Taking lyrical inspiration from a troubled childhood Jonathan Davis has led the Bakersfield based KORN to god like status amongst the easily influenced teens of the 90s. Davies, a long-term ashmatic fresh from a term of employment at Peters Funeral Home, first surfaced with one of his early bands SEXART in 1991. This formative act saw Davis paying his dues with Ty Elam, later of CRADLE OF THORNS, guitarist Ryan Shuck, subsequently of ORGY repute and bassist David DeRoo, finding notoriety with ADEMA. The band's only commercial product would be the inclusion of the song 'Inside' on the compilation album 'Cultivation '92'.

Drummer David Silveria, guitarist Munky (a.k.a. James Schaffer) and bassist Fieldy (Reginald Arvizu) were involved with Rick Morrill fronted hair band L.A.P.D. (LOVE & PEACE DUDE). During the mid 80s, Fieldy and Head (Brian Welch) were also members of Glam Rock outfit RAG TYME. 'Head' took his nickname, an unwanted one, not from any sexual connotation, but from the large size of his his head, 'Munky' a reference to primate like feet whilst 'Fieldy' was an abbreviation of 'Garfield', in honour of the bassist's prominent cheeks. Bizarrely, Arvizu had also temped for a Keith Galloway fronted band named PRETTY BOY FLOYD, although not the familiar Glam outfit of the same title. L.A.P.D. undertook gigs around Southern California and contracted a label deal with independent label Triple-X Records, resulting in a 12" single and an album entitled 'Who's Laughing Now', both released in 1992. When L.A.P.D. folded, due to time honoured musical differences, Morrill forged SUPERMODEL with erstwhile SEXART personnel.

During 1993 Davis got together with HUMAN WASTE PROJECT for their first demo tape dueting with vocalist Aimee Echo on a strictly non saccharine cover version of 'This Town' by THE GO GO's. This recording was to be unearthed on a subsequent KORN bootleg. (Such was the fascination between fans of both bands that during late 1997 the acts convened once more in the recording studio to lay down a further take on the song interbred for use as a KORN single B side).

Munky, Head, Fieldy and Silveria had meantime assembled CREEP. Whilst on the lookout for a singer Silveria was headhunted for Mike Muir's INFECTIOUS GROOVES, but opted to remain with his colleagues. Whilst on the hunt for a singer the quartet spotted Davis performing with SEXART at John Bryan's Bar. Auditions in Huntington Beach secured the band's new frontman. Before long, Davis had re-christened the group KORN, widely reputed to be descriptive of an unintended and unsavoury after affect of combining stomach illness and gay sex, and even developing the logo with the infantile reversed 'R'.

Then relatively unknown producer Ross Robinson convened the fledgling quartet to cut the inaugural four track 'Niedermyer's Mind' cassette demo in June, these being 'Predictable', 'Blind', 'Daddy' and 'Alive'. Initial performances in native Bakersfield, Huntington Beach and around the South Carolina area showcased this material. A & R men Happy Walters and Paul Pontius welcomed the group's distinctive sound in October, prompting a seven album deal with Immortal Records, a subsidiary of major Epic Records. September 1994 supporting slots headlined by HOUSE OF PAIN and BIOHAZARD marked KORN's first US tour.

The eponymous debut, surfacing in October, is widely regarded as the catalyst to Nu-Metal in the same way as the Seattle led invasion had signalled the advent of Grunge. The album shocked many with its base, thundering simplicity but converted legions of new fans, the record being crafted at Rick Davis' Fat Tracks complex and Malibu's Indigo Ranch Studios. Eight new tracks paired with revised versions of songs previously included on the 'Niedermyer's Mind' demo. With the exception of a pre-chorus section, 'Predictable' remained largely unchanged, 'Blind' became instrumentally shortened, 'Daddy' was heavily expanded, with the chorus of 'Alive' meanwhile giving impetus for the creation of 'Need To'.

