System of a Down (also known as SoaD or simply System) is an Armenian-American heavy metal band formed in Glendale, California, in 1994. Serj Tankian handles the lead vocals and keyboards, Daron Malakian handles the guitar and vocals, Shavo Odadjian handles the bass and backing vocals, and John Dolmayan handles the drums.
source: Instagram
Andy Khachaturian, the band's original drummer, was replaced by Dolmayan in 1997. With the release of five studio albums, three of which debuted at the top of the U.S. Billboard 200, the band found commercial success. Four Grammy Awards have been nominated for System of a Down, and in 2006, "B.Y.O.B." won the Grammy for Best Hard Rock Performance. The band took a break in 2006 and came back together in 2010.
System of a Down hasn't put out a full-length album since the Mezmerize and Hypnotize albums in 2005, with the exception of two brand-new songs in 2020 ("Protect the Land" and "Genocidal Humanoidz"). The group has sold more than 12 million albums worldwide, and two of their singles, "Aerials" and "Hypnotize", peaked at the top of the Alternative Songs chart on Billboard.
| Name | Serj Tankian (Vocals) Daron Malakian (Guitar) Shavo Odadjian (Bass) Andy Khachaturian (Drums |
| Profile Name | System of a Down |
| Formed | 1994 |
| DOJ (YouTube) | November 3rd, 2005 |
| Total Videos | 25 |
| Schedule/Status | Erratic schedule |
| Net Worth | Serj Tankian: $20 million Daron Malakian: $20 million Shavo Odadjian: $20 million Andy Khachaturian: $20 million |
| Nationality | American |
Serj Tankian and Daron Malakian both went to Rose and Alex Pilibos Armenian School, but because of their eight-year age gap, they didn’t actually run into each other until 1992, when they were both working on different projects at the same recording studio. With Tankian on vocals and keyboards, Malakian on vocals and bass, Dave Hakopyan (who would later play in The Apex Theory/Mt. Helium), and Domingo “Dingo” Laranio on drums, they formed the band Soil.
Shavo Odadjian, a former student of Rose and Alex Pilibos, was hired by the band as manager, but he later switched to playing the second guitar with Soil. Hakopyan and Laranio left the band in 1994 after just one live performance at the Roxy and one jam session recording.
Tankian, Odadjian, and Malakian started System of a Down after Soil disbanded. The name of the group was taken from Malakian’s poem “Victims of a Down” The group wanted their records to be alphabetically shelved nearer to their musical idols, Slayer, so Odadjian changed the word “victims” to “system” believing that it would appeal to a much wider audience.
Odadjian switched from the guitar to the bass and handed over management responsibilities to David “Beno” Benveniste, the founder of Velvet Hammer Music and Management Group. Ontronik “Andy” Khachaturian, a former classmate of Malakian and Odadjian who had collaborated with Malakian in the group Snowblind when they were teenagers, was brought on as the band’s drummer.
source: Instagram
The first official song by the group to be professionally recorded was included in a 1997 compilation called Hye Enk, which means “we’re Armenian” in English. Producer Rick Rubin noticed the band after they performed at well-known Hollywood clubs like the Whisky Go-Go and Viper Room, and he asked them to stay in touch.
The group recorded Demo Tape 4 near the end of 1997 with a strong desire to send it to record labels. The group performed at The Roxy Theater with Human Waste Project on September 12, 1997, to commemorate the band’s signing with Rubin’s American/Columbia Records.
When the group’s second album, Toxicity, debuted at No. 1 on the American and Canadian charts, it gave them their big break. Eventually, the album received a 3x multi-platinum certification in the US. The hit single from the album, “Chop Suey!” was removed from the radio due to its politically sensitive lyrics, which, according to a 2001 Clear Channel memo at the time, included lines like “I don’t think you trust in my self-righteous suicide”. Nevertheless, both the video and the second single from the album, “Toxicity”, received regular airtime on MTV.
“System Of A Down - Toxicity (Official HD Video)” is the oldest available video on their channel and is the music video of their hit song Toxicity.
As of June 2022, all the band members of the band are worth $20 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth. The band members earn from the sale of CDs, merchandise, concert tickets and various brand deals.
Serj Tankian, who was born on August 21, 1967, wed Angela Madatyan, an Armenian woman from Vanadzor, in a private ceremony in Simi Valley, California, on June 9, 2012. He revealed that they had a son named Rumi on October 24, 2014. As their respective wives are sisters, Tankian is the brother-in-law of System of a Down bandmate John Dolmayan.
Daron Vartan Malakian, was born on July 18, 1975, and he was born in Hollywood, California, to Vartan and Zepur Malakian. His parents are ethnic Armenian immigrants. Malakian attended Rose and Alex Pilibos Armenian School, where his future bandmates Shavo Odadjian and Ontronik "Andy" Khachaturian (the founding drummer of System of a Down) also studied. Malakian is not married and has no children, unlike the other members of System of a Down.
Shavarsh "Shavo" Odadjian was born on April 22, 1974, in Yerevan, the Soviet Union's Armenian SSR. He moved to Los Angeles when he was five years old, enrolling at the Armenian parochial Alex Pilibos Elementary School alongside future bandmates Daron Malakian and Serj Tankian, though they were not friends at the time due to the age difference.
Odadjian dated Kassie Spielman, an actress, from 2005 to 2007. He then started dating Sonia Odadjian, and on July 20, 2010, they got married. Shavo Dylan, Hayk Victor, and Lia Rose are the three children that the couple has together.
John Dolmayan was born on July 15, 1972, to Armenian parents in Beirut, Lebanon. His family received asylum in Canada during the Lebanese Civil War and lived there for four years before relocating to California. Diana Dolmayan, who is married to Dolmayan, is Angela Tankian's sister.
Due to its worldwide fame, System of a Down has gained a lot of followers on several social media platforms. On their Instagram account, they have over 2.8 million followers with more than 57,224 average likes.
They mostly post pictures of their band members as well as pictures of their concerts. On their Twitter account, where they post promotional tweets, they have over 1.4 million followers.
Their upload schedule is irregular since they upload music audio and videos whenever they produce new songs.
Toxicity sold 1 million copies in just six weeks, whereas SOAD's self-titled debut album took three years.
A. Due to differences in creativity, the band broke up. The second vocalist, Malakian, formed his own group, Daron Malakian and Scars, on Broadway in 2008.
A. As of 2022, since their inception, the band has officially produced 66 songs.
A. John Dolmayan told MTV: "'Toxicity' was one of those songs where we hadn't done anything like it before. It required something completely different than any other System song did. The guitars are just, in some ways, really powerful, and in others, they just step back so that the melody can take over a little bit. So it's a really good combination of aggression and melodic elements, which represents this album."
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