Serj Tankian ( TAHN-kee-ən, Western Armenian: Սերժ Թանգեան pronounced [sɛɾʒ tʰɑŋkʰˈjɑn]; born August 21, 1967) is an Armenian-American musician. He is best known as the lead vocalist and primary lyricist of the heavy metal band System of a Down, which was formed in 1994.
Tankian has released five albums with System of a Down (System of a Down, Toxicity, Steal This Album!, Mezmerize, Hypnotize) and five solo albums (Elect the Dead, Imperfect Harmonies, Harakiri, Orca, and Elasticity), as well as collaborating with musicians such as rapper Tech N9ne and folk singer Arto Tunçboyacıyan. He also released Elect the Dead Symphony, a live orchestral version of Elect the Dead featuring the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra. He is the founder of the record label Serjical Strike Records, and is currently represented by Velvet Hammer Music and Management Group.
Tankian is known and regarded as one of the best vocalists in heavy metal, with praise given to his unusual delivery and his wide vocal range. In 2006, he was ranked No. 26 on the Hit Parader list of "Top 100 Heavy Metal Vocalists". A study conducted by VVN Music found that Tankian possesses a high and diverse vocal range of 4.2 octaves.
In 2002, Tankian co-founded the non-profit political activism organization Axis of Justice, alongside guitarist and fellow activist Tom Morello. In 2011, he was awarded the Armenian Prime Minister's Medal for his contributions to the recognition of the Armenian genocide and the advancement of music.
Serj Tankian was born in Beirut, Lebanon, on August 21, 1967, to Armenian parents Khachadour and Alice Tankian. He traces his ancestry to the cities of Chork Marzban, Mazaka, Evdokia, and Urha, all of which are in modern-day Turkey. His four grandparents were survivors of the Armenian genocide. Amid the Lebanese Civil War, at the age of 7, he moved to the U.S. with his parents, and the family settled in Los Angeles. In his youth, he attended the bilingual Rose and Alex Pilibos Armenian School, which was also attended by his future System of a Down bandmates Daron Malakian and Shavo Odadjian. Tankian was accepted into California State University, Northridge, graduating with a marketing degree in 1989. During his sophomore year, he first began to play instruments, particularly the keyboard, and write songs.
In an interview in 2021, Tankian stated; "I was very lost. I was playing music at home, but I didn't have a band, I didn't have any connection, and my vision hadn't interpreted that this was my future yet. I was like, probably 22, 23 when I was really, when I discovered it... I was driving home, I had a Jeep Wrangler, I remember it was raining, very dramatic, and I really, I always say I have to go to the far reaches of who I don't wanna be to admit to myself who I really am. And I was in my car, and I literally stopped, and I just go, "I want to fuckin' do music. This is bullshit. I don't want to do all this shit." And that was the day that changed my life. From then on, anything I did was with the idea that I'm going on this path, and I gotta do whatever I gotta do to be on this path."
During his college years, Tankian began participating in political activism, attempting to draw attention to the recognition of the Armenian genocide during his time as president of the university's Armenian Students Association. He has said that his activism started with the Armenian Youth Federation (AYF) and the Shant Student Association of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF).
System of a Down (1994–present)
The beginnings of System of a Down lie in a band named Soil (not to be confused with the Chicago-based band SOiL) with Tankian on vocals & keyboards, Malakian on vocals & lead guitar, Dave Hakopyan on bass, and Domingo Laranio on drums. The band initially hired Odadjian as their manager before he was to transition into their rhythm guitarist.
Laranio and Hakopyan later left the band feeling that it was not going anywhere, leading to Soil splitting up.
After the split, Tankian, Odadjian and Malakian formed System of a Down, named after a poem Malakian wrote called Victims of a Down (which was later featured on the back-side of the band-to-be's self-titled debut). The band recruited drummer Ontronik "Andy" Khachaturian, an old school friend of Malakian, and Odadjian who had played with Malakian in a band called Snowblind during their teens. In mid-1997, Khachaturian left the band because of a hand injury (he subsequently co-founded The Apex Theory, which included former Soil bassist Dave Hakopyan). Khachaturian was replaced by John Dolmayan. Dolmayan is also the drummer for the band Indicator and former drummer for Scars on Broadway.
The band began touring the Southern California rock clubs, building a strong following.
The band achieved commercial success with the release of five studio albums, three of which debuted at number one on the Billboard 200. System of a Down has been nominated for four Grammy Awards, and their song "B.Y.O.B." won the Best Hard Rock Performance of 2006. In May the same year, the band announced they were going on hiatus.
On November 29, 2010, following several weeks of internet rumors, System of a Down officially announced that they would play shows in Europe during Festivals and in North America, mostly in the U.S., embarking on a tour for the following three years.
The band was in limbo of not releasing any new tracks until November 2020, when they released "Protect the Land" and "Genocidal Humanoidz", which were songs that were made to help the cause of the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War. The song's profits went to the Armenia Fund.
In the following years, System of a Down increasingly limited their live appearances. On May 14, 2023, the band hosted their only live performance of the year as co-headliners of the Sick New World festival in Las Vegas. In 2024, the band performed two gigs, making headline appearances at Sick New World on April 27, and at a standalone concert (together with Deftones) at the Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, the first-ever ticketed live event to take place at the venue.
Elect the Dead, side projects, and guest appearances (2007–2009)
Tankian's breakthrough as a solo artist came with the release of his debut record Elect the Dead. The first singles from Elect the Dead are "The Unthinking Majority" and "Empty Walls". The music video "Feed Us" was released on the Swedish and UK MTV. A music video was directed and filmed for every song on the record, each by unique directors. Tankian explained, "I asked each of the directors for their visual interpretation of my work. They were asked not to write treatments and that they could make whatever they liked. The results have been overwhelmingly amazing!"