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Jonathan Davis: the story on HearLore | HearLore
Jonathan Davis
Jonathan Howsmon Davis was born on the 18th of January 1971 in Bakersfield, California, but his life was forged in the cold, sterile rooms of a funeral home before he ever held a guitar. At the age of 16, while his peers were learning to drive or play video games, Davis was working as a coroner's assistant, poring over embalming textbooks by day and living in mortuaries by night. This early immersion into death created a psychological scar that would define his artistry for decades. He witnessed the aftermath of drug overdoses and the deaths of children, experiences that left him with post-traumatic stress and nightmares that required therapy to suppress. He later described a critical asthma attack at age five where his heart stopped, saying, My heart stopped, and I didn't see no damn light or hear any music. This brush with death and the constant exposure to mortality gave him a unique perspective on life and a voice that could channel the screams of the dying. His childhood was marked by instability; his parents divorced when he was three, and he moved in with his father and stepmother after bad situations at his mother's home. His stepmother, whom he described as twisted and sadistic, allegedly harassed him by mixing Thai hot oil and jalapeño juice into his tea when he was sick, fueling a deep-seated resentment that would later inspire the song Kill You. He left home at 18, feeling like public enemy number one, and carried the weight of these traumatic memories into the music scene that would soon consume him.
From Sexart To KoЯn
The formation of Korn in 1993 was not a calculated business decision but a chaotic convergence of broken bands and a desperate need for expression. Davis had been leading a group called Sexart, but his life changed when members of a band named Creep, formerly known as L.A.P.D., saw him perform at The John Bryant club in Bakersfield. They were overwhelmed by his intensity, yet Davis was initially reluctant to join them. The turning point came after he met a psychic who told him it would be beneficial to leave Bakersfield, move to Los Angeles, and join the musicians. He resigned from his job at the Bakersfield judicial police and moved to Huntington Beach to live with David Silveria and Brian Welch. The band was originally named Corn, a reference to the horror film Children of the Corn and a sexually explicit story from a gay friend, before the spelling was changed to KoЯn to reflect their unique identity. Davis described the moment he joined as being hooked from the first note, even though he had no clue what he was doing with his voice. The band rapidly gained notability for their intense live performances, anchored by Davis's personal, passionate lyrics and unusual tenor vocals. His voice, which alternated from an angry tone to a high-pitched scream, became the trademark of the group, switching from sounding atmospheric to aggressively screaming. This raw energy, combined with the band's nu metal sound, influenced a generation of musicians and performers who followed them, establishing Korn as a pioneering act of the genre.
Jonathan Howsmon Davis was born on the 18th of January 1971 in Bakersfield, California. He worked as a coroner's assistant at the age of 16 before forming his musical career.
How did Jonathan Davis form the band Korn?
Jonathan Davis formed the band Korn in 1993 after moving to Huntington Beach to live with David Silveria and Brian Welch. The group originally bore the name Corn before changing the spelling to KoЯn to reflect their unique identity.
What instruments did Jonathan Davis play in Korn?
Jonathan Davis played the bagpipes in Korn, a skill he developed after receiving his first set from his grandmother. He also performed on the song Shoots and Ladders and used the instrument during the Woodstock Festival on the 23rd of July 1999.
What addiction issues did Jonathan Davis face during his career?
Jonathan Davis struggled with addiction to methamphetamine, cocaine, and alcohol during the recording of Follow the Leader. He achieved sobriety from methamphetamine at age 28 and later treated Xanax addiction in 2013 before managing chronic anxiety and depression with medication.
What solo projects and alter egos did Jonathan Davis create?
Jonathan Davis released his first solo album Black Labyrinth in 2018 and performed electronic dance music under the alter ego JDevil. He also composed the score for Queen of the Damned from 2000 to 2001 and created the unreleased fighting game Pop Scars in 2000.
What is the vocal range of Jonathan Davis?
Jonathan Davis possesses a four-octave vocal range that spans from A 1 to E 6. His style includes guttural scat singing, distorted tones, and melodic low notes that define the sound of Korn.
Davis's musical toolkit was as eclectic as it was disturbing, blending the sounds of the Scottish Highlands with the biomechanical nightmares of H.R. Giger. His interest in bagpipes began in his youth, inspired by a scene in the 1982 film Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan where Mr. Scott played Amazing Grace on the Great Highland bagpipes at the funeral of Mr. Spock. The melancholic sound captivated him, and his grandmother gave him his first set of bagpipes. He joined the Highland High School pipe band and eventually competed across the United States, a skill that would become a signature element of Korn's sound. The instrument first appeared on the song Shoots and Ladders, which began as a joke but became an atypical element that defined the band's early identity. He also performed his bagpipe routine in front of more than 250,000 attendees during the Korn concert at the Woodstock Festival in New York on the 23rd of July 1999. Beyond the pipes, Davis commissioned a microphone stand from Swiss artist H.R. Giger, known for his work on the Alien franchise. The stand, named The Bitch, was designed to be both biomechanical and very erotic, taking the shape of a woman. Only five of these bio-mechanical microphone stands were manufactured, and the molds were destroyed, adding to their historic allure. Davis received three of them, and they became a central part of his live performances, symbolizing the fusion of his love for horror, art, and music. This equipment was not just a prop; it was a statement of his unique aesthetic, blending the organic with the mechanical and the beautiful with the grotesque.
