Lords of Metal
Arrow Lords of Metal

COREY TAYLOR: “when I walk, I'm almost in constant pain”

15-09-2023

In a new interview with Rock FeedCorey Taylor once again spoke about how long he thinks SLIPKNOT can go on, given the intense physical demands of the band’s live performances. The SLIPKNOT singer, who will turn 50 in December, said: “I’ve already said that physically I maybe have five years left, but at the same time I go out of my way to really try to take care of myself. Now I have a lot of fucking miles on me. It’s hard for me. People don’t realize this, but when I walk, I’m almost in constant pain. It’s the knees, it’s my feet. I have a broken toe on this foot. I have gout across my feet. It gets up into my joints and shit. Yeah, it’s tough. I’m not as nimble as I used to be. I’m not 35 anymore. It’s hard. But there are ways to do shows that don’t require being that crazy now.”

Corey continued: “The travel doesn’t lend itself to being healthy, because, at that point, it’s not like being home. You’ve got all your stuff. You’re kind of at the mercy of what’s there for you. So you’re gonna eat like shit, you’re gonna sleep like shit, you’re gonna feel like shit, and nine times out of 10, you’re gonna play like shit. We don’t want that. So it’s tough. Even a guy at my level, it’s not always laid-out catering and the best food and the best people. Sometimes it’s a soggy sandwich at 12:30 in the morning, and you’re looking at it, going, ‘If I put this in my body, I’m gonna throw up.’ People don’t fucking get that. You know why they think that? It’s because that’s all they see on Instagram, on TikTok, on this and that, and you’re seeing the commercials. There have been times we’ve gotten off stage, we’ve gone right to the airport, flown out. We don’t sleep until seven the next day. And now we’re just all exhausted. Our crew gets it even worse, ’cause they have to fucking go in, make sure everything’s good, and then they can go fucking take a nap. So it’s not gravy all the time, man. It’s tough. It’s hard fucking work. Even at our level, it’s hard work.”

Taylor previously talked about the possibility of retirement this past June in an interview with Germany’s Rock Antenne. At the time, he said: “As long as I can physically do it, and as long as there are people there to see it, man, I’ll continue to do it. Now, if the quality starts to fail, then I’ll know it’s time to hand it in. And I’ve already thought about it — I’ve already thought about, maybe I’ve got another five years left of physically touring like this. I try to take care of myself. I work out when I can. The travel out here [in Europe] is exhausting; the food [on the road] is horrible; so it makes it hard to do that. But as long as I can keep at it, that’s at least what I wanna do. So, yeah, it is what it is.”

Earlier this year, SLIPKNOT frontman Corey Taylor signed a “global recordings agreement” with BMG to release his second solo album, “CMF2”. The follow-up to 2020’s “CMFT” is now available for pre-order and the album’s next single, ‘Talk Sick’ was released, accompanied by a lyric video.

Watch ‘Talk Sick’ below.

“That sick guitar at the beginning, I played that through a speaker about the size of a coffee cup. It made it sound violent; you feel like you’re being stung by bees who are playing along to the Sex Pistols” zegt Taylor over het nummer.“There’s an element of spiritual regurgitation, trying to purge yourself of demons that have been clinging to you because of prior relationships, romantic or otherwise. You realize those people bring a certain asshole side out of you that you don’t necessarily want in your life. It’s about trying to lance that boil and get that sickness out of you.”

Watch the previously released “Beyond” below.

Jay Ruston (ANTHRAXSTEEL PANTHERAMON AMARTH), who produced STONE SOUR‘s 2017 “Hydrograd” LP as well as “CMFT”, returns for Taylor‘s second full-length.

“Together we have great ideas, great energy, and are quick to try everything,” Taylor says of his studio collaborator. “We’re not afraid to tell each other if it’s a good idea, or also a bad one; we have that kind of trust.”

PRE-ORDER / PRE-SAVE / PRE-ADD CMF2 AT THIS LOCATION

CMF2 Album Tracklist:
01. The Box
02. Post Traumatic Blues
03. Talk Sick
04. Breath Of Fresh Smoke
05. Beyond
06. We Are The Rest
07. Midnight
08. Starmate
09. Sorry Me
10. Punchline
11. Someday I’ll Change Your Mind
12. All I Want Is Hate
13. Dead Flies

Corey Taylor CMF2 European Tour Dates:
8/11 – UK, Leeds | O2 Academy Leeds
9/11 – UK, Wolverhampton | Wolves Civic
11/11 – UK, Manchester | Manchester Academy
12/11 – UK, Glasgow | O2 Academy Glasgow
14/11 – UK, London | Eventim Apollo
19/11 – France, Paris | Le Trianon
20/11 – Germany, Cologne | Palladium
22/11 – Germany, Berlin | Verti Music Hall
24/11 – The Netherlands, Tilburg | Tilburg 013