COREY TAYLOR 

Corey Todd Taylor (born December 8, 1973) sometimes known by the number 8,^[1] is an American musician best known as the lead vocalist and lyricist of Slipknot and Stone Sour.^[2]

Corey Taylor is a founding member of Stone Sour, and has released three studio albums with that band. Taylor joined Slipknot in 1997 to replace their original singer Anders Colsefni. He has released four studio albums with them. Taylor constantly alternates between bands, since 2001, after the release ofIowa, where he reformed Stone Sour immediately after touring. He has worked with several bands, including Junk Beer Kidnap Band, Apocalyptica,Anthrax, Aaron Lewis of Staind, and Soulfly. Taylor writes and sings in styles that vary by genre. Taylor was ranked number 86 in Hit Parader's Top 100 Metal Vocalists of All Time.^[3]Corey Taylor was born in Des Moines, Iowa on December 8, 1973,^[4][5][6][7] the first of three children. He lived in Orlando briefly with his uncle, George Robson though Taylor was mostly raised by his mother in Waterloo, Iowa, a place described by Taylor as a "hole in the ground with buildings around it."^[7]

Taylor was raised by his single mother. He developed a fond feeling toward classic rock after his grandmother introduced him to it.

In 1979, Taylor and his mother saw the science fiction series Buck Rogers in the 25th Century. Before the series, there was a trailer for the 1978 horror filmHalloween. Taylor said this "developed some sense of Slipknot in [himself]."^[7] While Halloween introduced Taylor to masks and horror themes, Taylor'sgrandmother introduced him to rock music, showing him a collection of Elvis Presley records from the mid-fifties to late seventies. He especially found some songs like "Teddy Bear", "In the Ghetto", and "Suspicious Minds", to appeal to his interests the most, describing them as "good times."^[7] Taylor also began listening to Black Sabbath at a young age, beginning with their early work.^[7]

Taylor, along with his mother and sister, lived in an "old dilapidated farmhouse," which on days in late autumn would "look like Black Sabbath album covers."^[8][9] By age fifteen, Taylor had developed a drug addiction and had overdosed on cocaine twice.^[8][10] By this time, Taylor was living in Waterloo, Iowa, but later set out on his own and ended up at his grandmother's trailer in Ohio. She took legal custody of him and helped him buy musical equipment.^[9] When Taylor was eighteen, he left his grandmother's trailer and went to various places, Des Moines being a place to which he frequently returned.^[11]

Taylor and his father first met when Taylor was an adult, and now have a strong relationship.^[12] On September 17, 2002, Corey's then-fiancée, Scarlett Stone, gave birth to their son Griffin Parker.^[13]Taylor also has a daughter named Angie, born on October 29, 1992 from an earlier relationship.^[13] Taylor and Stone married on March 11, 2004, and divorced three years later.^[14] On November 13, 2009, he married Stephanie Luby.^[14]

Taylor has also had alcohol abuse problems, which his ex-wife, Scarlett, helped him through as well as keeping him from committing suicide.^[15] In 2006, Taylor told MTV that he had attempted to jump off a balcony of the eighth floor of the Hyatt on Sunset Boulevard in 2003, but "somehow [Scarlett] stopped me". This was later recanted by Taylor in an interview with Kerrang! radio and stated that it was, in fact, his friend Thom Hazaert who stopped him from jumping.^[16] Scarlett then told him that either he would have to get sober or she would annul their marriage.^[15] Before Stone Sour started recording Come What(ever) May in January 2006, Taylor was sober.^[15][17]

On August 3, 2009, he co-hosted the 2009 Kerrang! Awards alongside Scott Ian of Anthrax.^[18][19] The following year, they both once again co-hosted The Kerrang Awards, where Corey collected the K! Services to Metal award on behalf of Paul Gray who died after an accidental overdose of morphine and fentanyl, and had also shown signs of "significant heart disease".^[20][21] In early September, 2010, Taylor announced that his book, Seven Deadly Sins: Settling The Argument Between Born Bad And Damaged Good would be released on July 12, 2011 through Da Capo Press.^[22]