The Dark Side Of Fame
Behind the stage lights and the platinum records, Davis's life was a turbulent struggle with addiction, mental health, and the dark artifacts he collected. During the recording sessions for Follow the Leader, he recorded the album under the influence of methamphetamine, cocaine, and a heavy reliance on alcohol, particularly Jack Daniel's. He described the album's creation as fueled by cocaine, speed, and just constant gallons of Jack Daniel's. He got himself off methamphetamine addiction when he was 28 during the fall's inaugural Family Values Tour, but sobriety increased his anxiety and depression, which co-occurred with his substance use. This period, from the late 1990s to the early 2000s, saw him put on suicide watch. In 2013, he was treated for Xanax addiction, and he openly smoked marijuana until 2015. By 2018, he stated that he continued to struggle with chronic anxiety, depression, and insomnia, replacing drugs and alcohol with medication such as Prozac, Halcion, Benadryl, ZzzQuil, NyQuil, and melatonin. His personal life was equally fraught; he was married twice, first to Renee Perez and then to Deven Davis, who died on the 17th of August 2018 at the age of 39 of combined drug intoxication from heroin and various prescription drugs. A domestic violence restraining order was issued in 2018, blocking any child custody or visitation by Deven, whom Davis alleged was deep into drugs. The weight of these struggles was compounded by his collection of serial killer memorabilia, which included the Volkswagen serial killer Ted Bundy drove for the duration of his murder spree and the Pogo and Patches clown outfits worn by serial killer John Wayne Gacy. He publicly displayed these items on tour before eventually selling them off in 2005, claiming his desire to move away from that environment for the sake of his children.
Beyond The Band
Davis's creative impulses extended far beyond the confines of Korn, leading him into film soundtracks, video games, and electronic music under the alter ego JDevil. From 2000 to 2001, he and Richard Gibbs wrote and produced the score and soundtrack album of Queen of the Damned, his first work outside the band. Although only five of the ten songs composed were kept, the project showcased his ability to compose for film, with songs like System, Redeemer, and Forsaken sung by the band The Vampire Lestat in the movie. He also created an original fighting game called Pop Scars in 2000, which pitted popular musical personalities against each other in one-on-one combat, though the project never made it past the early design stages. His side project, Jonathan Davis and the SFA, began in 2007, and he released his first solo album, Black Labyrinth, in 2018. The album, whose thematic focuses on religion, consumerism and apathy, was initiated on the road back in 2007. Davis contributed mainly to the sound of the album, playing guitar, keys, and anything else he could get his hands on to the record. He also embraced electronic dance music as JDevil, a persona he had been DJing since 1987 while still in high school. In 2011, he introduced JDevil to the world at Infected Mushroom appearances, and in 2012, he collaborated with Datsik and Infected Mushroom on a song called Evilution. He was one of the opening acts for Korn on their The Path of Totality Tour from November 2011 to July 2012, and he performed at select Identity Festival dates throughout North America. This evolution in different styles kept him motivated and creative, preventing him from getting bored with music after two decades in Korn.
The Voice Of A Generation
Davis's vocal ability is a four-octave range that spans from A 1 to E 6, making him one of the most versatile vocalists in rock history. His bizarre and esoteric vocal styles are one of the main trademarks of the band, ranging from a gruff distorted sound to an odd dissonant scat as well as a lesser used soft headier sound. Earlier on, he used his more distorted tone almost exclusively for highs, however later on around the time of See You on the Other Side he began demonstrating an ability to use more a cleaner which he can take to the lower fifth octave. His low range is fairly melodic down to at least F2/E2, with lower notes being more in the so-called attitude fry style, often used for a creepier or more intimidating effect. He is renowned for his guttural scat singing breakdowns, with babbled nonsense words reminiscent of the scat vocals used by classic jazz musicians like Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald and Benjamin Scatman Crothers. Tracks that include this aspect of his vocals in chronological order include the lead-off track in Life Is Peachy Twist, Freak On A Leash, Got The Life, Children Of The Korn, B.B.K, Seed, Bottled Up Inside, Beat It Upright, Open Up, Liar, Tension, Rotting In Vain, The Ringmaster, and Worst Is On Its Way. His voice is definitely a factor in what most consider to make or break Korn's music for them, and he is definitely a unique staple of the 90s and modern rock scene. His vocal range and style have influenced a generation of musicians and performers who have come after them, establishing him as a pioneer of the nu metal genre.
The Collector And The Soldier
Davis's interests were as diverse as his music, ranging from serial killer memorabilia to military support, and from taxidermy to religious art. In the early 2000s, he began collecting serial killer art and memorabilia, publicly displaying selected items while on the Ozzfest 2003 tour. Some items owned by Davis include the Volkswagen serial killer Ted Bundy drove for the duration of his murder spree, the Pogo and Patches clown outfits worn by serial killer John Wayne Gacy, the 1928 confession letter from cannibal Albert Fish, and original drawings by serial killer Richard Ramirez. He made an appearance in the Oddities documentary series, in the fourth episode of season two titled Rock Star Embalmer, which was filmed at Manhattan's Obscura Antiques & Oddities. His home houses a private art collection that spans decades of touring the globe, including a limited edition Ibanez guitar designed by H.R. Giger that looks the same as his mic stand, a human shrunken head from South America, and a human foetus called Luther. He also developed an interest in collection of taxidermy art, which he acquired while touring in South Africa. In 2012, Davis began visiting United States Armed Forces stationed in Europe, making his first visit to Ramstein Air Base, Germany on the 16th of March 2012. He visited with personnel assigned to the 86th Airlift Wing and Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, and did a meet and greet signing autographs for the troops and their families at the AAFES Military Mall. A documentary of his experiences, Wounded Warriors, was submitted to the 1st Annual GI Film Festival Hollywood, and won Audience Choice Award on the 10th of November 2012. As a result of these trips, once Barack Obama awarded Captain Florent Groberg the Medal of Honor, he mentioned how Davis visited Groberg in Germany, and joked that I am not the lead singer from Korn. While Davis had been a vocal critic of Obama, he expressed shock at the mention, particularly as it was a compliment.