John West was born on October 29 in New York. He began his musical career appearing as a drummer / singer in local bands in Cortland, N.Y at the age of 14. He became frontman at the age of 18.

In 1992 John moved to Los Angeles to join Badlands, replacing vocalist Ray Gillen. He toured with them until the bands eventual break-up. John moved to Northern California (Redding) and began touring with Michael Lee Firkins until 1996. During this time, John contributed to Marc Ferrari"s "Guestlist" album, and recorded all the vocals for Cozy Powell"s "Especially for you" release.

Later in 1996 John joined the band Artension, and recorded 4 studio albums between 1996 and 1999. He also released two solo albums, entitled John West"s Mind Journey (1997) and John West, Permanent Mark (1998). Furthermore, he made a guest appearance on James Murphy"s "Feeding the Machine" (1999).

In 1998 John toured as lead singer for the group Lynch Mob featuring George Lynch (Dokken). Lynch Mob with John played sold out shows to the delight of audiences in 13 U.S. cities

In the summer of 1999 he was approached by Royal Hunt to fly to Copenhagen and meet with the band regarding the open lead singer position in the band. After a couple of days in the studio, both parties felt comfortable with each other. A few weeks later, the decision was made. John West was on his way to start the recording of his first album with Royal Hunt - "Fear". The release of "Fear" was soon followed by a World Tour.

Royal Hunt"s "Intervention" released in early 2001 was comprised of new originals, live tracks, and re-makes of old Royal Hunt tunes with John on vocals. It became the first installment in the Mission trilogy, which included the main album-"The Mission", and a full-length bonus album, "The Watchers".

Late 2001 also saw the return of prog-powerhouse Artension with John once again at the helm. The new album entitled "Sacred Pathways" garnered rave reviews from fans and critics alike. There will most certainly be another Artension offering in the works shortly.

Fans around the world are clamoring to see Artension perform live, after the wildly successful Royal Hunt world tour of 2002 for "The Mission".

John currently writing and recording third solo release entitled "Earth Maker". John is joined with members of Halford and Savatage among others.

(Source: Official Site)