11 Asian + Pacific Islander Americans in Rock + Metal

May is officially Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month and, in celebration, here are 11 Asian-American and Pacific Islander musicians who have made epic contributions to rock and metal.

These fantastic musicians have built legendary careers on their profound contributions to the genre. Diversity, in all its forms, strengthens the rock and metal community as artists from different walks of life form a common bond over this universal language of music.

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What would our world look like without Kirk Hammett in Metallica, Mike Shinoda and Joe Hahn in Linkin Park or Kim Thayil in Soundgarden? Inarguably, our music scene would suffer tremendously.

Each artist’s story and family history is unique, their shared success being just one of many things that unifies us all for the better.