Korn

• 1. Origins And Formation

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  In 1993, three musicians from Bakersfield, California named James Shaffer, Reginald Arvizu, and David Silveria stood at the edge of a new sound. They had previously played together in a band called L.A.P.D., but that group dissolved when they moved to Los Angeles. The trio needed a new direction and found it by recruiting Brian Welch and Jonathan Davis. Their first demo tape, Neidermayer's Mind, appeared later that year with very limited printing. It was distributed free to record companies and on request to members of the public who filled out flyers given out at gigs they played for free with Biohazard and House of Pain.

  The band rented a studio from Jeff Creath called Underground Chicken Sound in Huntington Beach, California. While recording there, a crowd began loitering outside the studio. Korn started playing a prelude to a song called Clown, which attracted a larger crowd because it sounded so different. Paul Pontius, an A&R employee for Immortal Records, spotted them during this time. He described their sound as the new genre of rock. By May 1994, they began recording their self-titled debut album with producer Ross Robinson. Recording finished by the end of the following month, and the album released on October 11 through Immortal Records.

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• 2. Breakthrough Albums

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  Korn achieved mainstream success with Follow the Leader, released on the 18th of August 1998. The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 with at least 268,000 copies sold in its first week. It spawned two of their biggest singles: Got the Life and Freak on a Leash. These music videos became mainstays on MTV's Total Request Live. Got the Life was the show's very first retired video, while Freak on a Leash reached retirement several months later. The album eventually sold almost 10 million copies worldwide and received five-times platinum certification from the RIAA.

  Their fourth album, Issues, arrived on the 16th of November 1999. It debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 with at least 573,000 copies sold. This release kept Dr. Dre's second album 2001 and All the Way... A Decade of Song by Céline Dion from hitting number one that same week. To celebrate the album's release, the band performed it in its entirety before a live audience at New York's historic Apollo Theater. They broadcast the concert simultaneously across many radio stations. This performance marked the first time since Buddy Holly in the late 1950s that a rock band had performed an entire album for a live audience.

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• 3. Lineup Changes And Hiatuses

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  In early 2005, Brian Welch announced he would be quitting the band. He spoke to a crowd of 10,000 people in three services at Valley Bible Fellowship in Bakersfield, California. He stated that he was addicted to methamphetamines and tried everything including rehab but could not quit without help. Church became his last shot where he said God showed him how to stop using drugs. Following his departure, Welch released two autobiographies and formed a new band named Love and Death which released a debut album in 2013.

  Founding drummer David Silveria took an indefinite temporary hiatus in December 2006. The band then performed at the MTV studios in Times Square on the 9th of December 2006, for the MTV Unplugged series. This acoustic set included guest appearances by the Cure and Amy Lee of Evanescence. Sales of nearly 51,000 copies brought the resulting album to number nine in its first week out. Ray Luzier from Army of Anyone eventually replaced Silveria permanently in 2007 after playing drums during Korn's live shows until that point.

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• 4. Genre Evolution And Experimentation

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  Korn's tenth studio album, The Path of Totality, arrived on the 6th of December 2011. It featured contributions from Skrillex, 12th Planet, Excision, Downlink, Kill the Noise, Noisia, and various other EDM artists. The album debuted and peaked at number ten on the Billboard 200 with 55,000 copies scanned. Get Up! became their first single to be certified gold in the United States. The band split their show into three sections: tracks from their first two albums, new songs, and hit singles.

  After this electronic experiment, they returned to heavier sounds with The Serenity of Suffering released on the 21st of October 2016. Guitarist James Shaffer described the music as heavier than anyone had heard them in a long time. Corey Taylor of Slipknot made a guest appearance on the new album while Nick Raskulinecz served as producer. Their thirteenth album, The Nothing, followed on the 13th of September 2019. This record included a cover of Charlie Daniels' The Devil Went Down to Georgia featuring rapper Yelawolf.

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• 5. Cultural Legacy And Influence

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  As of 2021, Korn had sold more than 40 million records worldwide. Fourteen of their official releases have peaked in the top ten of the Billboard 200, eight of which have reached the top five. They are tied with Van Halen for the most top 10 records as a rock or metal artist. The band has earned two Grammy Awards out of eight nominations and two MTV Video Music Awards out of 11 nominations. Several of their music videos received substantial play on MTV's Total Request Live and were among the first to be retired on the show.

  Korn is widely credited as the originators of the nu metal scene. Bands such as Coal Chamber, Limp Bizkit, Slipknot, Machine Head, and Sepultura were inspired by their debut album. The album launched the career of record producer Ross Robinson who later produced albums for Limp Bizkit, Sepultura, and Slipknot. Amy Lee of Evanescence also cited Korn as an influence growing up. Richard S. He of Billboard wrote that Follow the Leader opened the floodgates for countless nu-metal acts to infiltrate the mainstream.

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