Jaz Coleman

Biography

Jeremy "Jaz" Coleman is an English singer and musician. He came to prominence in the early 1980s as the lead vocalist and keyboardist of post-punk group Killing Joke. In addition, Coleman has composed orchestral and soundtrack pieces. As Killing Joke's singer, Coleman is known for his raspy baritone voice and intense stage presence (occasionally appearing wearing face makeup). Bill Janovitz, writer for the website Allmusic, described Coleman's stage presence and voice as "almost always full-on in his approach, with a terrifying growl of a voice that is similar to that of Motörhead's Lemmy". In the first part of their career, Coleman also played synth while singing, adding electronic atonal sounds to create a disturbing atmosphere to their music. He still continues to play keyboards and synths in studio recordings. James Hetfield picked Coleman as one of his favourite singers. In November 2010, the band received the "Innovator Award" at the 2010 Classic Rock Roll of Honour; the award was presented to Killing Joke by admirer and friend Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin, who stated, "I go back a long way with Jaz Coleman and the band. I used to go and see the band, and it was a band that really impressed me. He moved to New Zealand in the 1990s and became a citizen of that country in 2018.