Bradley James "Dez" Fafara (born May 12, 1966) is an American heavy metal vocalist who performs in the bands

DevilDriver DevilDriver is an American heavy metal band from Santa Barbara, California, formed in 2002, consisting of vocalist Dez Fafara, lead guitarist Mike Spreitzer, drummer Davier Pérez, bassist Jon Miller and rhythm guitarist Alex Lee. The band was ...

and

Coal Chamber Coal Chamber is an American nu metal band formed by Dez Fafara and Meegs Rascón in Los Angeles, California in 1993. Prior to Coal Chamber, the two had also created the band She's in Pain, in 1992. The original lineup also consisted of bassist ...

Early life

Fafara is of Portuguese and Sicilian descent. His father,

Tiger Fafara Lucas "Luke" Fafara II (born January 3, 1945), also known as Tiger Fafara, is a former American child actor best known for portraying the role of "Tooey Brown" on the sitcom '' Leave It to Beaver''. Career Born in San Francisco, California, Faf ...

, and his late uncle, Stanley Fafara, were child actors on the '' Leave It to Beaver'' television

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...

. He has had

attention deficit hyperactivity disorder Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterised by excessive amounts of inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity that are pervasive, impairing in multiple contexts, and otherwise age-inap ...

his whole life. Fafara adopted the nickname "Dez" in honor of

Dez Cadena Dez Cadena (born June 2, 1961) is an American punk rock singer and guitarist. He was the third vocalist and later rhythm guitarist for hardcore punk band Black Flag from 1980 to 1983. Cadena played guitar with Misfits from 2001 to 2015, initi ...

, vocalist and guitarist for Black Flag and an early influence on Fafara.

Career

Coal Chamber

Fafara released a total of 5 albums with

. Four of the albums, ''

'' (1997), which went

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

, ''

Chamber Music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small numb ...

'' (1999), and '' Dark Days'' (2002), consisted of new material. An album of remixes, rarities, and b-sides, titled '' Giving the Devil His Due'' (2003) and a "Best Of" (2004) were also released. Coal Chamber disbanded in 2003, shortly after Fafara formed his current band

. On September 26, 2011, it was announced that Coal Chamber would reunite for Australia's Soundwave Festival, which took place in early 2012. As of October 2012, according to Fafara, new material from Coal Chamber is in the works. Coal Chamber participated in a tour with

Sevendust Sevendust is an American rock band from Atlanta, Georgia, formed in 1994 by bassist Vince Hornsby, drummer Morgan Rose and rhythm guitarist John Connolly. After their first demo, lead vocalist Lajon Witherspoon and lead guitarist Clint Lowery ...

and

Stolen Babies Stolen Babies are an American experimental rock band consisting of vocalist/accordionist Dominique Lenore Persi, bassist/guitarist Rani Sharone, and drummer Gil Sharone. History Stolen Babies formed from a 12+ member high school performance tr ...

in early 2013. Coal Chamber @ Claremont Showgrounds (5 3 2012) (7005619203)

According to Fafara, the fourth album was completed in December 2014 before its release in 2015. Coal Chamber now is disbanded and last consisted of the three founding members; Fafara, Miguel Rascon and Mikey Cox, with bassist Nadja Peulen rejoining the band in 2013, having originally played with Coal Chamber in 1999 and 2002. The band collaborated with Ministry's

Al Jourgensen Alain David Jourgensen (born Alejandro Ramírez Casas; October 9, 1958) is a Cuban-American singer, musician and music producer. Closely related with the independent record label Wax Trax! Records, his musical career spans four decades. He is be ...

for their fourth studio album, titled 'Rivals'.

DevilDriver

Currently, Fafara, as part of DevilDriver, has released seven studio albums, ''

'' (2003), ''

The Fury of Our Maker's Hand ''The Fury of Our Maker's Hand'' is the second studio album by American heavy metal band DevilDriver, released on June 28, 2005. It's the first DevilDriver album to feature guitarist Mike Spreitzer. The album entered the Billboard charts at n ...

'' (2005), ''

The Last Kind Words ''The Last Kind Words'' is the third studio album by American heavy metal band DevilDriver, released in the United States on July 31, 2007. It was released in the United Kingdom on June 19. The album debuted at number 48 on the U.S. ''Billbo ...

'' (2007), ''

Pray for Villains ''Pray for Villains'' is the fourth studio album by American heavy metal band DevilDriver, released on July 14, 2009. It sold around 14,600 copies in its first week of release to debut at position No. 35 on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart. On Apr ...

'' (2009), '' Beast'' (2011), ''

Winter Kills ''Winter Kills'' is a black comedy novel by Richard Condon, exploring the assassination of a U.S. president. It was published in 1974. The novel parallels the death of John F. Kennedy and the conspiracy theories about it. Plot summary The nov ...

'' (2013), '' Trust No One'' (2016), '' Outlaws 'til the End: Vol. 1'' (2018) and ''Dealing with Demons I'' (2020). DevilDriver was also nominated for a Golden Gods Award in 2008 for the best break-through metal band.

Collaborations

Fafara has appeared on more than twelve soundtrack records, including '' Scream 3: The Album'', which also went

. He also collaborated with

Ozzy Osbourne John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne (born 3 December 1948) is an English singer, songwriter, and television personality. He rose to prominence during the 1970s as the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Black Sabbath, during which period he adop ...

for a remake of "

Shock the Monkey "Shock the Monkey" is a song by English rock musician Peter Gabriel. It was released in September 1982 as the second single from his fourth self-titled album, issued in the US under the title ''Security''. The song peaked at number 29 on the US ...