The end result, a disturbing amalgam of de-tuned seven-string guitars, five-string bass and Davis' tortured vocal stylings ranging across scat, speaking in tongues, screams and whispers, proved both polarising and groundbreaking. In keeping with the malevolence of the music, the album cover, depicting an obvious hint at child predation, shocked many. KORN would be hailed both as the brush that swept out the old but also swept in the new. 'Korn' took its time to ignite the youth of North America. It's raw lyrical matter denied the album radio play and so KORN engaged in an exhaustive live schedule, supporting the likes of MEGADETH, 311, OZZY OSBOURNE, HOUSE OF PAIN and MARILYN MANSON. Some two years after release, 'Korn' was closing in on platinum status having shifted over 700,000 copies in the USA.

Second outing 'Life Is Peachy' released in October 1996 and another Robinson collaboration, featured covers of ICE CUBE's 'Wicked' and WAR's 'Lowrider'. This latter track featured trademark bagpipes, taken up as a youth to aid his asthma, from Jonathon Davis. With a fanbase firmly behind it, the record debuted impressively at number 3 on the Billboard charts. The track 'A.D.I.D.A.S.' (naturally 'All day I dream about sex") gave KORN an unlikely radio hit. A non album track, 'Sean Olsen', appeared on the 'The Crow : City Of Angels' movie soundtrack. KORN toured Britain once again in May 1997 supported by HELMET and LIMP BIZKIT prior to a return to America where the band formed part of the travelling 'Lollapolooza' festival. The band also initiated its own concert promotion concern with the 'Family Values' tour. Another non album cut, 'Proud', saw inclusion on the 'I Know What You Did Last Summer' film soundtrack.

Initial copies of august 1998's 'Follow The Leader' in North America came with a free bonus CD of other artists endorsed by KORN including SPINESHANK, INCUBUS, LIMP BIZKIT, ORGY & KID ROCK. Soon afterward, KORN put in an appearance at the 'Woodstock '99' festival the band were back in the studio to record the 'Issues' album.

During 2001 Davies would pen five tracks for inclusion on the Anne Rice horror movie soundtrack 'Queen Of The Damned'. Oddly, the finished results would not be announced as featuring vocals from Davis though but from former YNGWIE MALMSTEEN man JEFF SCOTT SOTO. Later in the year Davis and Schaffer revealed plans to assemble a band dubbed QUEEN OF THE DAMNED to tour the country promoting the film.

During April of 2002 Fieldy would take time out to form part of Rapper JAY-Z's backing band at the Los Angeles ESPN Action Sports & Music Awards ceremony.

KORN announced their much anticipated return to live action in America commencing in Philadelphia on June 20th. Support for this first run of dates was confirmed as PUDDLE OF MUDD and DEADSY. European dates would be slated for September with PUDDLE OF MUDD and TRUST COMPANY acting as openers.

Well known over the years as a collector of "serial killer art" Davis surprised many when reports emerged the singer was planning on building a museum of true crime centred upon his own collection of morbid curiosities. Apparently the singer owned such items as Ted Bundy's Volkswagen car, Albert Fish's confession letter, John Wayne Gacy's 'Pogo' and 'Patch' clown suits and sketchs made by the 'Night Stalker' Richard Ramirez. KORN premiered their 2002 opus 'Untouchables' in performing at New York's Hammerstein Ballroom on June 10th as the first-ever live digitally simulcast concert piped to movie theatres across America. The album landed at no. 2 in it's opening week on the Billboard charts, shifting over 434,000 copies, no. 3 in Canada were initial sales passed the 24,000 mark and debuted at no. 1 in Germany. However, in comparison to previous efforts, 'Untouchables' struggled to maintain momentum and lost sales pace shortly after selling a million copies in the USA. Davis blamed illegal downloading and burning for this disappointment.

A snag in KORN's momentum found both Montreal and Toronto concert dates being pulled at short notice as the band returned to Los Angeles to attend to what a press release described as "a personal matter". This glitch did not prevent momentum, KORN announcing the 'Pop Sux!' tour also featuring DISTURBED and TRUST COMPANY commencing at the Manchester, NH, Verizon Wireless Arena on October 8th. The massively successful tour was cut short during December by five gigs as Davis was suffering from strained vocal chords.

