Zak Stevens

Zachary "Zak" Stevens (born March 5, 1966), is best known as the former lead vocalist of the band Savatage. He is also a drummer and has a degree in psychology but is not, as is often reported, a licensed, practicing psychologist. Stevens first achieved fame singing for a band called Wicked Witch. However, after Savatage co-founder Jon Oliva stepped down from the fore of the band at the conclusion of their tour in support of Streets: A Rock Opera in 1992 to concentrate on other projects, namely his other band Doctor Butcher and a Broadway-bound musical entitled Romanov, Savatage required a replacement. Criss Oliva, Savatage''s lead guitarist, and their long-time producer Paul O''Neill heard demos of Stevens and wanted him to sing for the band. After an initial audition, Stevens was considered to be the right man for the job and joined Savatage in 1993. He first appeared on the album Edge of Thorns. Stevens''s vocals were considered to be a departure from that of Jon Oliva, and some Savatage fans prefer to distinguish between the Jon Oliva lead albums and those with Stevens on lead vocals. The album Dead Winter Dead contains lead vocals from both Oliva and Stevens and contains the song "Christmas Eve (Sarajevo 12/24)", which gave rise to and became a hit for the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. In 1996, Stevens appeared along with other Savatage members in the Trans-Siberian Orchestra project. His last album recorded with Savatage was The Wake of Magellan (1997), which some fans consider to be Savatage''s best work in the post-1993 Savatage canon.