Jonathan Davis and his bandmates have recruited J.R. Bareis of Love and Death to fill in for James 'Munky' Shaffer after the guitarist stepped back due to Covid.
- Sep 12, 2021
AceShowbiz - Brian "Head" Welch's Love & Death bandmate J.R. Bareis has been recruited to join Korn on tour as guitarist James "Munky" Shaffer battles COVID-19.
Bareis previously stepped in for Shaffer in August 2019 when he was forced to miss a string of Korn shows due to the impending birth of his child.
The guitarist played his latest concert with Welch and Jonathan Davis in Salt Lake City, Utah on Thursday night (09Sep21).
Shaffer became the second member of Korn to test positive for COVID-19 in a month after the deadly virus floored singer Davis, forcing the postponement of six dates and cancellation of two shows on the group's current U.S. tour.
Last week, Davis admitted he was still struggling with coronavirus after-effects. He has been sitting on a throne, taking hits from an oxygen tank, during many shows as he builds up his energy.
Following Munky's diagnosis, fans urged Davis and his bandmates to cancel the remainder of the tour and isolate to make sure no one else falls sick, but the group decided to go on with their jaunt. "The tour is going on as scheduled despite these circumstances, and we are anticipating a speedy recovery," they said.
Similarly, Jonathan Davis previously told his fans, "I'm f**king feeling very weak but I f**king refuse to f**king cancel!!! (sic)"
Another rocker Corey Taylor recently contracted the virus as well.
The Slipknot frontman blamed it on "selfish" fans, "Sometimes you just run into those selfish people that don't care about that. I think that's what happened to me - somebody came to one of my shows and was in the audience sick and probably got several people sick, man."