That same month reports suggested that Head was involved with LIMP BIZKIT, news arriving that he was assisting on writing sessions for their provisionally titled 'Less Is More' album. Head joined LIMP BIZKIT for an appearance at the 'WrestleMania XIX' event in Seattle, Washington on 30th March.

In June of 2003 a brand new KORN track, entitled 'Did My Time', found an inclusion on the soundtrack to the 'Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle Of Life' movie. The album, 'Take A Look In The Mirror' just made it into the US top twenty upon its first week of release, selling just under 100,000 copies. The album had been swiftly moved forward a week of its original release schedule due to leaked copies finding their way onto the internet and therefore pulled in just a few days of registering sales days. The following week the record climbed a further ten places in the chart.

The band's single 'Ya'll Want A Single' proved a highly controversial move, Jonathon Davis openly slamming the music industry in a no holds barred video. To ram the point home even further the group cut a remixed version for download on their website featuring a guest appearance by shock jock Howard Stern. Jonathon Davis made time away from band activities to put in a cameo role as a drugs dealer in the Wallace Wolodarsky directed movie 'Seeing Other People'.

Back on the band front, KORN's run of February 2004 Australian headliners saw the band allied with support acts FEAR FACTORY and STATIC-X prior to a run of European festival shows including Germany's 'Rock Am Ring' and 'Rock Im Park' events. The band then allied themselves with LINKIN PARK, Rapper SNOOP DOGG, LESS THAN JAKE, DOWNSET and THE USED for the 'Projekt Revolution' US amphitheater tour running from July through September.

A 'Greatest Hits' package would be announced with the reported inclusion of cover versions of PINK FLOYD's 'Another Brick In The Wall', NINE INCH NAILS' 'Head Like A Hole', featuring LINKIN PARK's Chester Bennington as guest vocalist, and PUBLIC ENEMY's 'Fight The Power' instead. Lead in single would be a take on R&B act CAMEO's 1986 'Word Up' hit. As it transpired, only the PINK FLOYD and CAMEO covers made the running order. Limited editions of this compilation included a DVD of the band's concert at New York's CBGBs from November of 2003. According to Nielsen SoundScan, 'Greatest Hits' sold 129,614 copies in its first week of US sales to debut at no. 4 on the Billboard album charts. Headline gigs in the US saw CHEVELLE and SKINDRED as support.

KORN set to work on new material in January 2005 with producer Dallas Austin. Further pre-production sessions saw the band working with Linda Perry of 4 NON BLONDES, Atticus Clark and The Matrix. Working song titles included 'Liar', 'Revolution', 'Polotix', 'Last Legal Drug', 'Le Petit Mort' and 'Souvenir Of Sadness'.

The band and its fan base was to receive a surprise announcement the following month when guitarist Brian 'Head' Welch opted out of the band. An official statement read that Head had "chosen Jesus Christ as his savior, and will be dedicating his musical pursuits to that end." Head, who has "Jesus" tattooed on his knuckles and "Matthew 11:28" across his neck, had apparently formally resigned by letter on the 8th February, citing "moral objections to KORN's music and videos". He would explain his motives publically by addressing the congregation at the Valley Bible Fellowship in Bakersfield, California before journeying to Israel. Welch was baptized on 5th March in the Jordan river near the Kibbutz Kinneret. As touring replacement, KORN drafted former OTEP guitarist Rob Patterson. However, Patterson would not appear onstage with the band and was credited as "backstage guitarist'.

In June, as Fieldy took time out to guest on Rapper DMC's 'Checks, Thugs and Rock 'n Roll' album, the Recording Industry Association of America revealed KORN had sold over 14 million albums in the USA.

The band announced signature to Virgin / EMI Records for the new opus 'See You On The Other Side', revealing the deal to involve two albums plus a one-third interest in the band's publishing, merchandising and ticket sales. Reports suggested that KORN had received a staggering $15 million advance for this new type of contract, with many analysts surprised that such a deal was brokered when KORN's album sales had been on a steady decline. Opening single 'Twisted Transistor' would be launched to US radio on 22nd November. On the 28th KORN scored a world first when they performed live at 37,000 feet, aboard a transatlantic private aircraft en route to New York from London to an audience of US military personnel and of European MTV contest winners.

