The Hidden Truth Of Korn

When discussing the most important rock bands of the 1990s, it's impossible to not mention Korn. The godfathers of nu metal didn't only create a new subgenre of music through a fusion of funk, punk rock, rap, and heavy metal, but they also birthed an entire cultural movement that inspired the likes of Limp Bizkit, Coal Chamber, and Linkin Park. Korn is a singularity that rocked the music industry and continues to evolve to this day.

While the Bakersfield band's influence remains undisputed, there are many surprising and unknown facts about the group that not every fan might be aware of. For instance, who knew that Korn's lead singer and master of the bagpipes, Jonathan Davis, didn't like rock music at all? It makes his chosen career path all that more interesting. Then there's the time in which the band snuck into a studio to record their demo on another famous metal band's dime. In addition to this, over time, Korn ended up regretting the release of some of the songs that became mega-hits. 

Much like their music, no one knows what to expect when it comes to these nu metallers. So, before anyone comes undone or rots in vain, let's dig deeper to uncover the hidden truth about Korn. To quote "Blind," one of their most famous tracks: Are you ready?

Jonathan Davis is arguably one of the best frontmen in rock and heavy metal of any era. From his raw lyrics to phenomenal delivery and his electric on-stage presence, he carved his own name into the pantheon of music greats. What's surprising, though, is how Davis didn't envision himself as a rock musician at any point — largely because he wasn't a fan of the genre.

Appearing on BBC's "Radio 1's Rock Show with Daniel P. Carter," Davis explained how his parents performed in a local production of Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Jesus Christ Superstar" that initially turned him onto music. He also detailed that he met Ray Charles through his father and developed a fond appreciation of Charles' music, while he himself started to learn how to play piano and other instruments.

However, Davis didn't gravitate toward rock when he wanted to become a musician. "I didn't know I was going to get into rock, I hated rock," he said. "The only rock band I liked was Led Zeppelin." His appreciation for art of the heavier variety materialized when he listened to Pantera's 1992 crushing album, "Vulgar Display of Power," which pummeled his senses in much the same way it does the cover model's face. "I had never heard anything like that, and it was about the time I got the call to come try out for Korn," Davis said. "It all happened around the same time."

Nowadays, recording a demo is as easy as pulling out a MacBook and hitting the record button, but in the early '90s, musicians needed to book studio time to get their music on tape. Korn proved to be no different. The band used to practice at the Underground Chicken Sound and after Jonathan Davis joined Korn in 1993, producer Ross Robinson suggested they take the next step and record a demo as soon as possible.

As Davis explained to the Independent in 2017, Korn chose four songs to record — including two that Davis brought along from his former band SexArt — and laid down the tracks for the demo which would become known as "Neidermayer's Mind." Between Robinson and Korn, the band found a sly way to get access to "free" studio time. "I'd only been in the band for two weeks when we recorded 'Neidermayer's Mind' and the songs were done real quick," Davis said. "They had to be because we were ripping off time from W.A.S.P. They were in the studio doing one of their records and they'd leave around midnight, so Ross would sneak us in and we'd use the studio at night until they came back in the morning."

Davis shared another anecdote that most fans might not have known: Korn used W.A.S.P. lead singer/guitar Blackie Lawless' guitars to record the intro for "Blind," and Lawless was none the wiser about it.

Korn's eponymous 1994 debut album changed the landscape of heavy metal and remains the barometer for many bands on how to make an instant impact in the music industry. The record features a number of timeless bangers, including the likes of "Blind," "Clown," and "Need To," however, the latter track catches the ear for its particular lyrical content. It contains several controversial lines and expletives, though it's clearly about a relationship — or at least about one person falling for another who is involved with somebody else and struggling to deal with their feelings.

While it isn't unusual to hear these types of songs from rock and metal bands (hello, power ballad!), no one expected Jonathan Davis to name the person who inspired the lyrics. In a 2020 interview with Metal Hammer, Davis came clean and added Aimee Echo's name to the list of hit songs and the real women who inspired them. For those who may not be too familiar with the musician, Echo used to be the lead singer of the short-lived metal band Human Waste Project, which also featured guitarist Mike Tempesta of Powerman 5000 fame.

Speaking about Echo, Davis said, "We were really good friends back in the day, and we never hooked up, and never did anything, but the vibe was there. I don't think I ever told her this, but I guess she's going to find out now ..."

The rise of the internet transformed the way in which bands communicated with their audience. It allowed them to reach their fans directly and in a more timely fashion since they no longer had to heavily rely on (and beg) the media for coverage. Korn confirmed themselves to be innovators in both the creation of their musical style and how they utilized the internet in the '90s before it was as widespread and prevalent as it is now.

While Korn didn't have the world's first website, they had one in place two years before The New York Times, as the Alternative Press points out. Speaking to that publication, Jonathan Davis credited their early adoption of the internet down to the fact that he had an interest in technology and their managers encouraged the band to explore innovative ways to get out there to the public. 

The singer elaborated on how Korn were far ahead of their time, saying, "On 'Life Is Peachy,' we did 'Korn Mangling the Web,' where we partnered with this new company called QuickTime, and you could take your mouse and look around Indigo Ranch, the studio where we made [the record]. We were in TIME Magazine because of that. Then after that, on 'Follow The Leader,' we did the 'Korn After School Specials' once a week, which was like a TV show. We had this chatroom, that was like the metaverse, where everyone had their own avatar and chat."

