Corey Todd Taylor was born December 8, 1973 in Des Moines, Iowa, USA. Known as #8 is the lead vocalist and member #8 for the nine-piece metal band Slipknot, and a founding member and lead singer of Stone Sour.
What inspired Corey Taylor to become a vocalist? Maybe his intrest in Rock 'n' Roll legend Elvis Presley. As Corey and his grandmother listened to Elvis, she also helped support his vocal career by purchasing equipment for Corey and helping him with his talent.
With the name Slipknot mentioned, one could only think about the masks that the band wears. Back when Slipknot originally started with Anders as vocals, the band wore masks over their faces (which, in fact, the members of the 'MFKR' Slipknot who are also part of the 'new' Slipknot still wear similar masks to those back in the 'MFKR Era'). But anyway, Corey's mask is of a crash dummy with dread locks. Back in 1999, when Slipknot released their first debut album, Corey Taylor's dreads were actually his real hair, wraped up and put through holes at the top of the mask. This changed however when Corey got a scalp infection from the hair. So he later replaced the hair with artifical hair that was sewen onto the top of the mask.
Another feature that Slipknot is popular with is the numbers that they use. The numbers are used on a lot of things, but focusing on only Corey: his number is eight. Each member of the band has a number that they chose when the band started. Rumors have it that each member chose a number and no two members chose the same number, so there were no fueds between the members about which number they wanted.
One of the things I've seen, personally, on message boards in Corey Taylor's old job, before he joined Slipknot, which was in a porn shop. His comments on it: "People would look at me like I was a freak, but they were the ones buying in the porn shop at four in the morning. Straight looking people I'd know would come to the register with 14-inch dildos and then they'd recognize me sitting there, and I'd be like, 'Like any lotions or lubes with that?'. But I didn't want anyone to feel dirty in the shop - because people are made to feel dirty every day of their lives, and that's bullshit." The porn shop's name was "Adult Emporium".
Did Corey always want to sing? Actually, no. He wanted to to play drums at first, but began his singing career when he heard Soundgarden's "Screaming Life" and Nirvana's "Bleach".
Shawn Crahan, percussionist of Slipknot(number six) used to know Corey as "Kind of Des Moines" back when Stone Sour was the biggest band in the area.
As mentioned above, Corey has been using his own vocal merchandise. The microphone that Corey uses for Slipknot is a Shure SM58 microphone.
Corey has been known to have a few "stages" or "types" of singing. Listed below are seven of these types of singing.
1) When he's actually singing (wait and bleed, mid point of no life)
2) Crazy screaming (beginning of sic and Eyeless), (surfacing fuck it all part)
3) Slow talking (I can't see, I can't be.., purity)
4) Fast talking (spit it out, no life)
5) Melodic (prosthetics, scissors)
6) Raspy scream (tattered and torn)
7) Normal scream. Like in only one, diluted, etc.
If you've seen Corey without his jumpsuit or his priest outfit on, you can try to get a view of his tattoos. He was quite a bit, as listed below.
* On Corey's chest, he has the band logo, which was tatooed onto his body in his hometown of Des Moines.
* On Corey's neck he has the number eight, representing his number in the band Slipknot.
* On Corey's forearm, he has a tattoo that says "Truth."
* On Corey's right side of his neck, he has a tatoo that stands for "Father".
* On Corey's left side of his neck, he has a tatoo that stands for "Death."
* On Corey's right and left hip bones, he as smilie face tatoos.
* On Corey's left upper arm is a tattoo of the Joker from the Dark Knight
Why might Corey have his tattoo saying "Death" and "Father?" Possibly becuase Corey did not know his real father. Actually, if you look at the Slipknot lyrics for Eyeless (track 3 of Slipknot), you can find the lyrics towards the beginning of the song that says "I am my father's son. Cuz he's a phantom, a mystery, and that leaves me nothing!"
Corey is nicknamed "Faith" and "Sickness".
From Wikipedia:Corey Todd Taylor, (born December 8, 1973 in Des Moines, Iowa) sometimes known by his number #8, is an American musician best known as the vocalist of American heavy metal band Slipknot and the American hard rock band Stone Sour. Taylor was raised by his single mother. He developed a fond feeling toward classic rock after his grandmother introduced him to it. Taylor first met his father on March 28, 2005, and the two have developed a strong relationship. He currently has a wife, an ex-wife, and two children. By the release of Stone Sour's Come What(ever) May, he was non-indulgent. On August 3, 2009 and July 29, 2010 he co-hosted the Kerrang! Awards alongside Scott Ian of Anthrax and The Damned Things. He has stated in numerous interviews that he loves Gibson guitars , and has recorded videos on behalf of the Gibson Association. When playing solo or with Stone Sour, he frequently uses Gibsons.
Corey Taylor is a founding member of Stone Sour, and has released two studio albums with the band, and has already recorded vocals for their third album. Taylor joined Slipknot in 1997 to replace their original singer Anders Colsefini. He has released four studio albums with the band. Taylor constantly alters between bands, as seen in 2001, after the release of Iowa, where he rejoined Stone Sour immediately after touring. He has worked with several bands, including Junk Beer Kidnap Band, Apocalyptica, Anthrax, Soulfly, and Avenged Sevenfold. Taylor writes and sings in styles that vary by genre. Slipknot drummer Joey Jordison said that he has "really good melodic singing." Taylor was ranked number 86 in Hit Parader's Top 100 Metal Vocalists of All Time.