Korn Biography

news-details While many other bands play with six-string guitars, Korn distorted seven-strings instead. The unique style has been copied since, but the forerunner Korn remains immortal. The band first formed as LAPD (Love And Peace Dude) and was later changed to Creep. They renamed to Korn after the vocalist, Jonathan Davis, joined the band in 1993. Unfortunately, in 2005, the nu-metal godfathers lost their guitarist Brian 'Head' Welch refer to his religious reason. Korn current line are vocalist Jonathan Davis, bassist Reginald 'Fieldy' Arvizu, drummer David Silveria and guitarist James 'Munky' Shaffer.

Korn was touring for nearly two years before signed to Immortal Records and released their self-titled debut in 1994. Sad to say, radio stations and MTV refused to play their songs. The rejection did stop the band as they continued to play on the road and joined the Ozzfest. The next album "Life is Peachy" was offered for sale in 1996 and instantly went platinum. As for the success, MTV agreed to play Korn video.

Korn won their first Grammy in 2000 for Best Short Form Music Video and they also achieved two MTV Video Music Awards, thanks to their animated video "Freak On A Leash" taken from album "Follow the Leader" (1998). This song was later on played unplugged with Evanescence's Amy Lee and ran on MTV at tremendous rate. Korn's tour was particularly something worth to see. Their idea on "The Family Values Tour" that featured everyone from Ice Cube to Limp Bizkit to Rammstein has made the tour as one of 1998's most successful tours. In 1999, Korn released their fourth album "Issues" The album that featured four different covers, put their single "Falling Away From Me" on "South Park" episode. The frontman Davis also appeared on special South Park Halloween episode, entitled " Korn's Groovy Pirate Ghost Mistery."

Disappointing sales occured on Korn's next album "Untouchables" (2002). The Internet piracy was the issue for the decline. The band tried their luck with their following album "Take a Look in the Mirror" (2003) and sent one of its singles "Did My Time" to be featured as Angelina Jolie's "Tomb Raider: The Craddle of Life" movie soundtrack. Then, Korn and rapper Xzibit recorded cover of Public Enemy's "Fight the Power" for the soundtrack of Van Diesel's "XXX: State of the Union" (2005). From movie to TV series, Korn has also re-recorded the theme for UPN's "Twilight Zone." Furthermore, the band's track "Play Me," which is featuring rapper Nas, is included for the in-game soundtrack of "NFL Street Game," launched by leading video game company Electronic Arts.

The sixth album "Take a Look in the Mirror" arrived in 2003 and marked the return of the band to their initial "nu metal" sound. It peaked at #9 in Billboard 200. Before moving on with a new album, the band that has got its name under successful musician list, release a greatest hits compilation under the title"Greatest Hits, Vol. 1" in 2004. A major blow came in 2005 when guitarist Brian "Head" Welch announced his departure saying that that he had "...chosen the Lord Jesus Christ as his savior, and would be dedicating his musical pursuits to that end. The seventh album "See You on the Other Side" marked the band's first album as a quartet and under new label Virgin. It was released in November 2005 with first single "Twisted Transistor". So famous was their figure that an idea to imitate them using someone else in the music video was brought up. Rap icons Xzibit, Lil' Jon, David Banner and Snoop Dogg parodied them in a comic video that brought rave reviews. The album was sold over 2 million copies worldwide.

Korn resurrected its Family Values Tour in 2006 with bigger line-ups such as Deftones, Stone Sour, Flyleaf, Dir en grey, 10 Years, Bury Your Dead, Deadsy, Bullets and Octane, and Walls of Jericho. It continued to be one of the most successful joint tours in the States that another one was conducted the next year with bigger artists and stages. Gaining the reputation of the most consistent musicians, the band is looking forward to release their eight studio album that has been confirmed to contain some covers. Sadly, during the working process, drummer David Silvera announced his hiatus from the band, causing fans to doubt the band's future. Despite the departure, the three remaining members still geared up the work to near completion with temporary drummer Terry Bozzio. The album was announced to have no title and was available in stores on July 31. It entered Billboard Hot 200 at #2 in the first week of its release by selling well over 120,000 copies. Success brought by this album apparently blinded Bozzio who was actually determined to be kept for one more tour and album. Bozzio made some huge demands that the band couldn't handle at that time, causing the departure of the drummer. Shaffner said, "There were certain demands that he made. We weren't ready to meet those demands. He was a great guy and a phenomenal drummer but the demands that he made were offensive. He wanted to be a member of the band, and that included ownership. We were like, 'What, you want to have 25 per cent of everything?' We can't just sign away the right to music on a whim."