System of a Down

1992
Daron Malakian met Serj Tankian, while they both shared the same rehearsal studio in different bands. They formed a jam band called Soil (Serj on vocals/keyboards and Daron on guitar; not to be confused with the Chicago band Soil) with Domingo Laranio (drums) and Dave Hakopyan (bass). Around this time, they also met Shavo Odadjian.

1993
With one supposed jam session recording and one live show, Dave and Domingo left, thinking the band wasn't going anywhere

1994
The band Soil broke up and Tankian and Malakian formed a new band "System of a Down," adapting the name from a poem Daron wrote entitled "Victims of the Down". Shavo Odadjian thought that the word System appealed to a much broader audience than "Victims," and they wanted their albums to be stored near the band Slayer. Odadjian was the band's original manager and promoter, but joined as the bassist, and managerial duties were taken over by the Velvet Hammer Music and Management Group and founder David "Beno" Benveniste.

System of a Down (sometimes simply referred to as SOAD or System) is an Armenian-American rock band from Glendale, California. System of a Down consists of Serj Tankian (lead vocals, keyboards and rhythm guitar), Daron Malakian (vocals and lead guitar), Shavo Odadjian (bass), John Dolmayan (drums).

1995
System of a Down quickly made what is known as their early Untitled 1995 Demo Tape, which had very early recordings of "Mr. Jack" (called "PIG"), along with a song called "Flaks," and an early recording of "The Metro," a cover of the Berlin song of the same name. It is rumored that there are other tapes made, which contain early recordings of "Friik," "36" (called ".36"), and "Roulette." Two other songs, "X" (called "Multiply") and "Honey" were live demos at the time and were played at very early shows.

The band recorded three public demos, which have been numbered as Demo Tape 1 to 3, as the early 1995 demo was not discovered until much later.

Many of the songs featured on the demos would eventually make their way onto the band's debut album.

1997
Khachaturian left the band due to a hand injury.

Soon after playing at the Whisky-A-Go-Go and Viper Room with new drummer John Dolmayan, the band caught the attention of producer Rick Rubin, who asked them to keep in touch with him. Showing great interest, they recorded yet another demo near the end of that year. This demo, however, was made only to be sent to record companies. The tape was not released to the public until years later when it was leaked onto the Internet.

After Rick helped them get signed onto American/Columbia Records, System of a Down began to record in his studio.

The group won the Best Signed Band award from the Rock City Awards.

1998
JUNE [30] System of a Down released their debut album, System of a Down.

SEP [27] They enjoy moderate success with the release of first single "Sugar", which becomes a radio favourite

After the release of the album, the band toured extensively, opening for Slayer and Metallica before making their way to the second stage of Ozzfest.

Following Ozzfest, they toured with Fear Factory and Incubus before headlining the Sno-Core Tour with Puya, Mr. Bungle, The Cat and Incubus providing support.

1999
FEB The single "Spiders" is released

2000
The band contributed their cover of the Black Sabbath song "Snowblind" to the Black Sabbath tribute album Nativity in Black 2.

2001
AUG "Chop Suey", the first single from their upcoming album is released

SEP [4] Their second album Toxicity is releaed. It debuted at #1 on the American and Canadian charts, eventually achieving multi-platinum certification. The album has since sold 7 million copies worldwide and is the only album of System of a Down that doesn't have a parental guidance sticker on the cover.

[11] It was the top album in America on the week of the September 11, 2001 attacks and the political environment caused by the attacks added to the controversy surrounding their hit single "Chop Suey!" causing it to be taken off the radio as it contained politically sensitive lyrics at the time such as "(I don't think you) trust in my self-righteous suicide."

Regardless, the video gained constant play on MTV as did the second single, "Toxicity." Even with the controversy surrounding "Chop Suey!", which earned a Grammy nomination, System of a Down still received constant airplay in the United States throughout late 2001 and 2002 with "Toxicity" and "Aerials" which also earned a Grammy nomination in 2003. .

The band went on tour with Slipknot in the United States.

After seeing the success of the tour, System and Slipknot went on a Pledge of Allegiance Tour with Rammstein, Mudvayne, and No One in 2002.

In late 2001, a few unreleased tracks made their way onto the Internet. The group released a statement that the tracks were unfinished material. Soon after, the band released the final versions of the songs, which were recorded at the same time, but hadn't been used for Toxicity.

2002
JAN [23] The single "Toxicity" is released

System of a Down was nominated for a Grammy Award in Best Metal Performance for their song Chop Suey! but lost to Schism by Tool

JUNE [11] The single "Aerials" is released

The song "Innervision" was released as a promo single and received constant airplay on alternative radio

NOV [26] Steal This Album! is released. The album did not feature a booklet, and its disc resembled a CD-R that was marked with a felt-tip marker. 50,000 special copies of the album with different CD designs were also released, each designed by a different member of the band. The name of the album is a reference to Abbie Hoffman's counter-culture book, Steal This Book and as a message to those who stole the songs and released them on the Internet.

