JONATHAN DAVIS

'Jonathan Houseman Davis' (born January 18, 1971) is the vocalist for the multiplatinum Nu Metal^[1] band, Korn. He was born and raised in Bakersfield, California, where he lived with his father and step-mother.

Contents

Korn

Personal life

Illness

Acting

Pop Scars

Trivia

References

External links

Korn

As well as being Korn's lead singer, he has also played drums and bagpipes. Davis writes songs on guitar and other various instruments, such as drums and bagpipes.
Davis was the last member to join the band. James 'Munky' Shaffer and Brian 'Head' Welch discovered him in a bar, initially intending to only stay for a few minutes. Upon seeing Davis performing with his then-band Sexart, however, they were compelled to stay for the whole set, and as soon as the set was over approached Davis with an offer to join the band. At first he didn't accept the offer, but upon consulting a psychic, he agreed, and Korn was formed. In early years, he was known for wearing a variety of normal and customized Adidas tracksuits onstage, which became a kind of "trademark" for all Korn fans.
Korn released their self-titled debut in 1994. It peaked at #72 on the billboard 200 two years later.^[2]. To date they have released eight studio albums, achieving Platinum certification for each, with the exception for their newly released Untitled Korn album.

Personal life

Davis is the older half brother of former Adema and Midnight Panic vocalist, Mark Chavez. He helped promote Adema's second album, Unstable.
As a child, Davis was sexually abused by a close female friend of his family. The song ''Daddy'' is about this abuse and the fact that his parents didn't believe it was happening.^[3]
Davis suffered from asthma as a child, having a near fatal attack at the age of 5 which hospitalized him. He noted in a 2004 interview that he was in and out of the hospital frequently as a child. His asthma has improved greatly and he's "...pretty much outgrown it." ^[4]
Davis' earliest musical inspiration as a child was the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical ''"Jesus Christ Superstar"''. It was also during his childhood that he received his first drum kit and began his interest in music, eventually leading to a life-long passion and eventually a professional career as the lead singer of Korn. His favorite bands as a child were Duran Duran and The Cure.
Davis has married twice, marrying his high school sweetheart, Renee Perez, in 1998 in a Medieval themed ceremony. Together they had a son, Nathan Houseman Davis, but were divorced in 2001.
On October 5, 2004, a decade after the release of Korn's first album he married again in Hawaii, this time to former adult film actress Devan Davis (who coincidentally already shared his last name). In 2005 their second child, Pirate Houseman Davis, was born.^[5] Davis's third son, Zeppelin Houseman Davis, was born on April 28, 2007.
Davis has been sober from drugs and alcohol since August 22, 1998. He has stated that he gave them up. On the band's Deuce DVD, bandmate David Silveria says that he is proud of him for becoming sober.
In terms of Korn albums, Jonathan has stated that "Untouchables" is his favorite Korn album and that "Do What They Say" and "Hollow Life" are his favorite Korn songs.

Illness

Davis was unable to perform at the 2006 Download Festival after being admitted to a London hospital with an unconfirmed illness on June 10. It was later established to be idiopathic thrombocytopenia purpura, with doctors ordering Davis not to perform for several weeks. The band is hoping to provide new dates for the shows cancelled as a result of Davis' illness.^[6]
Due to Davis' absence at the 2006 Download Festival, Korn played a shortened set with several guest vocalists from other bands present. These included Corey Taylor from Slipknot/Stone Sour, Matt Heafy from Trivium, Jesse Hasek from 10 Years, Benji Webbe from Skindred, M. Shadows from Avenged Sevenfold and Dez Fafara from DevilDriver.^[7]

Acting

Davis has had a fairly small acting career. He has a cameo in ''Queen of the Damned'' as a ticket scalper. Davis plays as Ricky in the film ''Seeing Other People'' but his appearance is small, and as a store clerk in the indie film ''The Still Life''. Davis's most known acting role is in the upcoming horror film ''Sin-Jin Smyth'' where he will be playing the Devil. There is also a popular rumor that Davis will be in an upcoming horror/slasher film called ''Job'' but this has not been confirmed.
He has also been featured in many other bands' music videos, sometimes with Korn and sometimes without. He has appeared with Korn in Limp Bizkit's "Faith", Ice Cube's "Fuck Dying", and cameo apperances in Sugar Ray's "Answer The Phone". He has also appeared in Limp Bizkit's "Break Stuff", Videodrone's "TY Jonathan Down" (he is also featured in the song), Cold's "Give", and in Busta Rhymes's "Fire".

Pop Scars

Davis started designing, but canceled, a fighting game with popular musicians — including members of Limp Bizkit, Staind, Marilyn Manson, and Korn itself — as characters. The working title was ''Pop Scars''. Each celebrity's personality was to be replicated in the game, and comic artist Marty Emond (Sunglasses After Dark) was to draw character concept art. Stages were to boast environmental traps that impeded opponents as they fought. However, Pop Scars never made it past the early design stages as Davis cancelled it in late 2004.^[8]

Trivia

★ Davis is the half-brother of former Adema vocalist, Marky Chavez.

★ In Korn's early months, Davis' stage name was 'Jon Korn'. This is confirmed by the credits on the group's demo Neidermeyer's Mind where it refers to Jonathan Davis as 'Jonathan Korn'.

★ He has three sons: Nathan, Pirate, and Zeppelin.

★ Davis did not begin listening to heavy metal until 1992, one year before he joined Korn. Prior to that, Davis was a fan of the new romantic movement and various hip-hop artists.

★ The first time Davis wore an Adidas tracksuit was in a early show, the band was the opening act for Sublime, and Jonathan stole it from Fieldy.

★ It was Jonathan who designed the Korn logo, with his weaker hand.

★ The album that sparked his interest in heavy metal was Pantera's "Vulgar Display of Power"

★ He suffered from asthma.

★ He is an addict of Big Mac's.

★ He is a huge fan of Cannibal Corpse and Gorgoroth.

★ He has a tattoo, that reads, HIV, on his shoulder, to remind him that the disease is there and also because it was his high school nickname

★ Jon Davis is also a big fan of World of Warcraft and has a level 67 Warrior.

References

1. All Music Guide - Korn
2. Billboard Artist Chart History-Korn
3. Jonathan Davis, Public Freak on a Leash, Lashes Back Barry Walters
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7. http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/news/general_music_news/korn_frontman_hospitalized_band_plays_with_various_vocalists.html
8. Game Spy:Pop Scars

External links

★ Official Korn website

★ Official Jonathan Davis's Blog

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★ Interview with Jonathan Davis

★ Davis interview