Sonny Sandoval

Short Biography

Paul Joshua "Sonny" Sandoval (born May 16, 1974) is an American singer and rapper. He is best known as co-founder and the lead vocalist of the alternative metal band P.O.D.Sandoval was born in San Diego, California to a Hawaiian-Chamorro mother and a Mexican-Italian father. He grew up in the Otay Mesa neighborhood of South San Diego, and joined a gang at age thirteen. He drank and used marijuana frequently during his teenage years. However, in 1992, when he was eighteen, Sandoval's mother died of leukemia at the age of 37. During her illness, Sandoval was greatly influenced by his mother's faith as a devout Christian. Turning his life around, he pursued a career as an MC. He later joined the band Enoch, a group started by Wuv Bernardo, Gabe Portillo and Marcos Curiel, which, with the addition of Sandoval, later became P.O.D. (acronym for "Payable On Death"). Sandoval states his musical roots as reggae, rock, and rap, all of which are apparent in P.O.D.