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Sonny Sandoval | |
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.JPG) Sandoval performing in 2013 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Paul Joshua Sandoval |
| Born | (1974-05-16)May 16, 1974 (age 50) San Diego, California, U.S. |
| Genres | |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1992–present |
| Labels | |
| Member of | P.O.D. |
| Formerly of | Unlicensed Product |
Paul Joshua "Sonny"Sandoval (born May 16, 1974)[1] is an American musician, rapper, singer, and songwriter. He is best known as the co-founder and lead vocalist ofChristiannu metal bandP.O.D.
Sandoval was born inSan Diego, California.[1] to a Chamorro-Hawaiian mother and a Mexican-Italian father.[2] When he was eighteen, Sandoval's mother was diagnosed withleukemia.[3] During her illness, Sandoval was greatly influenced by his mother's faith as a devoutChristian.[4][5]
Sandoval is best known as co-founder and the lead vocalist of the metal band P.O.D. Over the course of their career, the band has received threeGrammy Award nominations, contributed to numerous motion picture soundtracks and toured internationally. They have sold over 12 million records worldwide.[3] With their third studio album,The Fundamental Elements of Southtown, P.O.D. achieved their initial mainstream success; the album was certifiedplatinum by theRIAA in 2000.[6][7]
Since 2008, Sandoval has been part of an outreach group,The Whosoevers, with Ryan Ries,Lacey Sturm, ofFlyleaf, andBrian Welch, guitarist for the nu metal bandKorn.
Before the formation of P.O.D., Sandoval was a member of a rap/hip-hop group in high school called Unlicensed Product.[8]
Sandoval appeared inProject 86'sself-titled album in the song "Six Sirens". In 2004, he contributed to two tracks onAnastacia'sself titled album, "Seasons Change" and "I Do". He has been named number 63 inHit Parader's Top 100 Metal Vocalists of All Time in 2006.
Sandoval published autobiographySon of Southtown on February 25th, 2025.[8][9]
In 2023, the City of San Diego declared June 23 to be "Sonny Sandoval Day," meant to honor the vocalist.[10]
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 onMTV Cribs, is "heaven" spelled backwards.[11][12] He resides in San Diego.[13]
For most of P.O.D.'s career, Sandoval was well known for hisdreadlocks (which, by the release of the video for "Going in Blind", reached his waist). At the time of the release of P.O.D.'s seventh studio album,When Angels & Serpents Dance, he cut them off, but has since regrown them.[14]
P.O.D. was with Atlantic for four albums and two EPs. The band signed with Atlantic in 1998, after selling more than 40,000 copies of its independently released EPs. The group's Atlantic debut, "The Fundamental Elements of Southtown", came out in 1999 and went platinum, while 2001's "Satellite" was a multi-platinum success. But the group felt that personnel changes at Atlantic were responsible for recent sales dips — more than 500,000 copies of 2003's "Payable On Death" were sold, but less than 250,000 copies of the recent "Testify".
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