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Korn
Background information
Genre(s) Nu metal
Alternative metal
Industrial metal
Years active 1993 – present
Label(s) Sony BMG Music Entertainment/Epic Records (1994-2004)
EMI/Virgin Records (2005 - present)
Associated
acts Sexart
L.A.P.D.
Fieldy's Dreams
Korn's Back-Up Band
Website Korn's official site
Members
Jonathan Davis
Reginald "Fieldy" Arvizu
James "Munky" Shaffer
David Silveria (on hiatus)
Former members
Brian "Head" Welch
Korn (sometimes typeset as "KoЯn" to fit their official logo) is a Grammy
Award winning, influential nu metal[1] band from Bakersfield, California,
and are often credited with creating and popularizing the nu metal genre.
Former band-member Head stated that their signature sound came from an
attempt to emulate Mr. Bungle's guitar tone, which they referred to as "the
Bungle chord". Along with other bands of the time, they have also inspired
many nu metal, alternative metal and rap metal bands through the mid-1990s
and early 2000s. Since their 1994 self-titled debut album, Korn has sold
over 30 million records worldwide, including 18 million in the United
States, making them one of the best-selling nu-metal acts of the last
fifteen years.[2] The band's catalogue consists of five consecutive
Multi-Platinum Studio albums (including the compilation album Greatest Hits,
Volume 1, a live album, and an MTV Unplugged album) in the top 10 of
Billboard Top 200 best selling albums. To date Korn has scored 6 Grammy
nominations, and won 2 such awards. Jonathan Davis has entered Hit Parader's
"100 Greatest Heavy Metal Vocalists" list peaking at #16 [3], James "Munky"
Shaffer and Brian "Head" Welch are #26 at the list of Guitar World's "100
Greatest Metal Guitarists".[4]
As of 2006, Korn have had an ever-changing lineup. There have been quite a
few touring members who left over time. Original guitarist Head left for
"spiritual" reasons in early 2005, and original drummer David Silveria is on
a hiatus from the band.
History
Formation, first demo, and Korn (1993-1995)
Korn formed after the group L.A.P.D. folded, and after their original
singer, Rich Morrill, left the band to take care of his drug addictions.
Musicians Arvizu, Welch, Shaffer, and Silveria wanted to continue, and began
the search for a new lead singer. One night in 1993, Welch and Shaffer were
in a nightclub together, and were intending to stay for only a few minutes.
That all changed once a band called Sexart took to the stage. They were
intrigued by the singer, Jonathan Davis, who met up with them after the gig
was finished. At first, Davis did not want the position of lead singer, but
after consulting a psychic who told him he would be stupid not to do it, he
signed on. The group found they were quite cohesive early on and so, formed
a brand-new band by the name of Korn in 1993. Welch took the pseudonym
"Head", Arvizu became "Fieldy", and Shaffer took the name "Munky".
In 1993, Korn began a working process with friend and producer Ross
Robinson. Korn began work on and released its first demo in 1993,
Neidermeyer's Mind. It contained 4 songs: "Predictable," "Blind", "Daddy",
and "Alive". "Blind" was originally written by Davis and Sexart, but was
revised with new lyrics by Korn. The style changed as well: the original
version was heavy metal-oriented; Korn's version, while still heavy-metal,
adds hip-hop influences.
Korn had problems getting signed during its first year, mainly because of
their unique style. The band did not fit with the rock scene of the 1990s,
which was primarily Seattle grunge rock. Horrified record executives and
producers turned the other way at the sound of Davis' painful lyrics and the
vicious musicality. But one night in 1994, Paul Pontius from Immortal/Epic
Records heard the band in a nightclub. He was so impressed with the band
that he signed them on the spot. With two producers, Robinson and Pontius,
and a label, Korn produced their self-titled debut album in 1994, Korn.
Musically, its tracks mix both heavy metal and hip-hop, the latter of which
in rhythms and beats. It also features scat-type vocals on the song "Ball
Tongue", and bagpipes on the song "Shoots and Ladders". "Daddy", the closing
track, is musically and emotionally heavy. "Blind" was the 1st single from
the album; it was extremely well-liked by fan-bases and quickly became their
most popular song to this day. Critics have agreed that Korn was the very
first nu-metal album.
Korn toured incessantly to promote their first album. With no radio play or
MTV, they relied solely on their intensive live shows which created a large
cult following of dedicated fans. It was through the effort of this cult
that gave Korn the #1 spot on the Billboard Heatseekers charts in 1995, with
"Shoots and ladders" being their first nominee for Best Metal Performance
and the Grammy Awards later that year.
On their first large tour, Korn opened for Glenn Danzig, alongside Marilyn
Manson. Other bands for which Korn opened in 1995 included Megadeth, 311,
Fear Factory, Flotsam and Jetsam, and KMFDM. However, the first tour that
widely exposed the band was opening for Ozzy Osbourne alongside the Deftones.
