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Devin Townsend is a Canadian native musician and record producer best known as the co-founder, vocalist and guitarist in extreme metal outfit Strapping Young Lad, and for his extensive work as a solo artist.

After performing in a number of metal bands in high school, Townsend was discovered by a record label in 1993 and was asked to perform lead vocals on Steve Vai's album Sex & Religion. After recording and touring with Vai, Townsend was discouraged by what he found in the music industry, and vented his anger on a solo album released under the pseudonym Strapping Young Lad. He soon assembled a band under the name, and released the critically acclaimed City in 1997. Since then, he has continued to write and record albums with Strapping Young Lad, along with solo material released under his own independent record label, HevyDevy Records. Townsend's solo releases, a diverse mix of hard rock and progressive metal, have featured a varying lineup of supporting musicians. In 2002 he formed The Devin Townsend Band, a dedicated lineup which recorded and toured for two of his solo releases.

In 2007, Townsend disbanded both Strapping Young Lad and The Devin Townsend Band in order to spend more time with his family and less time touring. Townsend has since produced a number of albums for other groups, and continues to write and release self-produced albums from his home studio. Townsend is currently working on a four-album series called the Devin Townsend Project, with each album being written in a different style. The first entry in the series, Ki, was released in Spring 2009, the 2nd album Addicted was released in the Fall of 2009. Deconstruction and Ghost were released June of 2011 to worldwide acclaim as Deconstruction has been touted as Devin's heaviest most insane work to date while Ghost is the most mellow and serious album in his catalog.