Sonny Sandoval

Sonny Sandoval
Background information
Birth name	Paul Joshua Sandoval
Also known as	Sonny
Born	May 16 1973 (1973-05-16) (age 34)
Origin	U.S.
Occupation(s)	Singer
Instrument(s)	Vocals
Years active	1992-present
Associated acts	P.O.D.

Paul Joshua "Sonny" Sandoval (born May 16, 1973) is an American singer. He is best known as the lead singer of the nu metal band P.O.D. Sandoval was born in San Diego, California to a Guamanian-Italian mother-Aurelia, and a Spanish-Hawaiian father-Daniel.^[1] He identifies himself as Pacific Islander and Mexican-American, although he is commonly identified by his fans as Caucasian and refer to him as "the white guy in the band." He grew up in a Mexican-American barrio of San Diego, and joined a gang at 13. He was a heavy smoker of marijuana and a drinker during his teenage years. However, in 1992, when he was 18, Sandoval's mother, a devout Christian, died of leukemia at the age of 37. As his mother was of a Christian faith, this was a huge influence over Sonny especially after her death. He quickly turned his life around, and became a Christian MC. He later joined the band Enoch, a band started by Wuv Bernardo, Gabe Portillo and Marcos Curiel, which, with the addition of Sandoval, became P.O.D. Sandoval appears on Anastacia's 2004 album Anastacia on the track "I Do." The track is about fighting war, violence, and crime. His band P.O.D. has toured with Linkin Park, Story of the Year, and Hoobastank. On several occasions he has sung with Linkin Park on their song "One Step Closer" (which is their traditional set finale), in which he screamed "Shut up/ Shut up when I'm talking to you." Sandoval proclaims his musical roots to belong to reggae, rock, and rap - the cocktail which best personifies P.O.D.'s work. He is a big fan of Blindside, Deftones, and Korn -- all of whom he remains close friends with. He graduated from high school with current WWE superstar Rey Mysterio, and in 2006 the band re-enacted Rey Mysterios theme song Booyaka 619. He married his high school sweetheart Shannon Kelly in 1996, and they have two daughters, Nevaeh and Marley, and a son, Justice, who was born July 16th, 2007. Sandoval is widely credited with the sudden popularity of the name Nevaeh, which, as he revealed on MTV Cribs, is Heaven spelled backwards.^[2][3] He has also been named number 63 in Hit Parader's Top 100 Metal Vocalists of All Time in 2006. He has recently cut his dreadlocks off, but hasn't been seen without wearing a hat.

External links

• Official website
• The Warriors Tour Official Site
• P.O.D. Promotions Crew: Official Street Team
• theSouthtown.com
• Latinwarriorklan
• Polishwarriorklan
• Dutchwarriorklan
• P.O.D. on MySpace

References

1. ^ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1245462/bio
2. ^ Harris, Dan. "Rock Star's Baby Name Rockets up Charts for Kids", ABC News, May 18, 2006. Retrieved on 2006-05-30. 
3. ^ Lee, Jennifer 8.. "And if It's a Boy, Will It Be Lleh?", The New York Times, May 18, 2006. Retrieved on 2006-05-30.