After opening for lesser-known bands such as Dimestore Hoods, Sugar Ray, and
Life of Agony, Korn returned to Immortal to record a second album.
Life Is Peachy (1996-1997)
Korn teamed up with Pontius and Robinson once again for their second album,
Life Is Peachy, released in 1996. It features a much different sound than
their debut, adding even more of a downtuned 7-string guitar sound. There
were plenty of diverse songs on this record: "Porno Creep", the band's only
instrumental, features a wah-drenched pseudo-funk sound, similar to many
1970s porn movies. They covered War's "Lowrider", with Davis' bagpipes and
Head on vocals. "Twist" was only 49 seconds long, and featured Davis' scat
vocals backed by extremely heavy guitars. "A.D.I.D.A.S." was the first
single, seemingly in reference to the popular clothing line. In actuality,
the song title was an acronym for "All Day I Dream About Sex", as apparent
in the lyrics.
To help promote their new album, Korn opened for Metallica. Korn then turned
to one of the newest resources available—the Internet. Such strategies
worked: Life Is Peachy sold more than 106,000 copies its first week on
shelves and reached #3 on The Billboard 200 charts. The second single off
the album, "No Place To Hide", spawned a Grammy nomination for Best Metal
Performance.
Another key factor in raising the band's popularity was coheadlining the
Lollapalooza 1997 music festival with Tool. Ross Robinson parted ways with
Korn in 1997, but his role in the music production industry was far from
finished. He went on to produce records for bands such as Limp Bizkit,
Machine Head, Slipknot, Glassjaw, Cold and Sepultura.
Also that year, Korn augmented their growing crossover appeal by
collaborating with Los Angeles based producer duo Dust Brothers on the track
"Kick the PA". This track appeared on the motion picture soundtrack of the
film Spawn.
In late 1997, Korn formed their own label, Elementree Records. The first
band they signed was Orgy (featuring former members of Davis' band Sexart),
who gave Elementree its first Platinum album with Candyass. Over the next
few years they signed acts like Videodrone, rapper Marz, and Deadsy.
Follow the Leader, mainstream success (1998-1999)
Prior to the release of the band's third album, Korn produced a weekly
internet TV show, KornTV, that documented the making of the record and
featured special guests such as porn star Ron Jeremy, Limp Bizkit, and 311.
The project also gave fans the chance to call in and ask the band questions
-- an approach that represented one of the first times a band utilized the
internet in such a way. October 1998 saw Korn at their peak as they released
their third album, Follow the Leader, which featured a number of guest
vocalists such as Ice Cube, Tre Hardson from the Pharcyde, Fred Durst of
Limp Bizkit and actor Cheech Marin on the hidden track "Earache My Eye"
(written by Marin himself) as well as a rewritten version of the old club
song "Molested", re-titled "My Gift to You".
Korn launched a political campaign-style tour to promote the release of
Follow the Leader. The tour took the group all over North America to spread
the news of their "Family Values" platform to fans at special "fan
conferences" that were organized at every stop along the tour route. Korn
chartered a jet, which took them to record stores in cities such as
Riverside, Mt. View, Sacramento, Seattle, Minneapolis, Chicago, Detroit,
Philadelphia, Boston, New York City, Toronto, Atlanta and Dallas. They
talked to fans at every stop, answered questions during the special "fan
conferences" and signed autographs. Jim Rose hosted the entire "Kampaign"
tour. Celebrities at various stops included Ice Cube and Todd McFarlane.
The album was a success, reaching No.1 on the U.S. and Canadian charts and
spawning the singles "Got the Life" and "Freak on a Leash" . Follow The
Leader debuted at the #1 slot in Canada, New Zealand and Australia; #4 in
Finland; #5 in France, the UK and Norway; #8 in Japan; #10 in Holland; #12
in Germany; and it registered the highest debut on the Pan European "Music &
Media" chart (at #6). The animated bullet segments in the video for "Freak
on a Leash" were directed by Todd McFarlane (creator of the Spawn comic book
and a former artist for Spider-Man comics). Greg Capullo, long-time Spawn
penciler, drew the cover art for the album. The live action in the video,
directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, used innovative techniques
which allowed the camera to follow a bullet in flight through various
scenes.
"Freak on a Leash" won a Grammy for Best Video (Short Form) and earned nine
MTV Awards nominations for Video of the Year, Breakthrough Video, Best
Direction, Best Special Effects, Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography,
and Viewer's Choice. Eventually it won two, for Best Rock Video and Best
Editing. Follow the Leader is the band's most commercially successful album,
being certified 5x Platinum by the RIAA and having sold almost ten million
copies worldwide.