KORN's US dates commenced in late February 2006 with support from MUDVAYNE and 10 YEARS. Australian shows in April would be backed by DISTURBED, HATEBREED and 10 YEARS. May saw the issue of the 'Live & Rare' set, comprising ten songs drawn from a 2003 show at New York's CBGB's, a live cover version of PINK FLOYD's 'Another Brick In The Wall', two tracks from the band's 1999 performance at the Woodstock Festival plus covers of METALLICA's 'One' and CHEECH & CHONG's "Earache My Eye' plus the non-album B-side 'Proud'.

In a first for the band, an announced May 4th show in Jakarta, Indonesia was cancelled due to an active volcano. KORN briefly switched touring guitarists in mid May, replacing Patterson for three European concerts with FEAR FACTORY man Christian Olde Wolbers before Rob Patterson rejoined the fold. The onstage subsidiary musicians, including Wolbers, all wore animal masks to duplicate the album cover ambience.

The band put in a significant appearance at the METALLICA headlined 'Download' festival in Castle Donington, UK on June 10th. However, Jonathan Davis was forced to pull-out of the band's appearance that same day, being admitted to a London hospital. The remaining members of KORN performed a shortened set, with a variety of guests helping out on vocals. The show comprised 'It's On!' with Jesse Hasek from 10 YEARS, 'Falling Away From Me' with M Shadows from AVENGED SEVENFOLD, 'Somebody Someone' and 'Coming Undone' with Dez Fafara of DEVILDRIVER, 'A.D.I.D.A.S.' with Benji Webbe from SKINDRED, 'Clown' and 'Freak On A Leash' with Corey Taylor of SLIPKNOT and Blind with Matt Heafy from TRIVIUM. The band's next scheduled show, at the Dublin, Ireland 'Download Festival', was cancelled, as was a June 13th headlining appearance at the Heineken Music Hall in Amsterdam, Holland. Davis' condition was subsequently identified as a blood infection caused by an autoimmune disorder called Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura.

KORN resurrected the 'Family Values' festivals for the summer, assembling a bill including DEFTONES, STONE SOUR, FLYLEAF, 10 YEARS, BURY YOUR DEAD, BULLETS AND OCTANE and DIR EN GREY. KORN played a fourteen song acoustic set for MTV's 'Unplugged' on Saturday, December 9th at the MTV studios in Times Square, New York. Joining KORN for select songs in the set were EVANESCENCE lead singer Amy Lee, on the song 'Freak On A Leash', and members of THE CURE. The band also performed a cover version of RADIOHEAD's 'Creep'. After this show drummer David Silveria announced he was "taking a break" from the band. His self-described "hiatus" would seemingly become permanent. The drummer refused all interviews and, completely eschewing the Rock n' Roll lifestyle, put his energies into running steak and grill food outlets. KORN pulled in Terry Bozzio, a veteran of MISSING PERSONS and FANTOMAS, to record new material.

Outside of the KORN arena, 2006 also proved significant for Fieldy as he activated side endeavour STILLWELL, a collaboration with Rapper Q-Unique and guitar player Steve Licata. The single 'Killing Myself To Live' emerged in early 2007.

The album and DVD 'MTV Unplugged: Korn', produced by by Alex Coletti, arrived in February 2007. Also arriving to keep the KORN public profile high was former guitarist Head's autobiographical book 'Save Me from Myself: How I Found God, Quit Korn, Kicked Drugs, And Lived To Tell My Story'. Published on 3rd July, it became an immediate best seller.

The group forged a union with fellow main stage performers EVANESCENCE, ATREYU, TRIVIUM, NEUROSONIC, HELLYEAH and FLYLEAF plus a second stage featuring OTEP, FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH and BLOODSIMPLE amongst others for the next installment of the 'Family Values' tour, this trek setting off at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in St. Louis, Missiuri on 20th July. Replacing Terry Bozzio, who had exited due to reported "personal conflicts", would be SLIPKNOT drummer Joey Jordison. Also joining the band as touring guitarist would be Clint Lowery, of DARK NEW DAY and SEVENDUST repute. 'Family Values' closed off on 9th September 2007 in Irvine, California.

