Danko Jones (musician)

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Danko Jones
Danko Jones - 2024172193617 2024-06-20 Alpen Flair - Sven - 1D X MK II - 1486 - AK8I9327 (cropped).jpg
Jones at Alpen Flair festival in 2024
Background information
Birth nameRishi James Ganjoo [1]
Also known as
  • The Mango Kid
  • Mocha Moses
  • Dr. Evening
  • Dee
Born Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Genres
Occupations
  • Singer
  • musician
  • composer
  • musical journalist
Instruments
  • Guitar
  • vocals
Years activelate 1980s/early 1990s–present
Member of
Formerly of
  • The Violent Brothers
  • Dapper Dan Trio
  • Horshack
  • 3 Reasons to Puke
Website dankojones.com

Danko Jones, born Rishi James Ganjoo, [1] is a Canadian rock singer, guitarist and writer. He is the frontman, singer and guitarist of the eponymous rock trio, which was formed in 1996 and has released eleven studio albums. Jones has appeared as a guest on several recordings by different artists and also contributes as a music journalist and columnist for The Huffington Post , the Toronto Star and the Toronto Sun, in addition to hosting his own podcast series. [2]

Contents

Early life

Born and raised in Toronto, Jones first played an acoustic guitar at age six before quickly giving up due to the strings hurting his fingers. [2] [3] He later received a blue Squier Stratocaster electric guitar for Christmas after getting into rock music. [3] While attending high school, he was the bassist in his first band 3 Reasons to Puke (3RP) along with guitarist KongDuro. [4]

Career

Jones studied at film school before he decided to drop out ahead of graduation and pursue a career in music. [2] He was first part of the garage rock duo The Violent Brothers and later formed the hard rock band Danko Jones, after his namesake, together with John Calabrese and Michael Caricari in 1996. [2] [5] Following extensive touring in North America and later Europe, the band released their debut album Born a Lion in 2002. The band's latest studio album, Leo Rising, is set to be released on November 21, 2025. [6]

In 2004, Jones released the spoken word album The Magical World of Rock. [7] On 24 June 2006, Jones joined Motörhead onstage during their set at Hellfest to sing "Killed by Death". [8] While supporting Guns N' Roses on the North American leg of their Chinese Democracy Tour in 2010, Jones joined the band onstage to perform "Nightrain" on 10 January, together with Sebastian Bach and Nick Sterling, and "Patience" on 4 February.

A book about Jones authored by Stuart Berman was released in October 2012: Too Much Trouble: A Very Oral History of Danko Jones. [9] On 12 June 2018, Jones released the essay book I've Got Something to Say about his experiences in the music business. [10] In September 2020, he announced the vocal noise project Throat Funeral, releasing the album OU812112 that same year. [11]

Gear and equipment

Jones used a cherry Fender Telecaster during the early years of the Danko Jones band, before switching to Gibson guitars in 2006 and a black Gibson Explorer Standard with a P-94T bridge pickup in 2007. [12] [13] He switched to Gibson SG models in 2013, [13] with his main live guitar being a 2011 Melody Maker in Satin White, acquired for the music video for the single "It's a Beautiful Day". In 2014, Jones switched to that year's SG Standard model in Alpine White, while the Melody Maker was relegated to backup, and he has also used a black 2012 Standard with P-90 pickups. [14] In 2019, he started playing Hagström guitars and the Metropolis model. [12] He also uses the Ultra Max and Ultra Max GT models. [15]

Discography

With The Violent Brothers

With Danko Jones

Studio albums

EPs

Compilations

Live albums

  • Live at Wacken (2016)

With Iron Magazine

EP

  • Queen of Hell (2017)

With Throat Funeral

As guest singer and writer

As solo artist

Videography

Filmography

Books

Literature

References

  1. 1 2 Farrell, David. "Media Beat: June 25, 2020 | Billboard Canada". ca.billboard.com. Billboard Canada. Retrieved 8 January 2024.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Hobson, Rich (29 September 2021). "Danko Jones: conquering the world one riff at a time". Louder. Retrieved 27 June 2025.
  3. 1 2 Raman, Liz. "Danko Jones Discusses His First Guitars and Admiration for Eddie Van Halen". Loudwire. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
  4. ↑ "Danko Jones on Instagram: "How cool is this… Got my Power Trio skateboard made by Nathan from @theotherssk8co. His dad, @kongduro, and I were in our first band together - 3 Reasons To Puke (3RP) back in high school. @oasisskateboardfactory (note the I against I shirt)"". Instagram. Retrieved 14 January 2023.
  5. ↑ Grant, Kieran (16 December 1999). "Mr. Entertainment". Toronto Sun. Archived from the original on 14 May 2021. Retrieved 14 May 2021.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  6. ↑ Blabbermouth (18 June 2025). "DANKO JONES Announces 12th Studio Album 'Leo Rising'". BLABBERMOUTH.NET. Retrieved 27 June 2025.
  7. ↑ "Danko Jones Video". Kensingtontv.com. Retrieved 10 January 2020. Archived 2019-04-28 at the Wayback Machine
  8. ↑ Blabbermouth (12 March 2008). "DANKO JONES Performing 'Killed By Death' With MOTÖRHEAD In 2006; Video Available". BLABBERMOUTH.NET. Retrieved 30 June 2025.
  9. ↑ BraveWords. "Too Much Trouble – A Very Oral History of DANKO JONES Book Due In October". bravewords.com. Retrieved 29 April 2020.
  10. ↑ "I'VE GOT SOMETHING TO SAY – A book by Danko Jones". Bad Taste Empire. 11 September 2017. Retrieved 2 February 2020.
  11. ↑ BraveWords. "DANKO JONES To Release THROAT FUNERAL Vocal Noise Project Album This Friday - "If You Like THE BEACH BOYS You're Gonna Think It Sucks"". bravewords.com. Retrieved 26 September 2020.
  12. 1 2 Kovac, Adam (25 October 2021). "Danko Jones talks longevity, regrets and the evolution of his hard-rocking guitar tone". Guitar World. Retrieved 27 June 2025.
  13. 1 2 Bansal, Andrew. "Keeping Up with Jones: Guitarist Danko Jones Talks Kiss, Metallica, Volbeat and Gear". Guitarworld.com. Retrieved 30 April 2018.
  14. ↑ "Concert Review :: Danko Jones w/ Like a Motorcycle @ The Marquee Club (May 2/2015)". Halifaxbloggers.ca. Retrieved 30 April 2018.
  15. ↑ "Danko Jones on Tour!". www.hagstromguitars.com. 24 August 2023. Retrieved 27 June 2025.
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