The same year Follow the Leader was released, Korn started their own annual
tour called the "Family Values Tour". That year, Korn headlined the highly
successful tour along with Incubus, Orgy, Limp Bizkit, Ice Cube, and
Rammstein. A live CD and DVD from "Family Values Tour" '98 earned gold and
platinum statuses, respectively. In 1999, Limp Bizkit headlined, along with
Primus, Staind, The Crystal Method, Method Man & Redman, and Filter. System
of a Down was kicked off the tour by Fred Durst in retaliation for System's
role in Taproot signing with a record label other than Durst's. Korn were
not featured on the bill and instead only made surprise appearances at a few
of the tour's stops to perform their first single off of their next album,
"Falling Away from Me". The tour took a break in 2000.
In 1999, Korn performed at Woodstock '99 on July 23. Other memorable moments
include a feud with Ben Folds during which Folds released his "Rockin' the
Suburbs" music video with a "Korn Sucks" protest frame in the middle of it.
Issues (1999-2001)
The band's fourth album, Issues, produced by Brendan O'Brien, was released
in November 1999, featuring cover art designed by Alfredo Carlos, who won a
contest held for the fans to design Korn's new album artwork. The album was
released during a week of many new highly anticipated records. It debuted at
#1 on The Billboard 200, keeping Dr. Dre's long awaited album 2001 (album)
and Celine Dion's greatest hits album from hitting #1. It was certified 4x
Platinum by the RIAA, following up the success of Follow the Leader. It
featured a broader range of styles compared to previous albums due to the
band's decision to no longer incorporate hip hop into its sound. Davis said
in an interview "I like hip hop, I am a fan of it, but I don't want to be
associated with it anymore." To celebrate the album's release, the band
performed the record in its entirety in front of a live audience at New
York's historic Apollo Theater and broadcast the concert simultaneously
across many radio stations. This performance made Korn the first rock
band,[5] and only the second predominantly white musical group to ever
perform at The Apollo after the legendary Buddy Holly in the late 1950s.
This special event featured the NYPD marching drum and bagpipe band
conducted by Richard Gibbs as well as a group of back-up singers to enhance
the more melodic choruses and backing vocals Davis used on the album.
Earlier that year, Korn had appeared on an episode of South Park, titled
Korn's Groovy Pirate Ghost Mystery, in which the first single from Issues,
"Falling Away from Me", was premiered. In the episode, the band helped the
boys solve a Scooby-Doo style mystery. Korn released two more singles off of
Issues, "Make Me Bad" and "Somebody Someone", both of which fared well on US
charts. Videos were also shot for all three singles, with longtime friend
Durst directing "Falling Away from Me", and Udo Kier and Brigitte Nielsen
starring in a concept video for "Make Me Bad". The video for "Somebody
Someone" was a simple performance with some CGI effects. All the videos were
staple of MTV Total Request Live. Issues is considered by some critics to be
less metal-influenced and closer to alternative metal than nu metal,[6]
however there is still the same signature aggression of other Korn albums
present.
In 2000, Jonathan Davis commissioned Swiss surreal artist H. R. Giger to
create a special microphone stand. The idea was suggested to him by one of
his friends who knew that Davis was a fan of his artwork. He started doing
some sketches of plantlike snakes and vertebrae mixed with technical
elements. Davis called him from his dressing room and told him that he had
complete freedom to design the microphone stand as he wanted and his only
concern was that it had be totally functional and as movable as possible, as
well as biomechanical and erotic. The band visited his museum and met him in
July of 2000 when they were touring in Europe. The bio-mechanical microphone
stand was finished in 2001.[7] It was introduced to fans one year later
during Korn's Untouchables tour.
Untouchables (2002-2003)
In June 2002, after a year and a half of hard work and a long creative
process, Korn re-emerged into the media spotlight with their fifth album,
Untouchables. The release of this album was preceded by the show at
Hammerstein Ballroom in New York on 10th June 2002, one day prior to the
album's release, broadcasted digitally through the theaters in U.S. The
album had a very dark feel while featuring synths, strings and various
effects the band had never used in an album before. The overall feel was
drastically different from previous efforts particularly tracks like "Alone
I Break", "Hating", and the haunting "Hollow Life", which singer Jonathan
Davis claims is his favorite Korn song to this day. Untouchables had
disappointing sales. The band has blamed Internet piracy for the drop in
sales, as an unmixed version of the album had leaked a whole five months
prior to its official release date.
