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Jon Schaffer
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Jon Schaffer
Jon Ryan Schaffer (/ˈʃeɪfər/ SHAY-fər; born March 15, 1968) is an American heavy metal musician. He is the rhythm guitarist, bandleader and principal songwriter of the Indiana-based heavy metal band Iced Earth, which he formed in 1985 under the name Purgatory. He is also the lead singer in his political side project Sons of Liberty and, until 2021, played guitar for Demons & Wizards, his collaboration with Blind Guardian frontman Hansi Kürsch.
Schaffer pleaded guilty to crimes related to his participation in the January 6 United States Capitol attack in 2021 and was sentenced to three years probation before being pardoned in 2025.
Schaffer was originally introduced to rock music at the age of three. His older sister introduced Jon to bands such as Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Alice Cooper, and Blue Öyster Cult. In 1979, at the age of eleven, Schaffer attended a Kiss concert with his father. Since then, he has said that this was the moment when he realized what he wanted to do for a living.
Schaffer went to a Lutheran school for five years, during which he developed a lot of anger and rebellion, due to the abusive nature of the pastors. Allegedly, on one occasion, one of the pastors "shoved a bar of soap down Schaffer's throat", because the pastor felt threatened by his refusal to submit, after he could not answer Schaffer's questions about evolution versus creationism. According to Schaffer, this had an effect on him forming a band, so that he could "prove these people wrong".
In 1984, at the age of 16, Schaffer moved to Tampa, Florida. Shortly before he left, one of Schaffer's childhood friends died in a motorcycle accident, which made Schaffer even more determined to move to Florida and start a band. While in Tampa, Schaffer slept in his car. Later he nearly lost his life in a car accident, after which he got an apartment and a job as a roofer.
In 1984, Schaffer formed a short-lived band called "the Rose". The band quickly broke up, after which Jon formed what would later become Iced Earth under the name "Purgatory" on January 20, 1985. Schaffer played rhythm guitar and also designed the band's logo. The logo had originally been used for the Rose, but after the band broke up, Schaffer reused the logo for Purgatory and later for Iced Earth.
In 1990, after some line-up changes, the band, now known as Iced Earth, released their self-titled debut album. In addition to playing rhythm guitar and singing backing vocals, Jon also acted as co-producer on the album, as he has done on all Iced Earth albums since. The following year, the band released the follow-up album, Night of the Stormrider, which also featured Jon singing lead vocals on the song "Stormrider".
After some downtime between 1992 and 1995, Iced Earth re-emerged with a new line up, which included singer Matt Barlow, who would stay with the band until 2003. The band released the albums Burnt Offerings and The Dark Saga in 1995 and 1996 respectively, until in 1998, Iced Earth released the album Something Wicked This Way Comes, which featured three songs ("Prophecy", "Birth of the Wicked" and "The Coming Curse") that were based on Jon Schaffer's Something Wicked concept. The songs tell the story of a character that Jon created, called Set Abominae, who also appears on the album's front cover.
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Jon Schaffer
Jon Ryan Schaffer (/ˈʃeɪfər/ SHAY-fər; born March 15, 1968) is an American heavy metal musician. He is the rhythm guitarist, bandleader and principal songwriter of the Indiana-based heavy metal band Iced Earth, which he formed in 1985 under the name Purgatory. He is also the lead singer in his political side project Sons of Liberty and, until 2021, played guitar for Demons & Wizards, his collaboration with Blind Guardian frontman Hansi Kürsch.
Schaffer pleaded guilty to crimes related to his participation in the January 6 United States Capitol attack in 2021 and was sentenced to three years probation before being pardoned in 2025.
Schaffer was originally introduced to rock music at the age of three. His older sister introduced Jon to bands such as Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Alice Cooper, and Blue Öyster Cult. In 1979, at the age of eleven, Schaffer attended a Kiss concert with his father. Since then, he has said that this was the moment when he realized what he wanted to do for a living.
Schaffer went to a Lutheran school for five years, during which he developed a lot of anger and rebellion, due to the abusive nature of the pastors. Allegedly, on one occasion, one of the pastors "shoved a bar of soap down Schaffer's throat", because the pastor felt threatened by his refusal to submit, after he could not answer Schaffer's questions about evolution versus creationism. According to Schaffer, this had an effect on him forming a band, so that he could "prove these people wrong".
In 1984, at the age of 16, Schaffer moved to Tampa, Florida. Shortly before he left, one of Schaffer's childhood friends died in a motorcycle accident, which made Schaffer even more determined to move to Florida and start a band. While in Tampa, Schaffer slept in his car. Later he nearly lost his life in a car accident, after which he got an apartment and a job as a roofer.
In 1984, Schaffer formed a short-lived band called "the Rose". The band quickly broke up, after which Jon formed what would later become Iced Earth under the name "Purgatory" on January 20, 1985. Schaffer played rhythm guitar and also designed the band's logo. The logo had originally been used for the Rose, but after the band broke up, Schaffer reused the logo for Purgatory and later for Iced Earth.
In 1990, after some line-up changes, the band, now known as Iced Earth, released their self-titled debut album. In addition to playing rhythm guitar and singing backing vocals, Jon also acted as co-producer on the album, as he has done on all Iced Earth albums since. The following year, the band released the follow-up album, Night of the Stormrider, which also featured Jon singing lead vocals on the song "Stormrider".
After some downtime between 1992 and 1995, Iced Earth re-emerged with a new line up, which included singer Matt Barlow, who would stay with the band until 2003. The band released the albums Burnt Offerings and The Dark Saga in 1995 and 1996 respectively, until in 1998, Iced Earth released the album Something Wicked This Way Comes, which featured three songs ("Prophecy", "Birth of the Wicked" and "The Coming Curse") that were based on Jon Schaffer's Something Wicked concept. The songs tell the story of a character that Jon created, called Set Abominae, who also appears on the album's front cover.
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