Serj Tankian Vocalist of the American rock band "System of a Down" Date of Birth: 21.08.1967 Country: USA

Biography of Serj Tankian

Serj Tankian, the vocalist of the American rock band System of a Down, is also the founder of his solo project. Born in Lebanon on August 21, 1967, Tankian spent his childhood there. At the age of 8, he moved to Los Angeles with his parents and younger brother Sevag, where he began pursuing music at the Armenian school "Rose & Alex Philibosi" while also studying marketing. In Los Angeles, he became a part of the large Armenian community. He has his own label, Serjical Strike Records, and has also published a book of poetry called "Cool Gardens", which he initially funded using his software production company, "Ultimate Solutions".

In 1994, Tankian met Daron Malakian and together they formed the band "Soil", which later evolved into "System of a Down" with the addition of drummer Andy (Andranik) Khachaturian. Shavo Odadjian, who was working in a bank and attending the same music school as Tankian at the time, became their temporary manager and eventually joined as the bassist. The creation of "System of a Down" was complete with the addition of drummer John Dolmayan.

In 2005, the band released the albums "Mezmerize" and "Hypnotize". Tankian's solo project, his debut album titled "Elect The Dead", was released on October 23, 2007. He formed a band called Serj Tankian And The FCC for a concert tour in support of his album, which started on October 12, 2007, in Chicago. Tankian also collaborated with Bill Laswell's group "Praxis" and participated in the recording of their album "Profanation" released in 2008.

In early 2010, Tankian released his first orchestral song, "Empty Walls", which became a flagship track in his album "Elect the Dead". On March 9, 2010, he released an album with a symphony orchestra. Tankian announced his plans to release a musical about Prometheus by the end of 2011. On September 7, 2010, his album "Imperfect Harmonies" was released. Tankian's favorite bands include "Black Sabbath", "Korn", "Metallica", and "Slayer". He also has his own signature guitar model, the Serj Tankian Signature Model T5 (STSM-T5), released by Taylor.

In addition to his music career, Tankian has been an advocate for recognizing the Armenian Genocide that occurred in the Ottoman Empire in 1915. He initiated a campaign, along with guitarist Tom Morello from Rage Against the Machine and his project Axis of Justice, calling on President Barack Obama to officially recognize the genocide. Tankian released a video in which he urged viewers to contact the White House and request that Obama put an end to the international denial of Turkey's involvement in the mass killings of Armenians. Tankian's grandparents were victims of the Armenian Genocide, which is why he is deeply passionate about this cause. He also wrote an article detailing the history of the Armenian Genocide and explaining the personal connection to his grandparents' tragic fate. As part of the campaign, Axis of Justice performed on the Los Angeles radio station 90.7 KPFK.