solo debut Schizophonic.

At the same time, Mangini also joined Steve Vai's touring band, a position he held from 1996 to 2000. The drummer played on a pair of Vai studio albums — 1996's Fire Garden and 1999's The Ultra Zone — as well as the live albums G3: Live in Concert and Alive in an Ultra World. Mangini later contributed to Vai's 2012 album The Story of Light and 2016's Modern Primitive.

And, of course, the drummer's five-album tenure with prog metal luminaries meant he played alongside the phenomenal John Petrucci.

4. He's the Only Dream Theater Drummer With a Grammy

Mangini played in Dream Theater from 2010 to 2023, taking over for co-founding drummer Mike Portnoy. In 2022 the band earned a Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance for "The Alien," the lead single off their 2021 album A View From the Top of the World.

"You know, they used to tell us our songs were way too long, we used weird time signatures and there were too many guitar solos. In fact, this song is in 17/8, so try to tap your foot to it. But, we just won a Grammy, so I'm glad we didn't listen," Petrucci said, in part, during the acceptance speech.

That makes Mangini the only Dream Theater drummer to win a Grammy. The band was nominated for three other Grammys — two during Mangini's tenure and one after Portnoy's return — but did not win. Portnoy, a good sport, did congratulate the band after the win, though.

Godsmack, meanwhile, have been nominated for a Grammy three times in their career — Rock Instrumental Performance (2002, "Vampires") Best Hard Rock Performance (2003, "I Stand Alone" and 2004, "Straight Out of Line") — but have not won.

5. He's Set Five 'World's Fastest Drummer' Records

Mangini's prodigious skill is obvious just from watching or listening to him play, but it's also been recognized and awarded on a global scale.

In the early 2000s he set five different records with the World's Fastest Drummer organization, including the "bare handed" record of 1,146 single-stroke hits in one minute. On his website, Mangini details how he used the Drum-o-meter to track his strokes and refine his technique.

He later would break 1,200 single stroke notes in 60 seconds, becoming the first to do so while also setting temporary records in "traditional grip" (1,126 single strokes in 60 seconds), and, regarding the feet, established "single stroke foot" heights with 13,222 hits in 15 minutes and 4,555 hits in five minutes (both records have since fallen).

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