Corey Taylor

Very few singers can claim to have fronted, not one, but two globally successful rock bands — least of all at the same time … unless they’re Corey Taylor. Born Corey Todd Taylor, in Des Moines, Iowa, on December 8, 1973, the future vocalist came from a broken home and faced both drug addiction and suicidal depression at an early age before finding his calling in music. With fellow Des Moines area musicians, Josh Rand (rhythm guitar), Shawn Economaki (bass) and Joel Ekman (drums), Taylor formed Stone Sour in 1992, but despite building a local following and recording a couple of demos in the years that followed, the alternative rock band made precious little career headway. In 1995, lead guitarist Jim Root joined their ranks, but within two years both he and Taylor would be whisked away into the masked nu-metal collective Slipknot, which subsequently rose to international fame on the strength of their platinum-selling debut for Roadrunner Records. In Slipknot, Taylor assumed the #8 as his own and typically remained hidden underneath his frightening, custom-made mask and uniform boiler suit. But his versatile talents couldn’t be concealed for long, and he was soon known by his given name as the band’s career continued to thrive, well into the third millennium. In 2002, Taylor also revived Stone Sour and proceeded to both tour and record with the group in between his commitments with Slipknot — while at the same time frequently lending his voice to guest appearances with name bands like Soulfly, Damageplan, Anthrax, Apocalyptica, and the Roadrunner United project — to name but a few.

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