Korn, sometimes typeset as KoЯn, is a band from Bakersfield, California, and are credited with creating and popularizing the nu metal genre. Along with other bands at the time, they have also inspired many nu metal and alternative metal bands throughout the mid 1990s and early 2000s.[4]
The band's catalogue consists of nine consecutive debuts in the top ten of the Billboard 200,[5] including a compilation album, Greatest Hits Vol.1, and their untitled eighth album, released on July 31, 2007. To date, Korn has sold over 30 million albums worldwide, including 16.5 million in the U.S.,[6] while earning six Grammy nominations—two of which they have won.[7]
Korn formed after the group L.A.P.D. folded, due to singer Richard Morrill's drug addiction. Musicians Reginald Arvizu, James Shaffer, and David Silveria wanted to continue, and so recruited the guitarist Brian Welch and then 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. This changed once a band called Sexart took to the stage. They were intrigued by the singer, Jon Davis, and approached him after the gig was finished. At first, Davis didn't want the position of their 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, thus forming a new band by the name of Korn. Welch then took the pseudonym "Head", Arvizu became "Fieldy", and Shaffer became "Munky".
Later in 1993, Korn began a working process with friend and producer Ross Robinson. Neidermeyer's Mind was released that same year, containing 4 songs: "Predictable," "Blind", "Daddy", and "Alive". "Blind" was originally written by Davis and Sexart, but was revised with new lyrics. Korn had problems getting signed during its first year, due to the 1990s rock scene, which was primarily grunge. After many attempts at a record deal, 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.[8] With a producer and a label, Korn started work on their self-titled debut album.
Musically, its tracks mix both heavy metal and hip hop/funk, the latter of which in rhythms and beats. It also features scat vocals on the song "Ball Tongue", and bagpipes on the song "Shoots and Ladders". These two elements would later become a vital representation of Korn's trademark sound. "Blind" was the first single from the album, and would gradually become one of their most recognizable and respected songs, closing almost every live show in recent years.
Once Korn saw a release on October 11, 1994, the band toured incessantly with no support from radio or video stations. They relied solely on their intensive live shows, which created a large cultlike following of dedicated fans.[4] It was through the effort of this fanbase that helped push Korn onto the Billboard 200, eventually peaking at #72 in 1996,[5] with "Shoots and Ladders" being their first Grammy nomination for Best Metal Performance.[9]
On their first large tour, Korn opened for 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 (at the time), and Life of Agony, Korn returned to the studio to record a second album.
Korn teamed up with Robinson once again for their second album, Life Is Peachy, released on October 15, 1996. It presents a much grittier, stripped-down sound than its predecessor,[10] possibly due to time constraints. There were plenty of diverse songs on this record: "Porno Creep" features a wah-drenched pseudo-funk sound, similar to many 1970s porn movies. Korn also recorded two covers, those being War's "Low Rider", with Davis' bagpipes and Head on vocals, and Ice Cube's "Wicked", with guest vocalist Chino Moreno of Deftones.
To help promote their new album, Korn opened for Metallica, along with utilizing one of the newest resources available—the Internet. Such strategies worked, as Life Is Peachy sold more than 106,000 copies in its first week and reached #3 on the Billboard 200.[5] The first single, "No Place to Hide", spawned a Grammy nomination for Best Metal Performance.[9] "A.D.I.D.A.S." was the second single and only music video, 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.
Another key factor in raising the band's popularity was co-headlining the Lollapalooza music festival in 1997 with Tool. However, Korn were forced to drop off the bill after Munky was diagnosed with viral meningitis.[11] Also that year, Korn augmented their growing crossover appeal by collaborating with Los Angeles-based production and remix duo the Dust Brothers on the track "Kick the P.A.". This track appeared on the motion picture soundtrack of the film Spawn.
In late 1997, Korn formed their own record label, Elementree Records. The first signing was Videodrone,[12] whose singer, Ty Elam, is credited for giving Jonathan Davis singing lessons.[13] Orgy, however, released their debut album prior to Videodrone's, giving Elementree its first Platinum certification.[14] Orgy's guitarist, Ryan Shuck, is known for playing alongside Davis and Elam in the band Sexart. Over the next few years, Korn signed other acts like rapper Marz and Deadsy.
Prior to the release of the band's third album, Korn produced a weekly online TV show, KornTV,[15] which 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. Korn released their third album, Follow the Leader, on August 18, 1998, 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).
