James Hart (born August 26, 1979) is an American vocalist, best known as the frontman and founding member of the

metalcore Metalcore is a broadly defined fusion genre combining elements of extreme metal and hardcore punk, originating in the 1990s United States and becoming popular in the 2000s. Metalcore typically has aggressive verses and melodic choruses, combined ...

band

Eighteen Visions Eighteen Visions is an American metalcore band from Orange County, California, formed in October 1995. The band broke up in April 2007, less than a year after their major label debut was released through Epic and Trustkill Records. After over a ...

. He was also the founding member and lead vocalist of the band

Burn Halo Burn Halo is an American hard rock band originating from Orange County, California and Tulsa, Oklahoma. It was formed by James Hart, lead singer of Orange County metalcore band Eighteen Visions although he left in 2016 and rejoined Eighteen Vi ...

, from its inception in 2007 until leaving in 2016.

Early life

Hart was born on August 26, 1979, in Chicago, Illinois. His family moved to California when he was 6. Growing up, he played baseball and football a lot. He considers himself a lifelong

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. Th ...

and

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...

fan. His parents separated and divorced when he was 11, with his father moving away back to Chicago. In 2017, Hart said that both of his parents had been struggling with alcohol at that time, which, in his opinion, ruined their marriage and chance for a happy family life. He also cited that as a major driving force behind his abstinence from alcohol and drugs from a very young age. He graduated from

Huntington Beach High School Huntington Beach High School (HBHS) is a public high school in Huntington Beach, California Huntington Beach is a seaside city in Orange County, California, United States. The city was originally called Pacific City, but it was changed in 1 ...

where he was on his school's baseball and football teams. He used to work at

Banana Republic In political science, the term ''banana republic'' describes a politically and economically unstable country with an economy dependent upon the export of natural resource.A banana republic is a country with an economy of state capitalism, where th ...

retail store after finishing high school.

Career

Eighteen Visions

originally formed in 1995 by Hart, Dave Peters, Billy Sisler, and Kenneth Floyd. Their first show was at the "Koo's Cafe" in early 1996. Many lineup changes and breakup rumors occurred before the release of their debut album ''

Yesterday Is Time Killed ''Yesterday Is Time Killed'' is the debut studio album by Eighteen Visions. It was released in March 1999 through Huntington Beach, California-based record label Cedargate Records. Five songs were later re-recorded for the band's third album, ' ...

'', before eventually finding a stable lineup in 1999. The band went on to release four more studio albums before breaking up in 2007. Hart had this to say concerning the matter: "After several years of touring and quite a few album releases we have decided that it is time to go our separate ways. We have been a band for a very long time and feel good about everything we were able to accomplish. At this point in our lives and our careers we feel its time to move on to something fresh and new. Whether it be music, touring or just being at home to live and enjoy life. We would like to thank all of our fans, friends and families for all of the great support over the years. We would also like to thank all of the bands we have shared the stage with and everyone who has ever worked with the band, opened a door or reached out a hand. We will be playing our final two shows in April. One in San Diego and one in Orange County. Come rock with us one more time." The band announced its reunion in February 2017, featuring 3 of the 5 members of their 2007's lineup, including Hart. The comeback album "XVIII" was released on June 2, 2017, followed by a live show held in Orange County area on the same day.

Burn Halo

After the breakup of Eighteen Visions, James Hart worked with former Nixons frontman,

Zac Maloy The Nixons are an American alternative rock band formed in 1990. They found commercial success during the mid-1990s, releasing two albums through MCA Records in 1995–1997. The band is best known for the hit singles "Sister" and "Wire" from ...

, on a new mainstream rock band called

. Originally, Hart conceptualized it to be a solo project; however, during the development of the music and recording, the direction of Hart's idea changed, and Burn Halo was formed. Three albums thus far have been recorded, with Burn Halo's self-titled debut being released March 31, 2009. The singles from that album were "Dirty Little Girl" and "Save Me". Burn Halo's sophomore release, entitled '' Up from the Ashes'' was released June 28, 2011, with the song "Tear It Down" as the lead single. The third album ''Wolves Of War'' saw the light of day in 2015. On June 7, 2016, it was announced that James was no longer the vocalist for the band.

Personal life

In 1999, Hart attended beauty school along with a former Eighteen Visions bass player Javier Van Huss. Apart from his music career, he is a certified hair stylist working with men and women. According to his Twitter account, he has been

straight edge Straight edge (sometimes abbreviated as sXe or signified by XXX or simply X) is a subculture of hardcore punk whose adherents refrain from using alcohol, tobacco, and other recreational drugs in reaction to the punk subculture's excesses. Some ...

since 1993. He married his long-term girlfriend Britni in 2015. He's also a fan of Chelsea FC.

Discography

Main albums: with ''

'' 1997: '' Lifeless''
1998: ''

''
1999: '' No Time for Love''
2000: ''

Until The Ink Runs Out ''Until The Ink Runs Out'' is the second full-length album released by metalcore band Eighteen Visions. It is often considered to be the bands' finest release by much of the older fans, as well as the record that gathered national attention for ...

''
2001: '' The Best Of Eighteen Visions''
2002: ''

Vanity Vanity is the excessive belief in one's own abilities or attractiveness compared to others. Prior to the 14th century, it did not have such narcissistic undertones, and merely meant ''futility''. The related term vainglory is now often seen as ...

''
2004: ''

Obsession Obsession may refer to: Psychology * Celebrity worship syndrome, obsessive addictive disorder to a celebrity's personal and professional life * Obsession (psychology), a persistent attachment to an object or idea * Fixation (psychology), persist ...

''
2006: ''

''
2017:

XVIII 18 (eighteen) is the natural number following 17 (number), 17 and preceding 19 (number), 19. It is an even composite number. Mathematics 18 is a semiperfect number and an abundant number. It is a largely composite number, as it has 6 divisors a ...

2021: 1996 with ''

'' 2009: ''

''
2011: '' Up from the Ashes''
2015: ''Wolves of War''

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hart, James American rock singers 1979 births Living people 21st-century American singers 21st-century American male singers Huntington Beach High School alumni Singers from California Metalcore singers