Serj Tankian: I Love and Respect John Dolmayan, Despite Political Differences

Extreme differences of political opinion have led System of a Down fans to wonder if frontman Serj Tankian and John Dolmayan can continue to exist in the same band. Tankian has now addressed that issue via Instagram, setting the record straight that he loves and respects Dolmayan.

The progressive beliefs of Tankian and conservative views of Dolmayan have been on full display for years, but COVID-19 and the death of George Floyd have brought an increased spotlight on the two musicians. Tankian has publicly called for President Trump’s resignation, while Dolmayan has called the 45th president the “greatest friend to minorities.”

Dolmayan recently offered an olive branch to fans, assuring that System of a Down’s music is for everyone, regardless of personal politics. Tankian has now added to that thought, explaining that both his and Dolmayan’s constant search for truth remains a creative strength for SOAD.

My drummer and brother in law @johndolmayan_ whom I love and respect irrespective of our extremely polarized political commentary and differences has always been my stalwart ally in efforts for recognition of the Armenian genocide within Soad. The amount of online hate and stupidity against him and I are unjustifiable: social media has created an erroneous digital society that partially thrives on this reality. Remember irrespective of the stance, only artists that truly care and are impassioned will risk alienating their base for what they consider the truth. Our dilemma and possible fallacy is that we have two in one band. Some may consider that a weakness but the artistic, political and social dichotomy if not quadrichotomy (not a word) has made @systemofadown what it is today. Thank you all for reading. We should all do more non-online reading 🙂

Tankian is also the subject of a new documentary called Truth to Power, which will focus on the music and activism of the SOAD frontman. Watch the documentary’s first publicly shared clip below.