The album's first single "Here to Stay" earned a Grammy for Best Metal
Performance. Untouchables has since been certified Platinum by the RIAA. The
first 2 videos from Untouchables were directed by the Hughes Brothers (best
known for their films, Menace II Society and From Hell). The first video,
"Here to Stay," has the band playing inside a TV on a static background
along with controversial news stories and world issues being presented. The
video was nominated to MTV Video Music Award for Best Rock Video and won the
MuchMusic Video Award for Best International Video (Group). The second
video, "Thoughtless", was a nod back to Jonathan's childhood as the
character in the video is picked on and constantly beaten. The character
ultimately gains revenge in a rather grotesque but deserving way (the
original video showed the character shooting the bullies at prom, but was
changed to him puking jets of bile onto the bullies instead). Although
"Thoughtless" would be one of the more popular tracks on the album, it did
not appear on Greatest Hits Vol. 1. The third video for Untouchables, "Alone
I Break," was directed by Sean Dack who won the honor of directing Korn's
video through an MTV contest. The video kept with the darkness of Korn,
showing Jonathan Davis killing off the members of the band after a supposed
mistake made by Munky when they were performing. The band admitted it would
have been more fun to do the video had the director been a true Korn fan
Prior to their next album, Korn released the single "Did My Time", which was
featured on the soundtrack to the film Tomb Raider: Cradle of Life in early
2003. Angelina Jolie appeared in the video.
Take a Look in the Mirror; Greatest Hits (2003-2004)
Korn's sixth album, Take a Look in the Mirror, was released in November
2003. Korn produced this record themselves. The album featured the singles
"Right Now", "Did My Time", "Everything I've Known", and "Y'All Want a
Single". "Right Now" and "Everything I've Known" were animated videos, while
"Y'All Want a Single" and "Did My Time" were performance video. "Y'all Want
a Single" featured Korn and a large group of fans destroying a record store.
The album peaked at No. 9 on The Billboard 200. The album is obviously a
change back into the "nu metal" sound of Korn's first album.
During February 2004, Guitar World released a list of the world's "100
greatest metal guitarists of all time" ranking Head and Munky at #26.[8]
In October of 2004, Korn released their greatest hits album, Greatest Hits,
Volume 1. It featured two cover songs and a compilation of the band's hits
from the past 10 years. The first single was a cover of the song "Word Up!",
which was originally made popular by the group Cameo. The album also
featured a medley of all three parts of Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the
Wall", and a remix of their hit single "Freak on a Leash". Special editions
of the album includes a DVD titled Korn: Live at CBGB that features Korn
playing live at CBGB in New York city.
Head's departure
In February 2005, Brian "Head" Welch announced that he had "...chosen the
Lord Jesus Christ as his savior, and would be dedicating his musical
pursuits to that end",[9] and was formally leaving Korn. Initial
speculations that this was a hoax or practical joke were proven wrong; he
has turned highly spiritual, even being baptized in the Jordan River and
speaking openly about his faith and conversion, especially on his website
HeadToChrist.com. Welch has also stated that his reason for leaving the band
had to do with his daughter reciting obscene Korn lyrics ("A.D.I.D.A.S.")
and the fact that he was fighting an addiction to crystal meth. This was to
be the band's first lineup change in their history. In September 2006.
Welch's website was hacked and a post was made by someone posing as him
saying he was going to come back to Korn but was confirmed by Jonathan as
well as Welch to be false. Welch has also said on his website in reference
to Korn, "I love those guys," however a Korn reunion is unlikely even after
such a statement.
As early as a week following his departure from Korn,[10] Welch had claimed
through press that a solo record was close to being completed, although
there was no release date given, nor had he yet signed on with a label to
distribute the record.[11] He has since signed with Fortitude Music, however
his first solo album has failed to meet two release dates, including as
recently as July 7, 2007. It was revealed in an interview on July 6 that the
album is still in the mixing process.[12] The album is tentatively titled
It's Time to See Religion Die.
See You on the Other Side, EMI (2005-2006)
Upon completing their record deal with Sony Records, Korn partnered with EMI
and signed to Virgin Records. As part of this innovative arrangement, EMI
has paid Korn $25 million upfront in exchange for a share in the profits of
their next two LPs, including tours and merchandising. EMI also received a
30 percent stake in the band's licensing, ticket sales and other revenue
sources.
The band's first release for Virgin Records, See You on the Other Side, was
released on December 6, 2005, and debuted on #3 on the Billboard 200,
representing the band's seventh Top 10 debut. The first single off the
album, "Twisted Transistor", was accompanied by a comic video directed by
Dave Meyers in which rap stars Xzibit, Lil' Jon, Snoop Dogg, and David
Banner portray Korn. The single itself peaked at #3 on Billboard Mainstream
Rock Chart, and at #9 on Billboard Modern Rock chart. The second single,
"Coming Undone", peaked at #4 on Mainstream Rock Chart, and at #14 on Modern
Rock Chart, and the video directed by Little X also received considerable
video play. Korn also, for the first time has brought two singles from one
album to Hot 100 Chart. The album has sold over 2 million copies worldwide
up to date, and went platinum in the U.S. on March 16. The album managed to
stay in Top 100 of Billboard 200 chart for 34 straight weeks.
On January 13, 2006, Korn threw a giant party at the Hollywood Forever
Cemetery announcing the See You on the Other Side World Tour. The first leg
of tour, with 10 Years and Mudvayne, began on 24 February 2006 in their
hometown Bakersfield and ended on 4th April in Toronto. The Australian part
of the See You on the Other Side tour consisted of Korn, 10 Years, Hatebreed,
and Disturbed. The bands performed in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne on the
24th, 27th and 29th of April 2006 respectively. This marked the first time
Korn visited Australia since their Take a Look in the Mirror tour in
February of 2004. It was a general belief by all the bands involved that it
had been "too long" since they had last visited Australia.
