Daron Malakian (; ; born July 18, 1975) is an Armenian-American musician. He is the guitarist, songwriter, and second vocalist of the metal band System of a Down, and the lead vocalist, lead guitarist, multi-instrumentalist, and songwriter of Daron Malakian and Scars on Broadway.
Malakian was ranked 47th in Loudwires list of "Top 50 Hard Rock + Metal Guitarists of All Time" and number 11 in MusicRadars poll "The 20 Greatest Metal Guitarists Ever". He placed 30th in Guitar Worlds list of "The 100 Greatest Heavy Metal Guitarists of All Time".
Biography
Daron Malakian was born on July 18, 1975, in Hollywood, California, the only child to Armenian parents Vartan and Zepur Malakian (née Markarian). His father, Vartan, is a painter, dancer, and choreographer from Mosul, Iraq, and his mother is a sculptor who instructed college-level sculpting earlier in her career. saying in an interview, "For the first year and a half, I learned how to play by ear, and did alright. After a few years I gained a reputation as a guitarist in high school. And by 16 or 17 I actually realized it was a good songwriting instrument, and, over anything, that's what I feel like. I don't pretend to be Mr. Guitar Virtuoso." During his teens Malakian listened to thrash metal bands such as Slayer, They recruited drummer Andy Khachaturian, who was then replaced by John Dolmayan in 1997.
Malakian co-produced System of a Down's albums with Rick Rubin, as well as albums by the Ambulance and Bad Acid Trip (a band on fellow member Serj Tankian's Serjical Strike Records). This sudden cancellation prompted speculation and rumors that the band had broken up. It was the last that would be heard of Malakian for more than a year.
Malakian stayed out of the public eye following his cancellation of the tour in support of Scars on Broadway's debut album in October 2008. In 2009 Malakian made a surprise appearance (his first in a year) at Shavo Odadjian's Halloween Party and played "Suite-Pee", "They Say", and an unknown song with Odadjian, Dolmayan and Scars on Broadway's Franky Perez on guitar. It was the first time that the band members (minus Tankian, who was working on his second solo album) performed together in more than three years.
In August 2009, Scars on Broadway, minus Malakian, traveled to Iraq for a USO tour across the U.S. army bases. Their setlist consisted of covers as well as a few Scars songs. Guitarist/vocalist Franky Perez stated on his Twitter that "the Scars tunes sound amazing but they're not the same without D..." He also stated before they left that Malakian had given them his blessing. In 2009 Franky Perez mentioned on his Twitter that he and the D-Man (Malakian) were going into the studio to jam, this was the first news people have heard about Malakian's whereabouts for about a year.
On November 20, 2009, Malakian played at the Chi Cheng Benefit concert along with Deftones, and also performed with Odadjian and Dolmayan. Malakian, Odadjian, and Dolmayan played "Aerials" and "Toxicity". He appeared on Cypress Hill's 2010 album Rise Up, on one song, "Trouble Seeker", which he also produced.
On May 2, 2010, Malakian reunited with Scars on Broadway at the Troubadour in West Hollywood. It was the first time he had performed with the band since October 2008. The group played songs from their album as well as new songs. Odadjian performed with the band for two songs, playing guitar. On August 20, 2010, Malakian played in Hollywood with Scars on Broadway. On November 29, 2010, it was announced that System of a Down would reunite for a European tour to take place in June 2011. They played at the Download Festival on June 11, 2011. Despite playing a number of reunion shows, the band had no plans to record new material. In October 2011, John Dolmayan expressed his interest in writing new material but stated that band members were all busy with their other projects (such as Malakian's Scars on Broadway and Serj Tankian's solo efforts).
On July 29, 2010, Scars on Broadway released their first new studio recording in exactly two years, a Malakian-penned song called "Fucking". On February 24, 2012, System of a Down announced that the Scars on Broadway website was back online featuring a preview of a new song called "Guns Are Loaded".
In 2014, he appeared on Linkin Park's sixth studio album The Hunting Party, for which he provided additional guitars for the promotional single "Rebellion". The promotional single was self-produced by Mike Shinoda and Brad Delson. On August 18, 2016, Malakian performed with the Los Angeles–based alternative music project Millennials.
On October 28, 2017, Malakian performed with the members of Linkin Park which played a show at the Hollywood Bowl dedicated to the passing of their frontman Chester Bennington. He performed "Rebellion" alongside SOAD bassist Shavo Odadjian.
On April 23, 2018, Malakian released a song with Scars on Broadway called "Lives" about the history and culture of Armenia.
On July 20, 2018, Malakian and Scars on Broadway released the album Dictator.