", a song originally by

Peter Gabriel Peter Brian Gabriel (born 13 February 1950) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and activist. He rose to fame as the original lead singer of the progressive rock band Genesis. After leaving Genesis in 1975, he launched ...

, that was released on the Coal Chamber album ''

''. This song propelled this record to debut 22 on the ''Billboard'' charts upon release. Fafara recorded and provided vocals for the song "Baptized in the Redemption" on

Roadrunner Records Roadrunner Records is an American record label focused on heavy metal and hard rock bands. Founded in the Netherlands in 1980, it is now a division of Warner Music Group and is based in New York City. History The label was launched in 1980 in t ...

' 25th anniversary compilation album ''

Roadrunner United ''Roadrunner United'' was a project organized by American heavy metal record label Roadrunner Records to celebrate its 25th anniversary. It culminated in an album released worldwide on October 11, 2005, entitled ''The All-Star Sessions''. Four ...

'', alongside

Dino Cazares Dino Cazares (born in 1966) is an American musician, known for being the guitarist and one of the co-founders of industrial metal band Fear Factory. He is also the co-founder of the metal bands Divine Heresy, Asesino, and Brujeria. Cazares pop ...

(

Fear Factory Fear Factory is an American heavy metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1989. Throughout the band's career, they have released ten full-length albums and have evolved through a succession of sounds, all in their main style of industrial metal. ...

Andreas Kisser Andreas Rudolf Kisser (; born 24 August 1968) is a Brazilian musician, best known for being the lead guitarist for the metal band Sepultura. He has been featured on every Sepultura release since their second album, ''Schizophrenia''. Additionally, ...

(

Sepultura Sepultura (, "grave")Barcinski & Gomes 1999, page 17. is a Brazilian heavy metal band from Belo Horizonte. Formed in 1984 by brothers Max and Igor Cavalera,Barcinski & Gomes 1999, page 16. the band was a major force in the groove metal, thra ...

), Paul Gray ( Slipknot) and

Roy Mayorga Roy Mayorga (born April 6, 1970) is an American musician, best known as the drummer of heavy metal bands Hellyeah and Stone Sour and is currently the drummer for the industrial metal band Ministry. Early life Mayorga was born in Forest Hill ...

(

Stone Sour Stone Sour is an American rock band formed in Des Moines, Iowa, in 1992. The band performed for five years before disbanding in 1997. They reunited in 2000 and since 2015, the group has consisted of Corey Taylor (lead vocals, guitar), Josh Rand ...

, ex-

Soulfly Soulfly is an American heavy metal band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1997, and later based out of Phoenix, Arizona. Soulfly is led by former Sepultura frontman Max Cavalera, who formed the band after he left the Brazilian group in 199 ...

). Dez worked with

Nikki Sixx Nikki Sixx (born Frank Carlton Serafino Feranna Jr.; December 11, 1958) is an American musician, best known as the co-founder, bassist, and primary songwriter of the heavy metal band Mötley Crüe. Prior to forming Mötley Crüe, Sixx was a me ...

(

Mötley Crüe Mötley Crüe is an American heavy metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1981. The group was founded by bassist Nikki Sixx, drummer Tommy Lee, lead guitarist Mick Mars and lead singer Vince Neil. Mötley Crüe has sold over 100 million albums ...

) on a song called "Where Is God Tonight?" In November 2011, it was announced that Fafara would appear on a track in

's eighth studio album. The album is titled '' Enslaved'' and was released on March 13; the song Fafara appears in is called "Redemption of Man by God." In 2012, he performed on the song "Bastards!" by Canadian hardcore band

Cancer Bats Cancer Bats is a Canadian hardcore punk band from Toronto, Ontario. To date, they have released seven studio albums and six extended plays; with their most recent LP, ''Psychic Jailbreak'', having been released on 15 April 2022. The band is cur ...

on their album '' Dead Set on Living''.

Personal life

Fafara's wife is named Anahstasia, and she appears on the cover of the second

album ''

''. Fafara has three sons: Tyler (born 1991), Kaleb (born 1994) and Simon (born 1997). "Tyler's Song", from the album ''Chamber Music'', was written for Tyler. Simon, age nine at the time, added backing growls on

's third album, ''

'' (2007), on the song "Tirades of Truth", during the last two lines of the chorus. Fafara is a

vegan Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal product—particularly in diet—and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. An individual who follows the diet or philosophy is known as a vegan. Di ...

. He expresses disgust towards the idea that animals are used for food and feels that people are starting to view plant-based foods as "good for your body, good for the environment." Fafara also said that going vegan made a substantial improvement on his health. Fafara is also

freemason Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

, citing his interest in charity for the

Navajo The Navajo (; British English: Navaho; nv, Diné or ') are a Native American people of the Southwestern United States. With more than 399,494 enrolled tribal members , the Navajo Nation is the largest federally recognized tribe in the United ...

nation in the American southwest as the driving factor for him to join.

Tattoos

Fafara got his first tattoo at the age of 16. He has a large assortment of tattoos, including a tribal tattoo on his chin, an assortment of Mayan/Aztec tattoos on his chest and left arm, the DevilDriver logo on his upper arm and face, and the Coal Chamber logo on his forearm. He also has a tattoo reading DEZ on his knuckles. in 2019, Fafara extended the tribal tattoo on his chin to extend down his neck and jawline. This new addition featured vibrant colors and a range of Mayan/Aztec styles.

References

External links

DevilDriver Vocalist Dez Fafara
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fafara, Dez 1966 births Living people American heavy metal singers 20th-century American singers 21st-century American singers American people of Italian descent American musicians of Portuguese descent Musicians from California Nu metal singers People from Santa Barbara, California 20th-century American male singers 21st-century American male singers