Jonathan Davis Bio
Jonathan Howsmon Davis (born January 18, 1971) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and producer best known as the lead vocalist and frontman of the nu metal band Korn, which he co-founded in Bakersfield in 1993. Renowned for his distinctive tenor voice, emotive lyrics, and unconventional use of instruments such as bagpipes, Davis has built a career spanning more than three decades. He released his debut solo album Black Labyrinth in 2018 and performs electronic sets under his alter ego JDevil. Across his work with Korn and solo projects, he has sold over 40 million albums worldwide and earned two Grammy Awards.
Early Life and Background
Jonathan Howsmon Davis was born in Bakersfield, California, on January 18, 1971, to Holly Marie Chavez (née Smith) and Ricky Duane Davis. He is of English, German, Scottish, and Welsh descent. His father worked as a keyboardist for Buck Owens and Frank Zappa, while his mother was a professional dancer and actress. Davis’s parents divorced when he was three, and he was later raised by his father and stepmother in Bakersfield.
Davis suffered severe asthma throughout his childhood and was hospitalized monthly from the ages of three to ten. His earliest musical inspiration came from the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Jesus Christ Superstar, in which his mother had danced. He later discovered synth-pop acts such as Duran Duran and began listening to 1980s new wave, goth, and industrial music. He attended Highland High School, where he was frequently harassed for wearing eyeliner and baggy clothes, an experience that later influenced Korn’s songwriting.
Path to Music
At the age of 16, Davis began working as a coroner’s assistant in Bakersfield. After graduating from Highland High School, he enrolled in the one-year coroner program at a San Francisco college before returning to apprentice at the Kern County Coroner’s Department. The trauma of working in mortuaries during his teenage years left a lasting mark on him and later surfaced in his songwriting.
Davis formed his first group, Buck Naked, while still in high school and recorded two songs on demo tapes. He soon joined the band Sexart, formed in 1991, and performed with them in local clubs around Bakersfield. In early 1993, former members of L.A.P.D. spotted his live performance and invited him to audition. After one rehearsal, Davis committed to the new project, resigned from his coroner work, and moved to Los Angeles. The group renamed itself Korn, and Davis proposed the band’s distinctive stylized spelling.
Jonathan Davis Career
Early Career (1987–1993)
Before forming Korn, Davis worked as a professional embalmer and coroner’s assistant while developing his vocal style in local bands. He started DJing at age 16 under the mentorship of C-Minus, Choc, and Eric and Vidal, spinning new wave, old-school hip hop, goth, and industrial at high school dances. His early bands Buck Naked and Sexart gave him performance experience but produced only demo-level recordings.
These formative years allowed Davis to refine his unusual vocal approach, mixing guttural scat singing with melodic singing and high-pitched screaming. The personal, often confrontational nature of his lyrics, drawn from childhood trauma and adult anxieties, set him apart from his contemporaries and became a defining element of Korn’s early sound.
Breakthrough (1993–2000)
Korn’s self-titled debut album arrived in 1994 and helped establish the nu metal genre. Follow-up records including Life Is Peachy and Follow the Leader expanded the band’s audience and earned widespread critical attention. Davis’s live performances, frequently featuring him playing bagpipes on stage, became a signature visual element of the group.
During this period, Davis co-wrote and produced the score for the 2002 film Queen of the Damned with composer Richard Gibbs. He also collected serial-killer memorabilia, an interest that drew media coverage throughout the early 2000s. By the end of the decade, Korn had become one of the most successful rock acts in the world, with Davis at the center of its identity.
Solo Career and Side Projects (2000–2018)
In 2007, Davis formed the side project Jonathan Davis and the SFA, releasing two live albums before disbanding in 2014. That same year, he reignited his JDevil alter ego, performing EDM sets and collaborating with electronic artists such as Infected Mushroom and Datsik. He also released an EP with the EDM collective Killbot in 2012.
In December 2017, Davis announced his first solo tour and solo album. The lead single “What It Is” arrived in January 2018, followed by the debut studio album Black Labyrinth on May 25, 2018, released through Sumerian Records. An alternate country version of “What It Is” followed in October 2020.
Notable Works and Milestones
Across his career, fourteen of Davis’s albums have reached the top 10 on the Billboard 200, including MTV Unplugged and Greatest Hits, Vol. 1. He has earned fifteen RIAA platinum certifications in the United States, eight ARIA platinum certifications in Australia, and six BPI gold certifications in the United Kingdom. His solo debut Black Labyrinth was supported by a worldwide tour and showcased his songwriting outside of Korn.
Jonathan Davis Award Nominations
Throughout his career with Korn and his solo projects, Jonathan Davis has accumulated eight Grammy Award nominations. These nominations have spanned multiple Korn albums and have recognized the band’s continued influence on rock and metal music over more than three decades. Davis has also been recognized in reader polls and genre-specific ceremonies throughout his career.
Jonathan Davis Awards Won
Jonathan Davis has won two Grammy Awards out of eight nominations. His documentary “Wounded Warriors,” which documented his visits to United States Armed Forces personnel in Europe, won the Audience Choice Award at the first annual GI Film Festival Hollywood on November 10, 2012. Davis has been honored for his songwriting, vocal performance, and contributions to the nu metal genre.
Jonathan Davis Family
Davis was born to Holly Marie Chavez (née Smith) and Ricky Duane Davis. His father was a keyboardist for Buck Owens and Frank Zappa, and his mother worked as a professional dancer and actress. He has a sister, Alyssa Marie Davis, a half-brother Mark Chavez (the lead singer of Adema), and a half-sister, Amanda Chavez. Davis’s great-grandmother, originally from Scotland, introduced him to pipe band music during his youth.
Personal Life
Davis married his high school sweetheart Renee Perez in 1996. The couple had a son, Nathan, born in 1995, before divorcing in 2000. Davis married Deven Davis in 2004, and they had two sons, Pirate and Zeppelin. He filed for divorce in October 2016, citing irreconcilable differences. Deven Davis died on August 17, 2018, at the age of 39.
Davis has openly discussed his struggles with substance abuse, including methamphetamine addiction, which he overcame at age 28 during the inaugural Family Values Tour. He has also spoken publicly about living with chronic anxiety, depression, and insomnia. A self-described believer in God but not organized religion, Davis is an avid art collector with a particular interest in dark and macabre works.