Back on the road in rapid fashion, KORN kicked off their 'Bitch We Have A Problem' tour on 23rd September 2007 at the Lawlor Events Centre in Reno, Nevada, winding up at the WaMu Theater in Seattle, Washington on 23rd October. Support acts included HELLYEAH, FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH, DROID and FLYLEAF.

KORN's frontman indulged in side activity by manifesting JONATHAN DAVIS AND THE SFA ("Simply Fucking Amazings"). This unit involved Davis as frontman backed by three of his KORN compatriots, keyboard player Zach Baird, guitarist Shane Gibson and drummer / percussionist Michael Jochum. Also featured would be Miles Mosley on double upright bass and Indian violinist Lakshminarayanan Shankar.

The band took a novel approach to marketing from the outset. Securing a deal with Invisible Arts, the act recorded a live album as their opening gambit. The set was recorded on 7th November 2007 at Malibu's Woodshed Recorder, just one day before Davis embarked on his first solo tour. Invisible Arts turned round production of the album, branded 'Alone I Play (a pun on KORN's 'Alone I Break') in just three days to get product out by 10th November. 'Alone I Play', packaged as both a CD and DVD, was initially only sold exclusively at concerts. Originally only 1200 copies were manufactured, with six of these being a limited edition variant put up for auction on Ebay for charity. Subsequently 'Alone I Play' was re-manufactured for sale online through Invisible Arts.

'Alone I Play' included songs from KORN plus originally composed by Davis and producer Richard Gibbs for the 2002 film 'Queen Of The Damned', these being 'System', 'Forsaken', 'Slept So Long', 'Not Meant For Me' and 'Redeemer'. The "Super Limited" Ebay charity version hosted a second CD disc featuring cover versions of NEW ORDER's 'Blue Monday', DURAN DURAN's 'The Chauffeur', KORN's 'Falling Away From Me' and 'Love On The Rocks' from the 'Wonderland' soundtrack. JONATHAN DAVIS AND THE SFA announced plans for a 2008 studio album.

Fieldy revealed his side act STILLWELL was plotting a 2008 release for a debut album entitled 'Street Metal', this set being co-produced by Polar Bear.

KORN geared up for the second leg of the 'Bitch We Have A Problem' touring schedule by opening proceedings on 13th January 2008 at the Dublin Ambassador Ballroom in Ireland for a two night stand. Manning the drums would be Ray Luzier, known previously for his work with METAL SHOP, THE NIXONS, the DAVID LEE ROTH band and ARMY OF ANYONE. Packaged as guests for this leg of the world tour would be CHIMAIRA, BIOHAZARD, BLOODSIMPLE and THROWDOWN.

However, Munky left the tour shortly after the beginning the European leg began due to an illness with his father. Munky returned to the tour in Milan, Italy on February 23rd. With his re-inclusion into the ranks, Rob Patterson stwepped aside. Another inauguration for KORN came with their performance at the annual Dubai 'Desert Rock' festival on 7th March. Australian shows started on April 15th, with the tour wrapping upat the Auckland Vector Arena in New Zealand on 24th April.

On April 22nd KORN issued the single 'Haze', an original song composed for the Ubisoft video game of the same title. In a first for the video gaming industry, 'Haze' was released and promoted as a fully fledged single and music video as a stand alone product.

A second greatest hits compilation titled, 'Playlist: The Very Best of Korn' was released on 29th April 2008. It was subsequently announced original band producer Ross Robinson was to produce the next album, and that KORN, including Ray Luzier, will enter the studio in November to begin their ninth studio album.

KORN contributed a version of 'Kidnap The Sandy Claws' to the 'Nightmare Revisited' album, a collection of reworked songs from the soundtrack to Tim Burton's 1993 movie 'The Nightmare Before Christmas'.

Whilst KORN worked on material for its ninth studio album, Jonathan Davis signed a solo deal with the Warner Music Group in 2009. The singer also guested on ex-FAITH NO MORE frontman Chuck Mosley's debut solo album, 'Will Rap Over Hard Rock For Food'.