Jonathan Howsmon Davis was born and raised in Bakersfield, California. He recorded demos in his father's studio during his teenage years. Then he later joined a band called Sex Art, which also included Ryan Shuck (now he is the guitarist for Orgy). Sex Art only ever released one song, entitled "Inside". One night, when Sex Art was playing in a club, James 'Munky' Shaffer & Brian 'Head' Welch, then of "L.A.P.D.", saw him singing, and asked him to join their band "Creep". After Jon auditioned, he immediately got the job and they became Korn. KoRn have gone on to release twelve studio albums:

Korn (1994) Life Is Peachy (1996) Follow the Leader (1998) Issues (1999) Untouchables (2002) Take a Look in the Mirror (2003) See You on the Other Side (2005) Untitled album (2007) Korn III: Remember Who You Are (2010) The Path of Totality (2011) The Paradigm Shift (2013) Serenity of Suffering (2016)

In 2012, Jonathan Davis released two EDM/Dubstep albums under the monikers, JDevil and Killbot: Sound Surgery.

In 2012, Davis became an advocate for the Wounded Warriors program, which aids and spreads awareness to the wounded veterans of war, and also starred in the Wounded Warriors documentary (2013).