Everything about Jonathan Davis totally explained
Jonathan Houseman Davis (born
January 18,
1970) is the
American vocalist for the multiplatinum
nu metal band
Korn. He was born and raised in
Bakersfield, California, where he lived with his father and stepmother.
As well as being Korn's lead singer, he's also played
drums. Davis writes songs on guitar and other various instruments.
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 Brian and James approached Davis with an offer to join their then band Creep. At first he didn't accept the offer, but upon consulting a psychic, he agreed, and Korn was born. 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. To date they've released eight studio albums, achieving Platinum certification for each, with the exception for their newly released
Untitled Korn album. Davis is the older half brother of former
Adema and
Midnight Panic vocalist,
Mark Chavez.
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."
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 a professional career as the lead singer of Korn. His favorite bands as a child were
Duran Duran and other
New Romantic bands.
Jonathan's personal issues are a big influence in Korn lyrics, songs such as "
Daddy" from Korn's
self-titled album are an example how Davis puts all kinds of feelings like anger and sadness in the creation of songs. The song "
Daddy" caused many to assume Rick Davis (Jonathan's father) had molested his son. It's a source of embarrassment for him, though his son has gone on the record in many interviews saying it was written about a family friend who sexually abused him. When a 12-year-old Jonathan tried to turn to his family, he said, they ignored him. (Neither Jonathan or Rick will say who the person was, though both say it was a woman.)
Davis has married twice, marrying his high school sweetheart, Renee Perez, in 1998 in a Medieval themed ceremony. Together they'd 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
Deven Davis. They were featured in the
Playboy Cyber Club's
"celebrity photographer" section, with Jonathan behind the camera and Deven modeling. In 2005 his second child, Pirate Houseman Davis, was born. Davis's third son, Zeppelin Houseman Davis, was born on
April 28, 2007.
Davis has been sober from alcohol and other drugs since
August 22,
1998. He has stated that he gave them up. On the band's
Deuce DVD, former bandmate
Brian Welch says that he's proud of him for becoming
sober.
Jonathan has stated that
Untouchables is his favorite Korn album and that "Do What They Say" and "Hollow Life" are his favorite Korn songs.
In late
2006, Davis was recognized and honored at
Buck Owens' Crystal Palace, Bakersfield, CA, by Buddy Alan Owens, son of the late Buck Owens. Both Buck Owens and Davis are considered by many among their hometown fans as heroes to the sound of Bakersfield, each having their own pioneer sound, contributing to mainstream music worldwide over years past.
While Korn performed at the Download Festival in 2006, Davis contracted a rare disease known as
Idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura. This left him bed- ridden for days after his band's performance.
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 minor; he plays a crackhead. Davis also has a role 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'll be playing the lead role. There is also a popular rumor that Davis will be in an upcoming horror/
slasher film called
Job but this hasn't been confirmed. According to Bloody-Disgusting, Jonathan Davis is currently working on a script with writer/director
Clive Barker entitled
Oblivion. Davis describes it as a "dark opera about the end of the world" and that it differs greatly from Korn's style of music.
He has also been featured in many other bands'
music videos, sometimes with Korn and sometimes solo. He has appeared with Korn in
Limp Bizkit's "
Faith",
Deadsy's "Brand New Love",
Ice Cube's "
Fuck Dying", and
Sugar Ray's "Answer the Phone" as a cameo appearance. He has also appeared in Limp Bizkit's "
Break Stuff",
Videodrone's "Ty Jonathan Down" (which he sings on),
Cold's "
Give",
Busta Rhymes' "Fire."
Davis and the rest of Korn appeared in a 2005 episode of the
comedy-drama television series
Monk. The episode in which they appeared was the season 3 episode, "
Mr. Monk Gets Stuck in Traffic". As well as appearing in
Monk, Korn guest starred on
Comedy Central's
South Park in an episode entitled "
Korn's Groovy Pirate Ghost Mystery". Korn also made an appearance on "The Man Show" in which Jimmy Kimmell and Adam Carolla claimed to be two members that were kicked out of the band in the style of a "VH1 Behind The Music" special.