Korn launched a political campaign-style tour to promote the release of Follow the Leader.[16] The tour took the group, on a chartered jet, all over North America to spread the news of Follow the Leader. They talked to fans and answered questions during special "fan conferences", which were organized at every stop along the tour route, and signed autographs. Jim Rose hosted the entire "Kampaign" tour.
The album was a complete success, debuting at #1 on Billboard with 268,000 copies sold,[17] and spawning the singles "Got the Life" and "Freak on a Leash". They both exposed Korn to a wider, mainstream audience, with the music videos being mainstays on MTV's Total Request Live. "Got the Life" was the show's very first "retired" video, with "Freak on a Leash" reaching that same success months later.[18] These songs also fared well on Billboard, with "Freak on a Leash" peaking in the top 10 of both Mainstream Rock and Modern Rock, the latter of which it spent 27 weeks on—more than any other Korn single to date.
Greg Capullo, long-time Spawn penciler, drew the cover art for Follow the Leader. 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). 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 Music Video, Short Form, and received a nomination for Best Hard Rock Performance.[20] The video also earned nine MTV Video Music Awards nominations for Video of the Year, Best Rock Video, Breakthrough Video, Best Direction, Best Special Effects, Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Editing, and Viewer's Choice.[21] It eventually 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. Korn headlined the highly-successful tour along with Incubus, Orgy, Limp Bizkit, Ice Cube, and Rammstein. A live CD and DVD were released and earned Gold and Platinum certifications, respectively. In 1999, Limp Bizkit headlined, along with Primus, Staind, The Crystal Method, Method Man & Redman, and Filter. Korn were not featured on the bill and instead only made surprise appearances at a few of the stops to perform their first single off of their next album. The tour took a break in 2000.
The band's fourth album, Issues, produced by Brendan O'Brien, was released on November 16, 1999, featuring cover art designed by Alfredo Carlos, who won a contest held for the fans by MTV.[22] Issues was released during a week of many highly-anticipated records. It debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 with more than 573,000 copies sold,[23] keeping Dr. Dre's long-awaited album 2001 and Celine Dion's greatest hits album from hitting #1.
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.[24] This performance made Korn the first rock band, 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 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.[25] Korn released two more singles off of Issues, "Make Me Bad" and "Somebody Someone", both of which fared well on Billboard. Videos were shot for all three singles, with longtime friend Fred Durst directing "Falling Away from Me", and Martin Weisz directing a concept video for "Make Me Bad", as well as a performance video for "Somebody Someone", which featured CGI effects. Every video was a staple on Total Request Live, two of which made it to retirement.[18] Issues is considered by some critics to be less hip hop-influenced and closer to alternative metal than nu metal.[26] It was certified 3x Platinum, following up the success of Follow the Leader.
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 bio-mechanical and erotic. The band visited his museum and met him in July of 2000 while they were touring in Europe. The bio-mechanical microphone stand was finished in 2001.[27] It was introduced to fans one year later during Korn's Untouchables tour.
On June 12, 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. It debuted at #2 on the Billboard 200 with 434,000 in sales.[28] Sales were disappointing in comparison to the first four albums, as Untouchables has only been certified Platinum once. The band has blamed Internet piracy for the drop in sales, as an unmastered version of the album had leaked three months prior to its official release date.
The release of this album was preceded by a show at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York, a day prior to the album's release, broadcast digitally throughout U.S. movie theatres.[30] Untouchables featured electronic beats, strings and various guitar 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 "Hollow Life", which singer Jonathan Davis claims is one of his favorite Korn songs to this day.
The first two 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 with a static background along with controversial news stories and world issues being presented. The song itself earned Korn a Grammy for Best Metal Performance,[9] and would become their highest-peaking single on Billboard's Modern Rock chart.[19] The second video, "Thoughtless", was a nod back to Davis' childhood as the character in the video (previously featured in the first Vanilla Coke commercial) is picked on and constantly beaten. The character ultimately gains revenge in a rather grotesque but deserving way. 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 the video through an MTV contest. The video kept with the darkness of Korn, showing Davis killing off the members of the band after a supposed mistake made by Munky while they were performing. The band admitted it would have been more fun to do the video had the director been an actual Korn fan.
Prior to their next album, Korn released the single "Did My Time" on July 22, 2003,[31] which was used to promote the film Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life. Angelina Jolie appeared in the Dave Meyers-directed video. Due to scheduling conflicts, however, the band and Jolie recorded their parts separately. "Did My Time" also gave Korn yet another Grammy nomination in the Best Metal Performance category.