ZP De Villiers Theart ( Tee-ART) (born 27 May 1974) is a South African born singer and the former lead vocalist and co-founder of the British power metal band DragonForce. He was also the lead vocalist for the British heavy metal band Tank and American hard rock band Skid Row. During his tenure as the vocalist of DragonForce, the band received a Grammy nomination for its song "Heroes of Our Time". Theart was also hired by League of Legends game creators Riot Games as the voice of Karthus for the official soundtrack songs "Deathfire Grasp" and "Last Whisper".
Early life and first bands
ZP Theart was born on 27 May 1974 in Clanwilliam, Western Cape, South Africa, and he grew up in Hazyview in the Eastern Transvaal (now the Mpumalanga province) on a banana and lychee farm. 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 South African artists such as Gé Korsten, Carika Keuzenkamp, and Rina Hugo, but his older brother introduced him to other music cassette tapes that he had brought home from high school, some of them being A-ha, Alphaville, Sandra and Depeche Mode. One day, he discovered Bon Jovi's Slippery When Wet, which became a favorite of Theart's.
