Sonny Sandoval

Sonny Sandoval
Sandoval performing at the Belly Up Tavern in Solana Beach, California on May 17, 2011.
Background information
Birth name	Paul Joshua Sandoval
Also known as	Sonny
Born	May 16, 1974 (1974-05-16) (age 37) San Diego, California, US
Genres	Alternative metal, nu metal, Christian metal, rap metal
Occupations	Vocalist, rapper, singer-songwriter
Instruments	Vocals
Years active	1992–present
Associated acts	P.O.D.

Paul Joshua "Sonny" Sandoval (born May 16, 1974) is an American singer and rapper. He is best known as the lead vocalist of the rock band P.O.D..

Biography

Sandoval was born in San Diego, California to a Hawaiian-Chamorro mother and a Mexican-Italian father.^[1] He grew up in the Otay Mesa neighborhood of South San Diego, and joined a gang at age thirteen. He drank and used marijuana frequently during his teenage years. However, in 1992, when he was eighteen, Sandoval's mother died of leukemia at the age of 37. During her illness, Sonny was greatly influenced by his mother's faith as a devout Christian.^[2] Turning his life around, he pursued a career as an emcee. He later joined the band Enoch, a group started by Wuv Bernardo, Gabe Portillo and Marcos Curiel, which, with the addition of Sandoval, later became P.O.D. (acronym for "Payable On Death"). Sandoval states his musical roots as reggae, rock, and rap, all of which are apparent in P.O.D.

He and his wife Shannon married in 1996, and have two daughters, Nevaeh and Marley, and a son, Justice. Sandoval is widely credited with the sudden popularity of the name Nevaeh, which, as he revealed on MTV Cribs, is Heaven spelled backwards.^[3][4]

For most of P.O.D.'s career, Sandoval was well known for his dreadlocks (which, by the release of the video for "Going in Blind", had reached the length of his waist), but since the release of P.O.D.'s seventh studio album, When Angels & Serpents Dance, he has cut them off. He did this because of the meaning of the dreads. He realized people started using the style as a way to look cool and then seeing that the meaning wasn't seen by fans, he then decided to remove them.^[5]

Sonny Sandoval appeared in Project 86's self-titled album in the song "Six Sirens".

In 2004 he contributed to two tracks on Anastacia's self titled album, "Seasons Change" and "I Do".

He has been named number 63 in Hit Parader's Top 100 Metal Vocalists of All Time in 2006. He is currently involved with EXIT Concerts and his own organization, The Whosoevers.

In 2009, Sandoval appeared on Tribal Seeds' new album The Harvest, in the song "Warning".

In 2010, Sandoval appeared on War of Ages' fourth album release Eternal, in the song "Eternal".

In 2010, Sandoval appeared on Lecrae's fourth album release Rehab, in the song "Children of the Light".

In 2011, Sandoval appeared on Dominic Balli's single, "American Dream".

References

1. ^ P.O.D. - Biography
2. ^ Smith, Debra (Spring 2011). Price, Tom. ed. "The Whosoevers - Bringing Youth to Christ (Sonny's Testimony)". Calvary Chapel Magazine (Calvary Chapel Magazine) 47: 36–43. 
3. ^ Harris, Dan (May 18, 2006). "Rock Star's Baby Name Rockets up Charts for Kids". ABC News. http://www.abcnews.go.com/WNT/story?id=1977660. Retrieved 2006-05-30. 
4. ^ Lee, Jennifer 8. (May 18, 2006). "And if It's a Boy, Will It Be Lleh?". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/18/us/18heaven.html?ex=1305604800&en=0606bfab6929a5f0&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss. Retrieved 2006-05-30. 
5. ^ Sonny explains why he cut his dreads. Feb 28, 2008. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1oenxQnAVk. 

External links

• The Whosoevers Official Website
• Official website
• P.O.D. on MySpace
• The Warriors Tour Official Site
• P.O.D. Promotions Crew: Official Street Team
• theSouthtown.com
• EXIT Concerts

Persondata
Name	Sandoval, Sonny
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	May 16, 1973
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death