Crossing over from one sector to another within the entertainment industry is hard work. But having two careers within the same entertainment sub-category is relatively unheard of. Still, Jonathan Davis makes it seem easy. He runs a somewhat split personality; first as a vocalist and frontman of the infamous metal band Korn, and then as a very successful disc jockey under the moniker JDevil.
Jonathan comes from a musical family and growing up, he was heavily influenced and inspired by musicals and artists such as Duran Duran. The musical icon had gone on to release over 15 albums with many award-winning tracks that have surely established him as a metal music Hall-of-Famer.
Jonathan Davis’ Bio, Age
The musician was born Jonathan Howsmon Davis on January 18, 1971. His story begins in Bakersfield, California, the place of his birth where he enrolled and studied at Highland High School. Davis experienced denigration firsthand at the hands of bullies who frequently beat him up physically and verbally. This was mostly because he didn’t fit in given his taste in music and fashion choices among other things. After graduating high school in 1989, he had a not-so-long stint as an employee at Toys R Us. He also briefly went to the San Francisco School of Mortuary Science.
Jonathan Davis’ music career kicked off with Kornin in 1994 when the metal band released their eponymous debut project. They eventually gained mainstream traction with their third and fourth studio albums Follow the Leader (1998) and Issues (1999). Both projects sat at the top of the Billboard 200 upon release.
Since then Jonathan Davis’ Korn has gone on to release many chart-topping projects including Untouchables (2002), See You on the Other Side (2005), The Paradigm Shift (2013), and The Serenity of Suffering (2016). The group sold over 35 million albums as at 2012 and as at 2018, the Grammy Award-winning band has seen twelve of their albums make it into the Top 10 rankings on the Billboard 200, and 7 of these albums have earned platinum certification by the RIAA.
Davis only really started contemplating a solo career in 2007 and put together his band in the same year. His first stab at it was a band which he named Jonathan Davis and the SFA. The group disbanded seven years later following the death of their guitarist.
Three years after the tragedy, in 2017, Jonathan revived his solo career and started planning tours and festival appearances for 2018. On May 25, 2018, the Korn frontman officially released his first solo studio album titled Black Labyrinth under the auspices of Sumerian Records.
Jonathan Davis has always been a disc jockey since his time in high school, 1987 to be precise. He continued to grow his craft performing at parties and local events. He named his DJ alter-ego JDevil by combining the initials of his own name (JD) and “Devil”.
Davis took a break from djing but returned in 2009. He finally brought JDevil to the world in 2011 when he was the opening act for Korn’s tour for their Path of Totality album tour. JDevil’s performance and style have been described as thriving on chaos and disorder. He has also performed at some prominent venues like the Comcast Center (Hyannis, Massachusetts), Lizard Lounge (Dallas, Texas), and The Junkyard (Nashua, New Hampshire).
Many of Jonathan David’s lyrics have been inspired by real-life experiences. Songs like Daddy, Starting Over, Hold On, Kill You and Faget follow themes of illness, bullying, child abuse, and rape that he had experienced growing up.
Jonathan Davis’ Family – Parents, Siblings, Brother, Wife, Kids
The iconic singer’s music and entertainment genes run deep. His mother Holly Marie Chavez and his father Ricky Duane Chavez were both involved in the entertainment world. Jonathan is the first child from this relationship. Hollie was an actress and dancer, while his father was a keyboardist for the legendary country musician Buck Owens and infamous composer Frank Zappa. Jonathan’s mother Holly passed away in February 2018.
Jonathan has a biological sister, Alyssa Marie Davis who was born three years after him. When his parents split right after the birth of Alyssa, Jonathan went to live with his father and the woman he got remarried to but the union did not last and they eventually split after the woman kept mistreating and torturing Jonathan. From his mother’s subsequent relationship, Jonathan has two step-siblings. A half-sister, Amanda, and a half-brother, Mark Chavez. Mark is also a musician and is the frontman for the nu-metal musical outfit known as Adema.
The singer has followed in his parent’s matrimonial footsteps having experienced more than one marriage. He got married to his first wife and high school girlfriend Renee Perez on November 28, 1998. The couple divorced in 2000 but had given birth to a son Nathan Howsmon Davis in 1995, three years before they got married.
Jonathan’s next march down the aisle saw him tie the knot with Deven Davis in 2004. Deven, who is a former celebrity adult actress, and Jonathan had their first child Pirate Howsmon Davis in March 2005, and their second Zeppelin Howsmon Davis in April 2017
The singer was married to Deven until she passed away in August 2018. She had battled a mental illness for a decade as well as the long-term side effects of alcohol, drug, and gambling addiction. Jonathan had a restraining order put on her after he heard she had checked herself out of a rehab home a week before she was found dead.
Is Jonathan Davis Gay?
Davis was bullied in his high school years for many reasons, one of them being because of his penchant for wearing eyeliner. He suffered a lot of homophobic name-calling from students and a lot of teachers couldn’t hide their contempt for him. He is a strong and vocal supporter of LGBT rights. However, Davis has stated that he is not a closet homosexual.
Height
The metal headstands at a height of 6 feet 2 inches, which translates to 189 cm.
