John Petrucci (born July 12, 1967) is the guitarist and a founding member of the progressive metal group Dream Theater. He is a popular musician in the progressive metal genre and utilizes a mixture of styles when playing, such as shredding and flamenco. John first played guitar at age 8 when he noticed his sister (who was taking organ lessons at the time) was allowed to stay up past her bed time to practice. He soon dropped it when his plan failed.