📍Beirut, Lebanon
1967 – 1975“Serj Tankian was born in Beirut, Lebanon, in August 1967, into an Armenian family; his grandparents had survived the Armenian genocide of 1915 and found refuge in Lebanon, which had a large Armenian community. Beirut in the late 1960s and early 1970s was a vibrant, cosmopolitan city on the Mediterranean, and Serj spent his early childhood there, in the Armenian community, speaking Armenian at home. When he was about seven, in the mid-1970s, as Lebanon slid towards civil war, his family emigrated to Los Angeles, joining the large Armenian community there. He went to the Rose and Alex Pilibos Armenian School in Hollywood, where the future members of System of a Down, Daron Malakian and Shavo Odadjian, also studied, though they were younger than him. He grew up hearing his grandfather's stories of the genocide, which shaped his lifelong commitment to justice and recognition for the Armenian people. He was a quiet, thoughtful student, and he did not start playing music seriously until his late teens, when he taught himself keyboards. He studied marketing at California State University, Northridge, and ran a software company. In 1994 he formed System of a Down with Daron Malakian, Shavo Odadjian and later John Dolmayan. Their albums, including Toxicity, with its political lyrics, Armenian melodies and wild energy, made them one of the most original metal bands of their time. A dedicated activist, he co-founded Axis of Justice and has campaigned for recognition of the Armenian genocide, and he has composed orchestral and film music.”
🗺️ Approximate location today
📍 Street view today