A video for "Boom!" was filmed with director Michael Moore as a protest against the War in Iraq.

2003
System of a Down was nominated for a Grammy Award in Best Hard Rock Performance for Aerials but lost to All My Life by Foo Fighters

2004
The group produced a double album, with the two parts released six months apart.

2005
System of a Down won for Best Alternative Act in the Europe Music Awards

MAY [7] The song "B.Y.O.B." is performed on Saturday Night Live

[17] The album, Mezmerize is released, to favorable reviews by critics. It debuted at #1 in the United States, Canada, Australia and all around the world, making it System of a Down's second #1 album. First week sales rocketed to over 800,000 copies worldwide.

[23] The song "Question!" is first premiered by the famous Los Angeles, California radio station KROQ

JULY [12] The song "Question!" is released to alternative and rok radio stations

AUG [5] The music video for "Question!" is released on MTV and the band's website. Shavo Odadjian co-directed the music video

[23] The single "B.Y.O.B.," is released. The song which questions the integrity of military recruiting in America, worked its way up the Billboard Modern Rock and Mainstream Rock charts.

Following the release of Mezmerize, the band toured extensively throughout the United States and Canada with The Mars Volta and Bad Acid Trip supporting.

SEP [28] The music video for "Hypnotize" is filmed at the Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, Michigan

NOV The single "Hypnotize" is released. It reached #1 on Billboard's Hot Modern Rock Tracks

[22] The album, Hypnotize is released. Like Mezmerize, it debuted at #1 in the US, making System of a Down, along with The Beatles, Guns 'N Roses, and rappers 2Pac and DMX, the only artists to ever have two studio albums debut at #1 in the same year.

2006
FEB System of a Down won the Grammy for Best Hard Rock Performance for "B.Y.O.B.," beating out other established artists such as Nine Inch Nails and Robert Plant.

MAR Their second single off the Hypnotize album, "Lonely Day" is released in the United States.

System of a Down released "Kill Rock 'N Roll" and "Vicinity of Obscenity" as their next promo singles.

The band headlined Ozzfest in cities where tour founder Ozzy Osbourne opted not to appear or wasn't playing on the main stage.

System of a Down's songs were used in the film Screamers, directed by Carla Garapedian. They appeared in the movie, in an interview talking about the importance of helping create awareness and recognition of the Armenian Genocide. Screamers debuted in theaters in large city markets such as New York City, Detroit, Washington D.C., San Francisco, Fresno, Providence, and Boston. An earlier engagement started exclusively in Los Angeles on December 8, 2006.

Lonely Day appeared on the soundtrack for the movie Disturbia.

System of a Down was honored at the USC v. Cal game at the Los Angeles Coliseum in Los Angeles, CA. The Trojan Marching Band, along with Dolmayan and Odadjian, performed three System of a Down songs: Toxicity, Sugar, and Hypnotize. .

VH1 listed Toxicity in the #14 slot in the 40 Greatest Metal Songs

The band announced they were going on hiatus. Malakian has confirmed the break will probably last a few years, which Odadjian specified as a minimum of three years in an interview with Guitar magazine. He told MTV, "We're not breaking up. If that was the case, we wouldn't be doing this Ozzfest. We're going to take a very long break after Ozzfest and do our own things. We've done System for over ten years, and I think it's healthy to take a rest."

During their performance in Houston, Texas, Malakian also took a moment to say, "There's been a lot of rumors about us breaking up. Well, don't listen to them. Us four right here, we will always be System of a Down!" However, Malakian announced he was forming a band called Scars on Broadway, which was joined by Dolmayan.

AUG [13] The group went on indefinite hiatus.

[13] System of a Down's final performance before their hiatus took place in West Palm Beach, Florida. "Tonight will be the last show we play for a long time together," Malakian told the crowd during Sunday's last performance. "We'll be back. We just don't know when."

System of a Down won their first Grammy for Best Hard Rock Performance for B.Y.O.B.

System of a Down won the "MTV Good Woodie Award" for their song Question!

System of a Down's song Toxicity was #14 on the VH1 Top 40 Metal Songs list

2007
System of a Down's song Lonely Day was nominated for Best Hard Rock Performance in the 49th Grammy Awards, but lost to Woman by Wolfmother

Shavo Odadjian told Launch Radio Networks in 2007 that System of a Down is "alive and well", but just aren't working together.

OCT [23] Tankian released the single Empty Walls off his debut solo album Elect the Dead

Dolmayan, as well working with Scars on Broadway, planned to open a comic book store online by November 2007

2008
APR In an interview with Kerrang magazine, guitarist Daron Malakian and drummer John Dolmayan gave their takes on the band's future. When told that many people are going to wonder what the future of the band is, Malakian responded by stating that "We'll all know when the time is right." Dolmayan added, "It'll just happen."

JULY [29] Scars on Broadway released their debut self-titled album.

Odadjian will be working on a project with RZA of Wu-Tang Clan named AcHoZeN as well as his urSESSION website/record label.