The third album Addicted to the Violence was announced on June 6, 2025, set to be released on July 18, 2025. The first single, "Killing Spree", was released on the day of the announcement.
Personal life
Malakian is not married and has no children. In a 2019 Kerrang! interview, it was revealed that he is dating Gayané Khechoomian.
He is a sports enthusiast and a lifelong fan of the Washington Commanders, Edmonton Oilers and the Los Angeles Kings. He has a large collection of Oilers-related memorabilia and has held Kings season tickets since 1999. Malakian has been described as a fan of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
In a 2006 interview, Malakian said he has not consumed alcohol since he was 21 years old, but that he smokes "an insane amount of weed."
Musical styles and influences
In addition to rock and heavy metal music, Malakian has been influenced by other musical genres. In 2018, he stated that he grew up listening to Armenian, Arabic, and Greek music. "I grew up with Armenian, Middle Eastern and Greek music — going to Armenian weddings, going to Armenian events. My family listened to an Egyptian singer named Umm Kulthum. She's the diva of Middle Eastern music. In the Arabic world, she is the goddess of Arabic singing. Umm Kulthum is like the Aretha Franklin. She's very important to me and my style. Music became my art form because of Umm Kulthum — that's because when my mom was pregnant with me, she would sing a lot of Umm Kulthum songs. I can't explain how I got into music. Music found me. I was in love with music ever since I was born. Umm Kulthum and Abdel Halim Hafez are two Arabic singers that are very respected in that community of music that are huge influences on my life. As a guitar player, I play Arabic scales. It comes more natural to me. Traditionally, American guitar players play more blues scales, and rock & roll comes from 12-bar blues. For me, Arabic music scales leak out of me effortlessly".
Discography
Features
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! rowspan="2" style="text-align:center; width:10px;"|Year
! rowspan="2" style="text-align:center; width:180px;"|Featured in single
! style="text-align:center; width:20px;"|Peak positions
! rowspan="2" style="text-align:center; width:180px;"|Album
|-
! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:90%;" | FR<br />
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|2010
| "Trouble Seeker"<br /><small>(Cypress Hill featuring Daron Malakian)</small>
| style="text-align:center;"|–
| style="text-align:center;" |Rise Up
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|2014
| "Rebellion"<br /><small>(Linkin Park featuring Daron Malakian)</small>
| style="text-align:center;"|83
| style="text-align:center;" |The Hunting Party
|}
System of a Down
- System of a Down (1998)
- Toxicity (2001)
- Steal This Album! (2002)
- Mezmerize (2005)
- Hypnotize (2005)
Scars on Broadway
- Scars on Broadway (2008)
- Dictator (2018)
- Addicted to the Violence (2025)
Other appearances
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center"
|-
! Year !! Artist !! Song !! Release and/or explanation
|-
| colspan=12 | Live performances
|-
| rowspan="2" | 2000 || Metallica <small>(featuring Jonathan Davis and Daron Malakian)</small> || "One" ||
|-
|Metallica <small>(featuring Serj Tankian and Daron Malakian)</small> || "Mastertarium" ||
|-
| rowspan="2" | 2003 || Metallica <small>(featuring Shavo Odadjian and Daron Malakian)</small> || "Creeping Death" || Reading Festival 2003
|-
| The Ambulance <small>(featuring Daron Malakian)</small> || "Stop" ||
|-
| 2010 || Cypress Hill || "Trouble Seeker" || Rise Up
|-
| 2014 || Linkin Park || "Rebellion" || The Hunting Party
|-
| 2017 || Linkin Park <small>(featuring Daron Malakian, Shavo Odadjian and Frank Zummo)</small> || "Rebellion" || Linkin Park and Friends: Celebrate Life in Honor of Chester Bennington
|}
Production credits
{|class="wikitable"
|-
! Year
! style="width:200px;"| Album
! style="width:200px;"| Artist
! style="width:250px;"| Credit(s)
|-
| 1998
| System of a Down
| rowspan="3"|System of a Down
| Producer <small>(credited as System of a Down)</small>
|-
| 2001
| Toxicity
| rowspan="2"|Producer
|-
| 2002
| Steal This Album!
|-
| rowspan="2"|2004
| Death Before Musick
| Amen
| Executive producer
|-
| Lynch the Weirdo
| Bad Acid Trip
| rowspan="6"|Producer
|-
| rowspan="2"|2005
| Mezmerize
| rowspan="2"|System of a Down
|-
| Hypnotize
|-
| 2008
| Scars on Broadway
|Scars on Broadway
|-
|2018
|Dictator
|Scars on Broadway
|-
|2025
|Addicted to the Violence
|Scars on Broadway
|-
|}
See also
- History of the Armenian Americans in Los Angeles
References
External links
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