Korn had also announced the resurrection of their "Family Values Tour",
which kicked off July 29, 2006 in Nashville, TN. The Family Values Tour
featured Korn, Deftones, Stone Sour, Flyleaf, Dir en grey, 10 Years, Bury
Your Dead, Deadsy, Bullets and Octane, and Walls of Jericho. This was also
the first Family Values Tour to have a second stage and to be in outdoor
pavilions.
In April, Jonathan Davis teamed up with the Atlanta crunk rap group Dem
Franchize Boyz to record a mash-up of their latest hits "Coming Undone" and
"Lean Wit It, Rock Wit It", which occurred due to both the groups being
signed to Virgin Records. Before recording with Dem Franchize Boyz, the
group was featured on "Wake Up", a track from The Notorious B.I.G. album
Duets: The Final Chapter.
In 2006, Korn's "Freak on a Leash" appeared on a countdown of VH1's "40
Greatest Metal Songs of All Time" at #23. They also charted on a user-based
interactive list of the 100 Greatest Videos of All Time in the UK magazine
Kerrang! at number 10 with the same song. On May 6, Korn won a MTV Asia
Video Music Award in the "Favourite Video" category for "Twisted
Transistor", beating Green Day, Kanye West, My Chemical Romance, and Franz
Ferdinand. The band also performed "Twisted Transistor" live in front of
5,000 people. Jonathan Davis also presented an award for favorite artist
from China, Vicky Zhao.
Jonathan Davis's illness
On June 12, 2006, Davis was diagnosed with idiopathic thrombocytopenic
purpura, a blood platelet disorder that hospitalized him for the weekend and
prevented him from performing at the renowned Download Festival. The band
still performed, with guest singers including Slipknot/Stone Sour's Corey
Taylor, Stone Sour having played earlier on the same day. This led to Korn
canceling the rest of their European bill, including the Hellfest Summer
Open Air. It was originally unknown to the public what his ailment was, but
the singer revealed in a letter to fans that he was "dangerously low on
blood platelets and at a high risk of death from a hemorrhage if the problem
was not treated".[13] His illness did not affect the 2006 Family Values
Tour.
Recent history
On July 30, 2006, a violent fight allegedly broke out in the mosh pit at the
Family Values Tour in Atlanta, Georgia while Deftones were performing,
resulting in the death of Andy Richardson, age 30, on August 1, 2006.
Lawyers representing Mr. Richardson's family said they may pursue civil
actions against Korn and the show's promoters. Mr. Richardson's mother,
Gloria Richardson, said "It's not right that someone could go to a concert
for a good time and wind up dead...There needs to be more security or they
need to not have these concerts at all…", in a statement to Cox News Service
made on August 1, 2006. One week later, a 24-year-old Michael Scott Axley
was arrested and charged with Richardson's murder. Witnesses claim Axley
punched Richardson, causing his head to hit the concrete floor, an injury
that ultimately proved to be fatal.
See You on the Other Side was re-released as a chopped and screwed mix album
titled "Chopped, Screwed, Live and Unglued", with live tracks, bonus DVD
footage, and 8 album tracks chopped and screwed by DJ Michael 5000 Watts.
Korn was the first band to be featured in MTV's return of their hit series
MTV Unplugged. The band performed at the TRL studios to a select number of
fans who won tickets from the band's street team or by other means. The
performance was shown on MTV several times and was very highly rated,
despite the fact that the fourteen song performance was cut down to nine for
the airing. The performance was Korn's biggest production to date (despite
it being the first without founding member David Silveria) and featured,
among other things, backing guitars and vocals, double percussion, keys,
cellos, upright basses, trombones, a musical saw, the glass harmonica,
cimbassos, and Japanese taiko drums. This also marked the bands first time
performance of Radiohead's hit song "Creep", although Metallica's "Master of
Puppets" was also at one time planned. The performance was marked by a guest
performance by Robert Smith of The Cure, and featured Evanescence's Amy Lee
doing guest vocals. A live album of the performance was released, featuring
eleven of the fourteen songs played at the show, including a performance of
"Love Song", previously unheard before the album's release, as well as the
acoustic versions of "Got the Life" and "Falling Away from Me", among other
songs. "Dirty" was also included in the performance, but was cut from the CD
and the final airing of the show due to the bands disappointment with how
severely MTV forced them to edit it. This album also was the first time the
back-up band (Kalen Chase, Rob Patterson, Michael Jochum, and Zac Baird)
appeared on an actual CD, though they are still considered non-members and
simply helped with the sound of the performance rather than contribute.
Korn's appearence on the Dimebag Darrel stage at the Download festival 2007
in Donnington Park, drew the biggest crowd of the entire weekend, second
only to Iron Maiden who headlined the main stage. Rumours of severe injuries
included crushed hands and feet hung around the festival for the remainder
of the weekend. Gallows' front man is reported to have told his audience to
"...Get the f*ck back. If anyone gets hurt like they did at Korn we're
walking off this f*cking stage."
