ZP De Villiers Theart (born 27 May 1975) is a South African singer, songwriter and the former lead vocalist for the British power metal band DragonForce and American rock band Skid Row. Theart was also hired by Riot Games for the voice of Karthus in the songs "Deathfire Grasp" and "Last Whisper" by the metal band Pentakill. Early life and first bands Theart was born on 27 May 1975 in Clanwilliam, Western Cape, South Africa, and grew up in Hazyview in the Eastern Transvaal (now the Mpumalanga province), on a banana and Lychee farm, and was raised there by his mother. His older brother lived with him as well. He has stated that according to his mother, at the age of three years, he began to hold a tablespoon up to his mouth, pretending that it was a microphone, and singing to whatever was on the radio. He has stated that in his early childhood, he listened to artists such as Gé Korsten, Carika Keuzenkamp and Rina Hugo, but his older brother began to introduce him to other music cassette tapes that he had gotten from high school, some of them being A-ha, Alphaville, Depeche Mode and then one day, Bon Jovi's Slippery When Wet, which is a favorite of Theart's. "I loved the way he pronounced the words and the way he wrote", he said in an interview. He then began to discover other favorite bands such as Mötley Crüe, Def Leppard, Iron Maiden, Metallica, and Skid Row. He stated that his two favorites were Bon Jovi and Skid Row. During his teen years, Theart fronted and played in many bands. Not all of them are known but one was a Pretoria-based band called Santaria which was active during the late eighties and early nineties. Some of the members were the current drummer of Cold Hand Chemistry, Robert Fick, ex-Strider guitarist Pierre Goosen, and Stefan Steyn. After Theart graduated high school, he moved away to London, England, seeking global popularity. In the late 1990s, Theart fronted a garage/hard rock band called Easy Voodoo. They released a demo in 1999 but shortly after its release, Theart left the band. In the early 2000s Theart worked as a shuttle bus driver for Edexcel, between Stewart House and Blundell Street. DragonForce In late 1999, Theart began to put out advertisements at Thin Ice Studios, which were eventually responded to by former Demoniac