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Heavy metal band Slipknot decked themselves out in matching overalls and masks, and took metal to new depths of violent, nasty, jaw-dropping lunacy in the 1990s and 2000s. Front man Corey Taylor was raised in Iowa by a single mother and was introduced to music through MTV, his babysitter's punk tapes and his grandmother's collection of Elvis Presley records, before he discovered Black Sabbath, Metallica and horror movies such as 'Halloween' and 'Hellraiser' in his teens. His troubled upbringing included sexual abuse, drug addiction and a suicide attempt, but he found a release in music when he formed Stone Sour in 1992 and began purging his demons into scarred, melodic, post-grunge barrages. By 1997 Stone Sour had built up a solid following on the underground rock scene and made some demos recordings, but during a break when Taylor was working in a late-night adult store, he started hanging out with local metal upstarts Slipknot and ended up becoming the band's lead vocalist on their self-titled debut album in 1999. Notorious for their daring stage dives, unhinged hellraising and ferocious, psychotic shows, they went on to release landmark albums 'Iowa' and 'Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses)' and were quickly recognised as the most controversial band of their generation. Taylor was the first member to unmask and reveal his true identity when he recorded the atmospheric, melancholy ballad 'Bother' for the soundtrack to the 'Spider-Man' movie, and he also reignited Stone Sour for their self-titled debut album in 2002. Based on heartfelt songwriting and more traditional rock hooks, Stone Sour found success with top ten albums 'Come What(ever) May', 'Audio Secrecy' and 'House of Gold & Bones - Part 1', but it was Slipknot who remained a gloriously demonic, guttural, chaotic force and topped the US charts with 'All Hope Is Gone' and '.5: The Gray Chapter'. Over the years Taylor has collaborated with numerous acts, including the Rollins Band, Korn and Apocalyptica, tried his hand at acting in film and TV, performed stand-up comedy, written a comic book as well as novels and an autobiography.
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