Equipment
Davis is usually seen with a microphone stand that was designed by the
Swiss artist
H. R. Giger during Korn's live performances and in their music videos. For his solo tour, Davis hasn't used the Giger stand.
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.
Solo career
Jon Davis' solo career started during Jon's high school years as he'd a solo project known as "Buck Naked". He recorded two songs, both taking influence from the
new romantic movement. In 1993, Jonathan got together with
Human Waste Project to record a cover of
The Go-Go's song, This Town.
In 2002, Jonathan began composing the musical score for the movie adaptation of
Queen Of The Damned with
Richard Gibbs. He also performed 6 songs for the movie's soundtrack, although his performances were not allowed on the retail release, due to his contract with
Sony. He also composed the theme music for the 2002 revival of
The Twilight Zone and performed a cover of
Neil Diamond's Love On The Rocks for the movie
Wonderland.
Jonathan Davis announced in
October 2007 that he'd be embarking on an
acoustic solo tour called
Alone I Play, in
November 2007. He performed songs from the
Queen of the Damned soundtrack (which he composed with
Richard Gibbs),
cover songs, rarely-performed Korn songs, and Korn classics. The tour was completely produced by Richard Gibbs. Davis has also been confirmed to play a solo set at the 2008 Download Festival at Donington Park
Jonathan Davis and the Simply Fuckin' Amazings is:
A CD/DVD package is slated for a commercial release in 2008.
Jonathan Davis will be bringing his solo tour to
Europe. Once that concludes, he'll release a studio album with the exact same band. They will be recording new, original songs and cover songs for this upcoming release. It was announced on Kornspace that Davis is referring to his solo band as The Simply Fuckin' Amazings.
In April 2008, Jonathan Davis canceled numerous dates on his previously announced "Alone I Play" European tour slated to begin in late May due to "personal reasons". Some of the canceled shows include those in Stockholm (Sweden), Belgium, France, and most of the UK and Ireland leg of the tour.
It is expected that Jonathan Davis will schedule another U.S. solo tour for the summer of 2008. On an
USA Today feature on 2008 summer concerts and festivals, it included Jonathan Davis (along with other performers) as the list of acts for
Ozzy Osbourne's
Ozzfest. According to USA Today, 2008's Ozzfest will only be an one day festival in
Frisco, Texas this year.
Discography
Korn
Korn (1994)
Life Is Peachy (1996)
Follow the Leader (1998)
Issues (1999)
Untouchables (2002)
Take a Look in the Mirror (2003)
See You on the Other Side (2005)
Untitled album (2007)
Solo
Alone I Play (live) (2007)
1st solo studio album (2008)
Other appearances
First Demo (Human Waste Project) (1994)
Deadsy (1996)
Roots (1996)
Blood Rooted (1997)
Coal Chamber (1997)
Candyass (1998)
Videodrone (1999)
Significant Other (1999)
Amplified (1999)
Black and White soundtrack (2000)
Strait Up (2000)
Rock'n Roll Gangster (2002)
Commencement (2002)
Reanimation (2002)
Gorilla Pimpin' (2003)
Singles
Solo
"—" denotes releases that didn't chart or have yet to chart.
As featured performer
| Year |
Title |
Chart peak positions |
Album |
U.S.
U.S.
Main. |
U.S.
Mod. |
U.S.
R&B |
U.S.
Rap |
UK |
| 1999 |
"Ty Jonathan Down" (Videodrone feat. Jonathan Davis) |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
Videodrone |
| 2000 |
"Year 2000" (Xzibit feat. Jonathan Davis) |
— |
— |
— |
76 |
28 |
— |
Black and White soundtrack |
| 2002 |
"The Key to Gramercy Park" (Deadsy feat. Jonathan Davis) |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
Commencement |
| 2003 |
"Cut Throat" (Marz feat. Jonathan Davis) |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
Gorilla Pimpin' |
"—" denotes releases that didn't chart or have yet to chart.Further Information
Get more info on 'Jonathan Davis'.
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