Jon Oliva was born in 1960. He began playing music at an early age, but did not settle on an instrument for quite some time. He eventually signed on to a band called Metropolis at the age of 17, playing both guitar and keyboards. The group broke up in 1978. Eventually, Oliva formed a group called Avatar, which became Savatage. In addition, but has managed to find time to record with the Savatage-related projects Doctor Butcher and Trans Siberian Orchestra. In 2003 he formed the group Jon Oliva's Pain, which has released four studio albums. In 2013 he released his debut solo album, Raise the Curtain, under the moniker Oliva. ~ Gary Hill