Jon Oliva

John Nicholas "Jon" Oliva (born July 22, 1959) is an American singer and musician.

He is best known as the co-founder, keyboardist and lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Savatage, which he co-founded with his younger brother Criss Oliva.

His family moved around a lot when Jon and Criss were young, living in California for four years until moving to Florida in 1976.

Much like his brother Criss, Jon found music his calling during the family's time in California.

Starting off with his father's piano, Jon dabbled in guitars, pianos and drums before buying "a really ugly bass".

Jon and Criss continued their musical exploits and played a block party, playing Kiss, Deep Purple and ZZ Top covers.

Although originally the guitar player of the brothers, Jon quickly realized Criss's talent was superior to his and stuck to singing and swapped with his brother and played bass.

Wacholz was very familiar with the Oliva brothers, who he first met in 1977.

He saw Criss play at a local high school and was blown away.

Very soon after, he auditioned for Jon's band, Alien.

When he got to the audition, Wacholz recognized Criss and Jon as part of the band who had impressed him so much at the high school show.

Steve would eventually join a new version of Avatar, joined later by bass player Keith Collins, who originally knew the band as they hired his equipment.

Jon felt restrained by playing instruments and subsequently stuck to being the band's lead vocalist.

Avatar initially received exposure via a free Tampa Bay music publication called Music Magazine, who recommended the band to Tampa radio station WYNF, who were holding a contest for a spot on an LP.

Avatar opened both sides of the LP with tracks "Rock Me" and "Minus Love".

WYNF also gave the fledgling band concerts.

Having been kicked out of high school in 1978, Jon needed a job, and was lucky enough to join a band called Metropolis, a band playing Bad Company and Alice Cooper cover songs.

This gave Jon his first touring experience as the band played bars and clubs in various parts of Florida, but Jon quickly grew tired of the bars and clubs, leaving the band later that year.

Jon and Criss re-united to form Avatar, out of their two most recent bands, Alien and Tower respectively.

Avatar would later become Savatage.

Earning the envy of most other Floridan bands due to their "awesome equipment", Avatar was originally a five-piece, with Jon on drums and vocals, and Criss on guitar.

The band slowly drifted apart until Jon and Criss remained, and the two got jobs at "The Pit", a practice shack where they met Steve Wacholz.

Atlantic quickly got Savatage signed to a deal, but Savatage finished out their deal with Par, releasing EP The Dungeons Are Calling in 1984.

The band's first release for Atlantic was unleashed in 1985, entitled Power of the Night, the album was produced by Max Norman, who had produced the legendary Ozzy Osbourne albums Blizzard of Ozz and Diary of a Madman as well as producing Megadeth's hit 1992 album, Countdown to Extinction among others.

During this time, the band hired Johnny Lee Middleton to replace Keith Collins on bass duties due to musical differences.

Savatage were finally getting exposure, but in 1986, the band released Fight for the Rock, a stab at mainstream success that was driven primarily by Atlantic.

Jon himself refers to the record as Fight for the Nightmare.

The material was written mostly by Jon and Criss in the kitchen of the apartment the band was staying in.

Some of the songs were written in the studio, such as "Lady In Disguise."

Since 1996 he has also been a songwriter, musician and vocalist in Trans-Siberian Orchestra.

Producer Paul O'Neill referred to Oliva in numerous interviews as the single greatest vocalist/musician he has ever worked with.

Oliva was born in The Bronx, New York City.

In late 2006, footage was released onto the internet of an early performance by Avatar at a gig in a Clearwater, Florida parking lot and was prominent in featuring an early version of the song "Holocaust", which would later be released on Savatage's first album and a cover of Van Halen's "Eruption" and the latter's version of "You Really Got Me".

Avatar's rising local stardom enabled them to record an LP with Par Records.

An initial EP, entitled City Beneath the Surface sold 1000 copies, and Par Records invited Avatar back to the studio to record a full album.

However, there was an issue with a European band called Avatar who disagreed to the usage of the name, and the band needed to find a solution and fast, as the album was due to be pressed the following day.

Jon and Criss were playing cards with their wives when they got a phone call and after initial tweaking, they finally arrived at Savatage.

That full album was Sirens, the first Savatage record.

The new name did not change the band's attitude or rave reviews.

Quickly, Atlantic Records were becoming interested in the band, and label reps flew in from New York to see the band perform.