Jonathan Davis

This article is about the singer. For people with similar names, see Jonathan Davis (disambiguation).

Jonathan Davis
Davis performing with Korn in 2022
Davis performing with Korn in 2022
Background information
Birth nameJonathan Howsmon Davis
Also known as
  • JD
  • JDevil
  • J Devil
Born (1971-01-18) January 18, 1971 (age 53)
Bakersfield, California, U.S.
Genres
Occupations
  • Singer
  • songwriter
  • musician
  • producer
Instruments
  • Vocals
  • bagpipes
Years active1989–present
Member ofKorn
Formerly of
Websitekornofficial.com

Jonathan Howsmon Davis (born January 18, 1971), also known as JD,[1] is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. He is the lead vocalist and frontman of nu metal band Korn, which is considered a pioneering act of the nu metal genre.[2][3] Davis's distinctive personality and Korn's music influenced a generation of musicians and performers who have come after them.[2][4]

Davis co-founded Korn in Bakersfield in 1993 with the dissolution of two bands, Sexart and L.A.P.D. He had led Sexart during his years as an assistant coroner. Davis rapidly gained notoriety for his intense and powerful live performances with Korn.[5]

Anchored by his personal, passionate lyrics and unusual tenor vocals, Davis has launched a successful career which has spanned almost three decades.[6] Davis's vocals, which alternate from an angry tone to a high-pitched voice, switching from sounding atmospheric to aggressively screaming, have been the trademark of Korn throughout the band's career.[7]

From 2000 to 2001, Davis and Richard Gibbs wrote and produced the score and soundtrack album of Queen of the Damned, his first work outside the band. He began his side project called Jonathan Davis and the SFA in 2007 and continued to experiment with musical styles. He released his first solo album in 2018.

He has collaborated with various artists over the course of his career, ranging from metal to alternative rock, rap, world music, and electronic music. Davis is a multi-instrumentalist musician who plays guitar, drums, bagpipes,[8] piano, upright bass, violin, and the clarinet.[9][10] He is also versatile in many genres, mixing tracks and performs DJ sets with his alter ego JDevil. For decades, Davis has been passionate about visual arts, horror films, comics and video games.[8]

Fourteen of his albums reached the top 10 on the Billboard 200, including MTV Unplugged and Greatest Hits, Vol. 1.[11] In the U.S, he was awarded fifteen platinum album certifications by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). In Australia, he received eight platinum album certifications by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA), and in the UK he received six gold certifications. He won two Grammy Awards out of eight nominations throughout his career.[12] As of 2018, Davis has sold over 40 million albums worldwide.[13][14][15]

  1. ^ "JD's Profile on Korn.com". Korn.com. Archived from the original on December 27, 2012. Retrieved December 29, 2012.
  2. ^ a b Buckley & Ellingham 2003, p. 565.
  3. ^ Martens, Todd; Garrity, Brian (June 5, 2007). "Los Angeles—New York (Billboard)". Reuters. Archived from the original on March 21, 2020. Retrieved March 21, 2020.
  4. ^ Graves, Wren (January 4, 2020). "Korn invented a new genre and then outgrew it". Consequence of Sound. Archived from the original on April 8, 2020. Retrieved March 24, 2020.
  5. ^ Camp, Zoe (October 10, 2017). "Jonathan Davis Record Vocals in Intense 1994 Studio Session". Revolver Magazine. Archived from the original on July 18, 2018. Retrieved March 24, 2020.
  6. ^ Appleford, Steve (March 14, 2006). "Korn". LA Times. Archived from the original on March 24, 2020. Retrieved March 24, 2020.
  7. ^ Hill, John (January 23, 2019). "Jonathan Davis' Top 5 Vocal Performances". Revolver Magazine. Archived from the original on March 24, 2020. Retrieved March 24, 2020.
  8. ^ a b Paquet 2002, p. 30.
  9. ^ Furman 2000, p. 11.
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference Lloyd2015 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ Divita, Joe (September 25, 2019). "Korn Tied for 5th Most Top 10 Rock Album Chart Debuts". Loudwire. Archived from the original on March 24, 2020. Retrieved March 24, 2020.
  12. ^ "Jonathan Davis's GRAMMY Awards history". The GRAMMYs. January 15, 2020. Archived from the original on March 24, 2020. Retrieved March 24, 2020.
  13. ^ "40 million albums worldwide". The Rock. New Zealand. July 1, 2019. Archived from the original on March 24, 2020. Retrieved March 24, 2020.
  14. ^ "KoRn Frontman Jonathan Davis". Blabbermouth. Pasadena, CA. March 19, 2018. Archived from the original on March 24, 2020. Retrieved March 24, 2020.
  15. ^ "Two GRAMMY Award wins, eight GRAMMY Award nominations, worldwide sales of 40 million". 3 Songs & Out. UK. March 29, 2018. Archived from the original on March 29, 2020. Retrieved March 29, 2020.