In an article about a famous musician, readers are primarily interested in his creative biography. Corey Taylor is one of the most famous rock vocalists of our time. He has a beautiful voice, a unique style of performance. Thanks to his talent, the musician has gained popularity around the world. In this article you will learn about his life and work.
Childhood
Corey Taylor was born in 1973, December 8, in the city of De Monet, Iowa. On his father, he has Polish, Danish, Belgian roots. At first, the boy lived with George Robson, his uncle, in Orlando. Then he moved to his mother in the city of Waterloo. Taylor subsequently described this place as "a huge hole surrounded by tall buildings." The boy spent his childhood with his mother and grandmother, who introduced him to the world of rock and roll. At six, Corey became interested in the subject of horrors, masks, and costumes. This happened after the celebration of Halloween.
Grandmother showed the boy a collection of Elvis Presley records of different years. So Taylor met with classic rock. He especially liked the songs "Teddi Bear", "Suspicious Minds", "In the Ghetto". They corresponded to his interests at an early age. Growing up, Corey Taylor, whose photo can often be found on the pages of various publications, began to listen to the early songs of "Black Sabbath". Later, the boy settled with his mother and sister in a dilapidated old house, the view from the window of which caused Corey to associate with the covers of the records of this group.
At fifteen, Taylor started taking drugs. He was hospitalized twice due to an overdose of cocaine. After that, the grandmother took the teenager to her in Ohio. She formalized custody of him. Corey Taylor got the opportunity to develop his talent, because he began to buy musical equipment. However, at eighteen, the future musician left his grandmother's trailer. He began to wander in different cities, until he settled in Des Moines.
Stone Sour Group
How old is Corey Taylor? This question is being asked by millions of his fans. It is impossible to believe, but the musician is already over 40. The famous vocalist along with bass player Ekonomaki Sean, drummer Ekman Joel and Jim Routh who joined them later created Stone Sour. At that time, Corey was only 19 years old. In 1992 and 1994, the team recorded two demo albums. Three years later, Corey leaves Stone Sour and leaves for Slipknot, despite the fact that the group was busy recording the next record at that time. Jim Routh also left the band for Slipknot, so in 1999 the band split up.
In 2002, Stone Sour reunited in the same line-up to record their first self-titled album. This project was released on August 27, 2002 and took the 46th line in the Billboard 200 chart. In 2006, while working on his second album, titled Come What (ever) Mau, Joel Ekman, the drummer, left the band for personal reasons. He was replaced by another musician, Roy Mayorga. In 2010, Stone Sour released its third album, Audio Secrety.
In 2012, Corey Taylor announced the creation of the first in the history of the group double conceptual collection “House of Gold & Bones”. Traditionally, one of the participants left the team while working on the project - Sean Economaki, bass player. Stone Sour was forced to use the services of other musicians. The first part of the album was released in October 2012, the second in April 2013. The conceptual basis of the project was a small story composed by Taylor and placed on booklets. Dark Horse Comics has released a series of comics in support of the album.
Creativity at Slipknot
Mick Thomson, Sean Crahan and Joey Jordison invited the musician to Slipknot. Corey Taylor agreed to join the group until the end of the tour. However, soon the guy became the main vocalist of "Slipknot". Taylor's first performance as a member of the group was in August 2009. The debut of the musician was not very successful. Perhaps the reason for the failure was the fact that Corey Taylor performed on stage without a mask that belonged to him. A month later, on the second show, the musician already had his own product on his head.
Taylor stood out against the background of the previous lead singer "Slipknot" with really high-quality and very melodic vocals. The first musical project with a group of Corey recorded in 1999 at a ranch in Malibu, California. The album is called "Slipknot" and has sold millions of copies worldwide. He topped the Top Heatseekers chart; in the United States, he became double platinum. In 2006, the Slipknot project entered the book One Thousand and One Musical Album That Is Worth Listening to Before You Die (1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die).
They tried to accuse Taylor of copyright infringement regarding the lyrics of the song "Purity". However, no effective steps have been taken in this direction. Two years later, Corey and the band began recording their second studio album, entitled "Lowa". The project was released on August 28, 2001, immediately topped the UK Albums Chart and placed third in the Billboard 200.
To the band's next album, "Vol. 3: The Subliminal Verses", Corey began to write lyrics without using profanity. For the first time, there was no “Parental Advisory” warning label on the cover of Slipknot. This project was in second place on the Billboard 200 chart. Released in 2008, the album "All Hope Is Gone" took off on the first line of "Billboard 200" for the first time in the history of the group "Slipknot".
Masks
Like the rest of Slipknot, Taylor Corey wore a mask at concerts that changed with the release of each new album. Already at the second joint show with the group, in September 2009, the musician had his own mask. Chris Harris from MTV described her as a product of dried pieces of human flesh, a leather face that was moisturized.
Corey's first mask looked like an ordinary sack put on his head. It was a forged product, through the holes in which Taylor poked his dreadlocks. The procedure was very painful, so Corey made the following mask from latex, attaching several strands of his own hair to it. With the release of the Lowa album, the openings for the eyes and mouth in the mask were enlarged, and the dreadlocks were painted green. The product itself has acquired a gray and purple color. There was also an alternative version of the mask, made in white. The release of the album "Vol. 3: The Subliminal Verses" was marked by the production of a new version of the "accessory". This time, the mask resembled a mutilated, charred face of a dark green color, partially fastened with braces.