Korn have been confirmed to play festival dates in Norway (Norwegian Wood)
and in Germany (Rock am Ring) in June 2007. The band had also been slated to
play the massive Live Earth concerts on July 7th, 2007.[14] Guitarist James
"Munky" Shaffer told the Rock Radio why he thinks the concerts are
important. "It's just to raise people's awareness about what's happening in
global warming and try to do their part and whatever they can each day to
reduce, you know, energy usage and gasoline usage on whatever level. I think
if people are, if their awareness is raised and they're doing one or two
things a day, each person, it could make a huge, huge difference." As of
mid-June, however, there exists no official indication that the group will
be partaking in any of the day's events.[15]
Korn have also announced that they will be headlining the Family Values Tour
2007 starting on July 20th.
Recently, Korn has set up a mobile mob at Mozes.com to keep in contact with
their fans through text messages directly from Korn and send out free
Wallpapers each week for phones that support it, as well as having opened
demands to play in cities requested by their fans.
Korn's eighth studio album
This album will be "the best album" according to the studio it has been
created in and many fans are excited to get that mysterious album In a
recent interview, Korn's frontman Jonathan Davis said that there are 18
tracks ready for the next album, all of which were written in a month.
"I can't wait. I know it's gonna be insane. The band is really on fire and
has some phat shit to record."
Davis had said in earlier interviews that he and guitarist James "Munky"
Shaffer had both been writing new material while on the road in support of
the band's last album, See You on the Other Side. One of the first songs he
wrote for the project—produced by pop trio The Matrix (who gave the tracks
they worked on a slight pop gloss) and Trent Reznor collaborator Atticus
Ross (who added an industrial edge) —is called "Starting Over". "The chorus
is 'I'm starting over and God's going to take me out.'"
The Matrix dropped out of the recording sessions early in the process. Korn
explained that they were unsatisfied with how the album was turning out with
their production. Hence, Atticus Ross assumed role as sole producer (the
tracks with The Matrix were left as-is so that they could still receive
credit). Atticus helped to give the album a "gothic" sound, similar to the
way he does with NIN.
On "Evolution", Davis tackles global warming. "It's not like political Al
Gore kind of bullshit," Davis says. "It's just me wondering, 'Are my kids'
kids going to have a place to live?'"
In a Korn first, the band has added Zac Baird's keyboards to the mix, giving
the songs a fuller sound. "I don't want to say this album is heavy, because
that pisses off the band," Munky says. "It's still the Korn sound, just
definitely more atmospheric. There's more depth to it."
In December 2006, David Silveria announced he was on hiatus from the
band,[16] and would not appear on Korn's upcoming album and tour. This has
left many fans skeptical about the bands future, considering both the
ever-changing line-up and Davis' determination to make each album "harder".
Davis on his blog also mentioned that the band had completed 8 songs for the
untitled album, and stated that further recording processes will take place
after New Year's Eve. He also stated that this album will not feature any of
David Silveria's contributions and that the band will be having a fill-in
drummer as long as Silveria stays on hiatus.[17]
On January 7, 2007, Korn announced that drummer Terry Bozzio would replace
David Silveria for at least one studio album and at least one tour.[18]
Terry recently left citing "personal conflicts". In view of the fact that
they no longer had a drummer, Korn asked Joey Jordison from nu-mettalers and
close friends Slipknot, who are on hiatus due to Corey and James' Stone Sour
project, to fill in. Joey's apperence at the Download festival confirmed
these rumours.
The band's management has made the following statement: "They are currently
writing and rehearsing with [Bozzio] and things are going well," emphasizing
that Silveria is still Korn's official drummer, but added that, for the
moment, "the band members aren't looking too far into the future."
Korn tentatively plans to release its untitled album on July 31st, according
to Virgin Records. The group has been recording the disc with drummer Terry
Bozzio as well as keyboardist Zac Baird and guitarist James "Munky" Shaffer
said that Bozzio has taken Korn's music in a new direction. "It's a little
less straightforward, I think, than what we're used to, and it's a lot more
technical," he said. "I think it's probably more like a progressive Korn
that people are gonna be used to. Very heavy though."
It has since been confirmed by Zac Baird that Terry Bozzio has departed from
Korn for reasons unknown. Korn's management later confirmed that Terry
Bozzio has finished recording with Korn (6 songs only) and would not tour
with the band.[19] For the rest of the album, Bad Religion drummer Brooks
Wackerman and Jonathan Davis played the role of drummer (Korn's 1st album to
feature Davis percussion since Issues). On April 19, 2007, it was announced
that Slipknot drummer Joey Jordison would fill in and tour with Korn for
approximately 5 months.[20]
On April 27, 2007 Korn released "I Will Protect You" on their MySpace Page.
