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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 band's 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 has two solo albums, entitled "John West's Mind Journey" (1997) and "Permanent Mark" (1998). Furthermore, he made a guest appearance on James Murphy's "Feeding the Machine" (1999). However, John was still looking for an opportunity to join a real touring band, where he could become a permanent member. In the summer of 1999 he was approached by Royal Hunt to fly to Copenhagen and do an audition. 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". In 2001 John joined Artension again to record their reunion album "Sacred Pathways". Visit John's web site