One of Taylor's old masks with dreadlocks now belongs to Muse frontman Howard. You can see it on the cover of "Hullabaloo". Rumor has it that Dominic stole this mask from his colleague. However, Howard simply received it as a gift from one of the fans.
Cory Taylor Tattoos
The musician claims that 98% of tattoos covering his body carry a special meaning. The most important thing in life, Corey considers the balance of evil and good powers, inner harmony. Light is always replaced by darkness; after the bad, something good always comes. One hand of Taylor depicts his favorite writer, Hunter S. Thompson, the other - David Bowie. Corey's legs are decorated with tattoos in honor of his son Griffin and the deceased bass player of Slipknot band Paul Gray. On the back of Corey is a dragon. Taylor tattoos are made by masters from around the world.
Guest musician
Corey Taylor, whose height is 1.7 m, took part in the creation of music albums by other teams, such as "Soulfly", "Damageplan", "Apocalyptica". He worked as a guest vocalist on the recording of the Worship Music project in the thrash metal band Anthrax. However, musical parts with his participation were never released. Corey Taylor, whose photo you can see in this article, contributed to the creation of the Roadrunner United project in 2005 by performing the song Rich Man. The famous vocalist speaks of his collaboration with the glam metal band Steel Panther as a great time, and calls the band members amazing. As part of this team, Taylor took part in the recording of the compositions "Asian Hooker", "Eyes of Panther", "Death to All but Metal".
Producing
Corey Taylor is the founder of the record company Great Great Mouth Records in 2006. He became the producer of "Face Cage", helped them release the self-titled album, and also participated in the creation of the "Redemption" project of the "Walls of Jericho" music team. Corey even performed vocals in several songs of this mini-album. In 2009, Taylor gave an interview to Billboard magazine, in which he announced that he plans to work on a solo project. He also said that his new songs will not be similar to the compositions that the musician created earlier. On April 24, 2009, Corey made his debut as a solo artist in Des Moines. The project called "Jank Beer Kidnar" has become a new round in the creative biography of the musician.
Other activity
In 2010, Corey Taylor released the song "XM @ $". Funds from the sale of this song went to the fund for the fight against cancer in children and adolescents. The single, made available on December 12, 2010, is being distributed online through digital distribution. In the charts of Great Britain, this composition took 37th place. In the same year, Taylor performed with Aaron Lewis in a joint acoustic show where the musicians performed a duet of cover versions of the famous compositions "Pink Floyd", "Alice In Chains", "Pearl Jam". The project took place in support of the new Lewis music album. Later, Corey took part in the recording of one of the songs for a solo project called "Give the Drummer Some", which was released by drummer Travis Barker. Also, the musician tried to prove himself as an actor. Corey Taylor, whose filmography has been replenished so far with only one film, starred in the film "Fear Clinic".
As part of Velvet Revolver
Corey Taylor tried to collaborate with rapper Tech No. 9, but did not work for him vocally. There are regular reports in the tabloids that the musician plans to become the vocalist of the Velvet Revolver group. Despite the fact that there is no official confirmation of this, the information on the possibility of such an alliance appeared in Billboard magazine. Bass guitarist Duff McKagan said that he cannot refute or confirm Corey’s membership in the group, but considers such a development quite possible. Later, musician Slash emphasized that he really liked Taylor, but his participation in the work of the team “would be wrong”.
One way or another, but Corey recorded several songs with Velvet Revolver. Matt Sorum, the drummer, expressed the opinion that these compositions are unlikely to see the light of day. In one of the American popular shows, Taylor made a statement that he is working with McKagan on the songs that will be performed by the new supergroup.
Special vocalist style
Corey Taylor is the owner of a magnificent baritone, the range of which covers three octaves. His vocals are often compared to the singing of such famous performers as John Bush, Phil Anselm and Ivan Moody. The unique style of Corey, combining harsh, singing and rap reading, allowed the musician to occupy 86th place in the hit parade "Top 100 Metal Vocalists of All Time".
Taylor's musical talent was embodied in two contrastingly different projects. The Slipknot band performs nu-metal music, revealing the themes of depression, hatred, anger, enmity and rebellion. In the work of "Stone Sour" there are hard rock, post-grunge, alternative metal. The compositions of this group are dominated by love lyrics, the theme of internal experiences.
Personal life
Already matured, Corey Taylor met his dad. The musician emphasizes that his paths with his father do not intersect often. In 2002, September 17, Corey had a son, Parker Griffin. He was born by the bride of Taylor Scarlett Stone. Previously, the musician was already becoming a father. He has a daughter, Angelina. Corey and Scarlett got married in 2004, but three years later their marriage broke up. In 2009, the musician married again, his second wife was Stephanie Lubi.
Corey Taylor suffered from alcoholism, and his first wife struggled with this addiction with him. Once a woman even stopped the suicide attempt that the musician made. In 2003, Taylor nearly jumped from the eighth floor of the hotel, but Scarlett restrained him. After this incident, Stone promised to file for divorce if Corey did not stop drinking. In January 2006, the musician got involved with alcohol.