Jonathan Davis has stated that it is not a single, but rather, just a taste
of the new album. On May 17, 2007, Fieldy and Munky premiered the new single
"Evolution" on KROQ for the Untitled album. The song was added to Korn's
Myspace later that night.
The release date for the untitled album is set for July 31, 2007. On June 1,
Korn stated that the album will not have a title, and only 12 out of 18
tracks recorded will make the cut.
"We always wanted the atmospheres, and to really go deep," guitarist James "Munky'
Shaffer says. "It wasn't until this record that we really felt comfortable
to do that. As records progress, the urge to do that becomes greater. We
feel like we've finally solidified ourselves in the rock world, and wanted
to take this one a little deeper into that direction. It's less pop, and
it's more experimental."
This is also the final album Korn owes to Virgin, who the group signed with
in 2005 for $23 million upfront, according to Davis. In what amounted to a
revenue-sharing deal, EMI acquired a 30% stake in Korn's overall business
through 2010. "We're going to go out and tour this thing and we're hoping
Virgin is going to want to do another deal with us," Davis says. "We have a
good working relationship."
2007 Family Values Tour
The new lineup for the 2007 Family Values Tour will feature Otep (select
dates), The Changing (select dates), Through You, Twin Method, Invitro, Five
Finger Death Punch, Droid, Neurosonic, Trivium, Hellyeah, Atreyu, Flyleaf,
Evanescence, and Korn.
Tickets went on sale April 28th. The tour will commence on July 20th in St.
Louis and close out the summer on September 2nd in California.
Davis has told the British metal magaizne, Kerrang! that Korn will be
bringing the Family Values Tour to Britain in January 2008.
On their concert in Zagreb on July 3rd they dedicated their song Blind to a
tragically deceased fan Marin Zrile (1983-2007), who died a few weeks before
the concert.
Band members
Current members
* Jonathan Davis - vocals, bagpipes
* Reginald "Fieldy" Arvizu - bass guitar
* James "Munky" Shaffer - guitar, backing vocals
* David Silveria - drums (on hiatus)
Previous members
* Brian "Head" Welch - guitar, backing vocals (1993-2005; left the band in
2005 for spiritual reasons)
Back-Up band
The backing band only plays live shows with Korn. None of the members of the
backing band are or ever were official members of Korn. This is current line
up of the back-up band.
* Joey Jordison - On April 19, 2007, Korn announced that Jordison is to tour
with Korn for the 2007 Family Values Tour, including dates in Europe. Joey
Jordison will also stand in as temporary drummer for European Festivals and
the Family Values Tour.
* Zac Baird - keyboards, recorded with Korn for their upcoming 8th studio
record. He wore the horse mask during the 2006 Family Values Tour and the
See You on the Other Side world tour.
* Kalen Chase - backing vocals, percussion, guitar.
* Clint Lowery - guitar
* Michael Jochum - percussion.
Discography
Year Album U.S. UK Label RIAA cert.
1994 Korn 72 Immortal Records/Epic Records 3x Platinum
1996 Life Is Peachy 3 32 Immortal Records/Epic Records 2x Platinum
1998 Follow the Leader 1 5 Immortal Records/Epic Records 5x Platinum
1999 Issues 1 37 Immortal Records/Epic Records 4x Platinum
2002 Untouchables 2 4 Immortal Records/Epic Records Platinum
2003 Take a Look in the Mirror 9 53 Immortal Records/Epic Records Platinum
2004 Greatest Hits, Volume 1 4 17 Immortal Records/Epic Records Platinum
2005 See You on the Other Side 3 5 Virgin Records/EMI 2x Platinum
2006 Live and Rare 51 9 Immortal Records/Epic Records
Chopped, Screwed, Live and Unglued Virgin Records/EMI
2007 MTV Unplugged: Korn 9 6 Virgin Records/EMI
Korn Virgin Records/EMI
Influence on other artists
As well as being credited with the invention of the nu metal genre, over the
years Korn has influenced a number of artists, including:
* Evanescence (Little Rock based alternative rock band) - mainly their
female vocalist - Amy Lee who cited "Untouchables" as one of her all-time
favourite albums.[21] Evanescence also played a cover of "Thoughtless"
during their live performances through 2004, the cover is also featured on
Evanescence's 2004 live CD/DVD Anywhere But Home. Amy Lee also joined Korn
and sang in duet with Jonathan Davis in an unplugged rendition of "Freak on
a Leash", which is featured on the "MTV Unplugged: Korn" album.
* Slipknot (Des Moines, Iowa based band with 9 masked members) - guitarists
Mick and Jim play down-tuned guitars directly influenced by Munky and Head.
The members of Slipknot have stated that their debut album, Slipknot, was
directly influenced by Korn. Joey Jordison stated that he created the
Slipknot logo based on Korn's.[22].
