Roy Khan

After finishing his opera studies, Khan joined the Norwegian progressive metal band Conception, after its previous lead singer quit in 1991. He was selected after several potential singers auditioned. The band released several albums over the coming years before disbanding in 1998, a year after Khan left the band to pursue a career with Kamelot.

In 2005, Khan reunited with Conception and played at the 2005 ProgPower USA VI festival[2] on Friday 16 September and Norwegian Scream Magazine's 15 Years & 100 Issues Festival on Saturday, October 1. Khan, guitarist Tore Østby (also known from the band ARK) and the rest of Conception reunited; at the time it was clarified Khan would continue to support Kamelot.

In 1997, Khan was invited to join Kamelot by guitarist and founder Thomas Youngblood, after the band's previous vocalist was fired. Khan performed lead vocals on the subsequent releases "Siége Perilous" (1998), "The Fourth Legacy" (1999), " Karma" (2001), "Epica" (2003), "The Black Halo" (2005), "Ghost Opera" (2007), and "Poetry for the Poisoned" (2010). During his tenure, Khan also co-wrote most of the songs alongside Youngblood, most notably on "Poetry for the Poisoned".

On August 14, 2010, Kamelot performed in Hungary for what would turn out to be their final performance with Roy Khan. A few weeks later, it was announced that Khan would not be joining the first North American leg of the upcoming tour in support of "Poetry for the Poisoned" due to illness, with the band initially planning to use a replacement vocalist,[3] before later deciding to postpone the North American tour entirely while he recovered.[4]

After much speculation among fans and media that Khan was seriously ill or had left the band, Khan himself confirmed his departure from the band in his blog on April 21, 2011, with the band making the formal announcement the day after. In the announcement, Youngblood wrote that Khan had been given a lot of time to make the decision and the band respected it.[5] The tour eventually went on with Rhapsody of Fire vocalist Fabio Lione, while his permanent replacement, Tommy Karevik, joined Kamelot the following year.[6][7]

In a brief interview with local Norwegian media in 2014, Khan stated that he had suffered a burnout, and decided to quit the band before the tour in 2010 to prioritize his health and family, but in an agreement with Youngblood and the rest of the band, they would not announce his departure in case he recovered and changed his mind.[8] In a 2018 interview with Italian magazine Loud and Proud, Khan elaborated on his final years with Kamelot, stating that he had become gradually more and more burned out due to overworking himself, suffering from insomnia and depression. He stated that the decision to quit the band was made after performing at Wacken that year, as he no longer enjoyed performing.[9]

After his departure, Khan joined the Moss Frikirke local church in Moss, Norway. In 2013, photos of Khan performing psalms at his local church were posted online by a fan page, along with audio recordings of him performing "You Raise Me Up". These were later removed on Khan's request, as he didn't want the attention. In a short statement to the fan page, he confirmed that he still enjoyed metal music, and denied rumours of an upcoming gospel CD, saying he would not be returning to music "any time soon". He worked at the church as a counselor and youth minister until September 2016.[10]

On April 1, 2018, Roy Khan released a song on YouTube called "For All", leading many fans to speculate in an upcoming return to music.[11]

On April 30, 2018, it was announced that Roy Khan and the other members of Conception had reunited, proving the speculations of his return to music to be true.[12][13]

Single

• For All (2018)

Albums

• The Last Sunset (1991)
• Parallel Minds (1993)
• In Your Multitude (1995)
• Flow (1997)
• State of Deception (2020)

EPs

• My Dark Symphony (2018)

Singles

• Roll the Fire / Silent Crying (1994)
• Re:Conception (2018)
• Waywardly Broken (2020)
• By the Blues (2020)

Albums

• Siége Perilous (1998)
• The Fourth Legacy (1999)
• Karma (2001)
• Epica (2003)
• The Black Halo (2005)
• Ghost Opera (2007)
• Poetry for the Poisoned (2010)

Live albums

• The Expedition (2000)
• One Cold Winter's Night (2006)
• Ghost Opera: The Second Coming (2008)

Live DVDs

• One Cold Winter's Night (2006)

• Victory – Voiceprint (1996) in bonus tracks "The Hunter" and "On the Loose"[14]
• Crest of Darkness – The Ogress (1999) in "Reference" and in "Sweet Scent of Death"
• Epica – Consign to Oblivion (2005) in "Trois Vierges"
• Avantasia – The Scarecrow (2008) in "Twisted Mind"