Davey Havok

Davey Havok, born David Paden Passaro on November 20, 1975, in Rochester, New York, is an American singer and performer best known as the lead vocalist of the rock band AFI. He later took the surname Marchand after his mother remarried following his father's death, which occurred when Havok was five years old. The family relocated from Rochester to Sacramento, California, and later to Ukiah, California in the late 1980s, where Havok graduated from Ukiah High School in 1993. He subsequently enrolled at the University of California, Berkeley, but left after his sophomore year as his career with AFI gained momentum. He is of Italian ancestry.

AFI originated during Havok's high school years, when he and friends Mark Stopholese and Vic Chalker decided to form a band despite not playing instruments. Adam Carson joined as drummer, and the group eventually solidified into the lineup that would achieve widespread recognition. After a brief dissolution when members departed for college, the band reunited following a well-received show at the Phoenix Theater. Their first album, Answer That and Stay Fashionable, was released in 1995 on Wingnut Records, followed by Very Proud of Ya on Nitro Records in 1996 and Shut Your Mouth and Open Your Eyes in 1997. The 1999 album Black Sails in the Sunset introduced the band's enduring lineup of Havok, Carson, Hunter Burgan, and Jade Puget. Sing the Sorrow, released in 2003 as the band's first major label record, achieved platinum certification in the United States and Canada and gold status in Australia. Decemberunderground followed on June 6, 2006, on Interscope Records, reaching the same certifications and eventually surpassing double platinum with over two million copies sold worldwide by 2013. Subsequent studio albums included Crash Love in 2009, Burials in 2013, and AFI, also known as The Blood Album, released January 20, 2017, through Concord Music Group. In 2023, AFI performed Sing the Sorrow in its entirety at a sold-out concert in Inglewood, California, marking the album's twentieth anniversary.

Beyond AFI, Havok has fronted several other musical projects. In 2000, he formed Son of Sam alongside members of the 1999 Samhain reunion lineup, releasing the album Songs from the Earth in 2001. His electronic collaboration with AFI guitarist Jade Puget, Blaqk Audio, debuted with CexCells on August 14, 2007, and has since released multiple albums including Bright Black Heaven in 2012, Material in 2016, Only Things We Love in 2019, Beneath the Black Palms in 2020, and Trop d'amour in 2022. In early 2014, Havok and Puget launched the straight edge metalcore project XTRMST, releasing a self-titled album through Dim Mak Records later that year. In 2016, Havok formed the new wave band Dreamcar with No Doubt members Tom Dumont, Tony Kanal, and Adrian Young; the band performed at Coachella in April 2017 and at Austin City Limits in October 2017.

In March 2011, Havok joined the Broadway cast of Green Day's American Idiot, performing the role of St. Jimmy. The production marked his Broadway debut, with the database placing his Broadway appearance in 2010, consistent with the show's run.

Havok's work outside music spans acting, writing, and fashion. He appeared in a supporting role in Sarah Jacobson's 1996 film Mary Jane's Not a Virgin Anymore and voiced the antagonist Dragos in the illustrated film series Godkiller beginning in 2009. He voiced the character Hay in John Roecker's 2006 stop-motion animated film Live Freaky! Die Freaky! and had a small role in the 2012 film Knife Fight. He also provided vocals for the fictional band My Purple Agony in the animated series Harvey Girls Forever. In February 2013, Havok announced the publication of his novel Pop Kids through Black Candy Publishing, with the book released in April 2013, followed by Love Fast Los Angeles in February 2018. His fashion ventures have included the clothing line Paden, available exclusively through Fred Segal stores in California beginning in 2007, and Zu Boutique, a vegan clothing and accessories line launched in August 2008 that also produced a limited-edition shoe collaboration with Macbeth Footwear in 2009.

Havok is a longtime advocate of veganism and the straight edge lifestyle. He has credited reading Diet for a New America by John Robbins as the catalyst for adopting a vegan diet and was named the winner of peta2's World's Sexiest Vegetarian contest in 2007. He appeared on the cover of Vegan Health and Fitness magazine in its March/April 2015 issue.