* Staind (Springfield based alternative metal band) - frontman, Aaron Lewis
cited the band's eponymous album, and Jonathan Davis' emotional attitude as
one of his biggest influences.[23]
KoRn and its members have also worked with other artists, including:
* Skindred - Skindred singer Benji sang A.D.I.D.A.S. with KoRn at the
Download Festival 2006 when Jonathan Davis had health problems
* The Cure - Mashed an acoustic version of the Korn song "Make Me Bad" with
their own song "In Between Days"
* Faith No More Mike Bordin filled in for David Silveria on several
occasions during the touring for KoRn's Issues album
* Sepultura - Jonathan Davis is featured on the song "Lookaway" (along with
Mike Patton) as well as David Silveria featured on the song "Ratamahatta"
(along with Carlinhos Brown)
* Ice Cube - He is featured on KoRn's song "Children Of The KoRn"; Munky and
Brian "Head" Welch appeared on Ice Cube's "Fuck Dying"
* The Pharcyde - Tre Hardsen of the group is on KoRn's track "Cameltosis",
as well as Fieldy's track "Sugar Coated"
* Nas - featured on KoRn's song "Play Me"
* Marilyn Manson - sings on "Redeemer" which is written by Jonathan Davis
and features Munky and Brian "Head" Welch on guitars
* The Notorious B.I.G. - KoRn is featured on his song "Wake Up Now"
* Deftones - Chino Moreno of the group sings with Jonathan on KoRn's cover
of "Wicked"
* Cold - Jonathan Davis appeared in the video for "Give"
* RBX - Brian "Head" Welch, Fieldy, Munky and David Silveria created the
beat for the RBX song "Ruff N'Uff" (which also features Chilly Chill, Deadly
Threat, and others). He also appears on two song on Fieldy's album ("Ortiz
Anthem", "Do What U Feel")
* Mack 10 - Brian "Head" Welch, Fieldy, Munky and David Silveria created the
beat for the Mack 10 song "Should I Stay or Should I Go" (which also
features Ice Cube)
* Deadsy - Jonathan Davis sings on the Deadsy songs "Sleepy Hollow" and "The
Key To Grammercy Park"
* Xzibit - KoRn and Xzibit covered the song "Fight The Power" together;
Jonathon Davis & Fieldy also appear on the remix of his song Year 2000
* Snot - Jonathan Davis sang on the Snot song "Take It Back"
* Limp Bizkit - Jonathan Davis sang on the Limp Bizkit song "Nobody Like
You" (which also features Scott Weiland) and Fred Durst sang on the KoRn
song "All in the Family". Fieldy also produced a remix of "Counterfeit
Countdown".
* Orgy - Jonathan Davis sang on the Orgy song "Revival" (with Elijah Blue)
and Jay Gordon sang on the song "Slept So Long" which features Head and
Munky on guitar
* Videodrone - Jonathan Davis sang on the Videodrone song "Ty Jonathan Down"
and Brian "Head" Welch played guitar for the Videodrone song "Power Tools
For Girls"
* Static-X - Wayne Static sang on the song "Not Meant For Me" which features
Munky and Brian "Head" Welch on guitars
* Chester Bennington - Chester Bennington sang on the song "System" which
features Brian "Head" Welch and Munky on guitars. Chester has also recorded
a cover of the Nine Inch Nails hit "Head Like A Hole" with Korn but the song
has not yet been released.
* Linkin Park - Jonathan helped Linkin Park with a remix of their Hybrid
Theory song "One Step Closer" called 1stp Klosr. With Jonathan, the song was
heavier than the original with more melodic sounds.
* Q-Tip - KoRn is featured on his song "End Of Time"
* Disturbed - David Draiman sang on the song "Forsaken" which has Munky and
Head on guitar
* Marz - Jonathan Davis sings on Marz's song "Cut Throat"
* Stone Sour - Corey Taylor has sung "Freak on a Leash" with KoRn several
times
* Dem Franchize Boyz KoRn and Dem Franchize Boyz did a mash up together
titled "Coming Undone Wit It"
* Erik Friedlander Erik Friedlander of the bands Topaz and Chimara provided
Cello work for KoRn's MTV Unplugged performance
* Lordz Of Brooklyn - Brian "Head" Welch and Fieldy produce a remix of the
song "White TRash"
* Seether frontman Shaun Morgan was formerly in a Korn tribute band.
* Hi-C - Fieldy plays bass and raps on the original version of his song "Let
Me Know" (with DJ Quik). This version never made the album (Hi-Life Hustle).
* Outkast - Members of KoRn appear on a remix of Chonky Fire, which has yet
to be released.
* Everlast - Appears on the remix of Freak On A Leash.
* Funkdoobiest - Son Doobie appears on the Fieldy track "Put A Week On It"
* Shaquille O'Neal - Members of KoRn and 311 supposedly appear on a track
entitled "Psycho" on Shaq's unreleased album Presents His Superfriends, Vol.
1
* Dust Brothers - Recorded "Kick The P.A." with KoRn on the Spawn
soundtrack.
* P!nk - Jonathan Davis produced "God Is A DJ" on her album Try This.
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