John West (musician)
| John West | |
|---|---|
| Born | October 29, 1964 Syracuse, New York |
| Genres | Country, hard rock, heavy metal, progressive metal, neoclassical metal, blues rock, pop rock |
| Instruments | Vocals, guitar |
| Years active | 1986 - present |
| Labels | Shrapnel, Frontiers |
| Associated acts | Diamond, Sage's Recital, Mythodea, Artlantica, Forces United, Emir Hot, Destiny, Feinstein, Badlands, Sun Red Sun, Cozy Powell, Artension, Michael Lee Firkins, Lynch Mob, Royal Hunt, Uli Jon Roth |
| Website | http://www.johnwestmusic.com |
John Michael West (born October 29, 1964) is an American vocalist and guitarist, perhaps best known for being the lead vocalist of Artension and the former lead vocalist of Royal Hunt.
Prior to his joining Royal Hunt in 1998, West contributed vocals to a variety of projects. His recording career began in 1986 as the singer of Diamond. Later, he sang for Destiny, who released the four-song demo Side By Side in 1989. He had brief stints replacing Ray Gillen in both Badlands and Sun Red Sun in the mid-1990s, also lending his voice to Cozy Powell's final solo album, Especially For You during this period. In lesser known projects, he also sang one track on Marc Ferrari's solo album Guest List in 1995, also handling vocal duties on self-titled albums by Many Moons and Rider the following year.
In 1996, West joined neoclassical power/progressive metal group Artension, who released their debut album Into The Eye of the Storm the same year. The band went on to release seven studio albums from 1996-2004. The group's second album, Phoenix Rising, is especially noted for West's wide-ranging vocal contributions. West and the band regrouped in 2016 with the intention of releasing a new album.
In 1998, West replaced D.C. Cooper as the lead singer of Royal Hunt, remaining with the group until 2007. He recorded four studio albums, one live album, and one EP with the group. West's ten-year tenure as the band's vocalist is the longest uninterrupted tenure of any singer in Royal Hunt's 25-year history.
West has released four albums under his own name, which have featured a wide variety of contributors. His first two, Mind Journey (1997) and Permanent Mark (1998), adopted a neoclassical metal style with many extended instrumental sections. After concentrating on Royal Hunt for a few years, West returned in 2002 with the concept album Earth Maker, which showcased a more song-oriented writing style while still retaining much of his previous sound. Finally, in 2006, West released Long Time No Sing, which is more of a blues-rock album. The latter disc features West playing guitar as well as singing.
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