Jonathan Davis is the permanent vocalist for the multi-platinum American metal band New Korn. There are many myths surrounding Davis’s biography, and Jonathan himself feeds gossip with his provocative confessions and interviews. So, how did the career of this musician begin, and did he make any contribution to the development of rock music?
early years
Jonathan Davis did not suffer from the problem of choosing a profession: from an early age he showed interest only in music and played a wide variety of instruments. In addition, Davis's father was related to the music industry: he owned a store where instruments were sold, as well as a recording studio.
At the age of five, Davis knew how to play drums. Throughout his life, he developed these skills. For the Korn project, Jonathan often sat down at the installation. For example, the drum part for the song Dirty was recorded in the studio by Davis.
To date, the list of instruments that Davis owns is impressive: it's bass, and bagpipes, and drums, as well as a guitar, harp, piano and violin. Playing on most of them, the musician studied at school.
All the work of Davis sounds rather painful: strange texts, dissonant chords. And it's not even that Jonathan used to be on drugs, and then on benzodiazepines. Already being famous, Davis admitted that he had been sexually abused by adults in childhood. His father did not comment on such statements. And the song Daddy, in which the lead singer of the Korn band pours out his feelings about this, has a very obscure and confusing lyrics, so it’s difficult to draw any conclusions.
The beginning of a professional career
Jonathan Davis loved Duran Duran and The Cure in his youth. Under 23, Davis performed with the band Sexart. It was during one of these performances that the vocalist noticed the members of the future band Korn, which in the 90s was called LAPD
Guitarists Monkey and Head invited Davis to join them. In this regard, there is a legend that, before giving an answer to his colleagues, Jonathan went to the fortuneteller for advice. So it was or not, it does not matter, because Davis nevertheless became a member of Korn in 1993 and remains to this day.
It was hard to predict that the Korn project with their strange music would be the innovator and founder of the new metal genre. Their first album of the same name shortly after its release became platinum. And each of the subsequent albums eventually went platinum. Each year, members of the previously unknown group have overgrown with new connections in show business. Today it is difficult to find a prestigious rock project that would not work with the musicians of the Korn band. Here is just a small list of stellar collaborations of Jonathan Davis: Limp Bizkit, Evanescence, Coal Chamber, Linkin Park, The Cure, Deftones and many others.
Davis Jonathan: Korn Albums
As mentioned above, Davis was present on all Korn's albums. The first studio work of the collective, released in 1994, was very difficult in sound. The addition of funky and hip-hop motifs to heavy metal turned out to be a great innovation. Jonathan Davis added his signature backs to the traditional vocal tracks - inarticulate cries.
In 1996, Life is Peachy came out with his hits ADIDAS, No Place To Hide and Good God. The sound of the collective has become even darker and heavier. Follow The Leader, released in 1998, turned out to be completely different. The sound became easier and more ironic. The video for the song Freak on a Leash was played not only on all American music channels, but also on Russian ones.
The Path of Totality album, released in 2011, was special in all respects: for the first time in the history of music, the band mixed heavy metal with dubstep. In the latest album, The Paradigm Shift Korn did not experiment with dubstep, returned to heavy sound, but used a huge number of electronic synthesizers.
Davis solo works
Jonathan Davis, along with Richard Gibbs, recorded the soundtracks for the vampire movie Queen of the Damned. This work inspired Davis so much that in 2007 he wanted to go on an acoustic tour in which he intended to perform songs from the film.
Davis is also a fan of electronic music, so in 2012, under the pseudonym JDevil released a solo EP.
Personal life
Jonathan Davis divorced his wife, who gave birth to his first son, in 2001. The second resilient vocalist Korn was porn actress Daven Davis, who gave birth to two more boys.
Jonathan Davis, whose height is 188 cm, is in the zodiac sign Capricorn. Since 1998, the musician does not use drugs and alcohol. Fatherhood pushed him to this heroic step. According to Davis, one day he came home under a dose, but saw his son’s frightened eyes and decided to use drugs. The musician takes an active part in raising children: paparazzi often catch him on joint walks with their own kids.
Favorite songs of Davis from the work of his group are Dirty, Do What They Say and Hollow Life. He also loves Korn Untouchables' album. The most notable songs from this release are Here to Stay, Alone I Break, and Thoughtless.
On the arm of the vocalist of the group Korn flaunts a tattoo of HIV. In an interview, Davis says nothing sensible about why he did it.
At all Korn concerts, Davis performs with a special microphone stand made to order by a Swiss artist.