Serj Tankian is best known as the expressive frontman of the Grammy-winning System Of A Down, who pushed the sound of nu-metal into theatrically dramatic and frenzied rhythmic territory on songs like “Chop Suey!” and “Toxicity.” Born in Beirut, Lebanon, in 1967, Tankian moved to California with his family as a kid; he took up playing music and songwriting in college. As System Of A Down’s popularity increased in the late ’90s and early 2000s, he started a record label (Serjical Strike Records) and made guest appearances on songs by Snot and Tony Iommi. Tankian officially stepped out on his own with a 2007 full-length, Elect the Dead, that followed in System Of A Down’s rock-oriented footsteps. His subsequent solo work has often taken inspiration from jazz and classical; in addition to music, he’s been tireless about raising awareness of the World War I-era Armenian genocide, as his grandparents are survivors.