Though no stranger to controversy, Adidas is renowned for being one of the biggest and most attractive sports brands in the world. The brand also features in an urban legend that its name is an acronym for the saying, "All day I dream about sex." According to Snopes, there's no truth to this rumor, as the brand's name is derived from its founder, Adi Dassler.

That said, it didn't stop Korn from taking inspiration from the sexed-up acronym and writing the track "A.D.I.D.A.S." which features on their second album, "Life Is Peachy." Expectedly, it features the "all day I dream about sex" phrase several times over, and the song is all to do with fornication. In an interview with Adidas in 2023, Jonathan Davis spoke about the track, stating, "It's just very immature and representative of where we were at that point in time," though he added that's what the band members did think about in their mid-20s.

Interestingly enough, "A.D.I.D.A.S." proved to be one of the contributing factors for Brian "Head" Welch leaving the band in the first place. After he heard his young daughter singing the lyrics, he wasn't pleased with what he was hearing and this influenced his decision to quit the band.

When Korn added the use of bagpipes to their shows and recordings, audiences were captivated because the instrument isn't something often associated with the genre of heavy metal. It was also quite the experience to see Jonathan Davis playing the bagpipes live on stage, especially since he's pretty good at it. The million dollar question is, though, what inspired Davis to pick up the instrument to begin with?

As it turns out, fans have 1982's "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan" to thank for Davis being drawn to the bagpipes. "Yeah, it was when Spock was dying and his casket was coming out," Davis revealed to Stereogum. "But I grew up listening to bagpipe records from my grandparents. When they did 'Amazing Grace,' I'm like, 'I want to play bagpipes.' The high school I went to had a pipe band. That's when I started learning how to play bagpipes. I went and competed a couple times and did all that — it was fun."

Davis acknowledged how strange and surreal it was for concert-goers to see him playing bagpipes and hearing the instrument at the show for the first time. That said, he more than solidified his status as the "rock 'n' roll bagpiper."

To call Korn productive in the early years would be putting it mildly. From 1994 to 1998, the nu metal group churned out three chart-topping albums in between all the touring and promotion of said albums. In 1999, they dropped another record in the form of "Issues." This time around, though, the process was different from the previous recordings.

Speaking to Kerrang in 2021, Jonathan Davis recalled how "Issues" was the first record he did "sober." According to him, he did this without attending a rehabilitation facility or seeking medical assistance. "I did it cold turkey, no rehab, no nothing," he said. "I didn't know what was going on, I was going insane. Now I look back, I realize I was detoxing, but at the time I thought I was really going mad."

While Davis described "Issues" as "fun to make" and praised working with producer Brendan O'Brien, he described the nerves he experienced making the album while sober. "Most of the art that came out [previously], I was on something that breaks down that filter, so I had to learn how to deal and be creative again, but I was going through it," Davis said, adding that O'Brien played a major role in aiding his new creative process.

Recording a high-quality album with an experienced producer can be pricey, but $4 million? Well, Korn managed to rack up this hefty bill for their 2002 album, "Untouchables." Speaking to Kerrang (via Blabbermouth) at the time, bassist Reginald "Fieldy" Arvizu discussed how the costs escalated since the band rented houses in Phoenix, Los Angeles, and Canada for a few months at a time.

Many years later, Jonathan Davis talked to Alternative Press and clarified Fieldy's comments, confirming that "Untouchables" cost $4 million while disclosing a significant factor that resulted in the costs spiraling out of control. "Maybe the record cost $1 million, which was normal at that time, but the other $3 million was spent because our f***ing band insisted that we keep our entire road crew on retainer for f***ing two years," Davis said. "And there you go — that's where the money went. So our crew got to kick back for two years and not do s*** and got full pay. That was us not being good businessmen."

Ultimately, "Untouchables" debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200, while the single "Here to Stay" secured Korn a Grammy for Best Metal Performance at the 45th annual Grammy Awards. That said, this record paled in comparison to the staggering amount Michael Jackson's "Invincible" album cost to make.

In many fans' eyes, Korn and Limp Bizkit stand tall as the flag bearers for nu metal. Both bands remain intrinsically linked as Korn played a role in taking the Bizkit to the next level and they performed at the Family Values Tour. Lest we forget, they also teamed up for the track "All in the Family," which is off the 1998 album, "Follow the Leader." On the track, Korn's Jonathan Davis and Limp Bizkit's Fred Durst have what could best be described as a rap battle as they go back and forth and throw barbs at each other.

If a listener is looking for something akin to "Stairway to Heaven," this isn't it. The lyrical content for "All in the Family" falls straight in the sophomoric humor category and features a plethora of homophobic insults. It's not exactly Korn nor Limp Bizkit's brightest moment.

Davis agrees, referring to "All in the Family" as "the worst song ever" when he spoke to Metal Hammer in 2022. "It's horrible," he said. "We were all drunk in the studio and I was trying to rap. At the time, we were having a good time, but now I just cringe. I've got nothing against Fred, it just sucks! We were out of our minds drunk! It shouldn't have made the record."

Ross Robinson's name is as synonymous with nu metal as Korn's. The producer is responsible for shaping a number of the subgenre's most famous albums and built up a reputation of getting the best out of the performers by any means necessary. Let's just say he likes to push buttons to get the desired emotional reaction.

Robinson didn't give Korn's Jonathan Davis any special treatment on 2010's "Korn III: Remember Who You Are," even after having worked with the band and Davis several times before. As Davis revealed to the Independent, Robinson might have pushed Davis a bit too far. "There was a song that I wrote about my wife [the penultimate track, 'Are You Ready to Live?'] when she was having problems with a pill addiction," Davis said. "And Ross called her without me knowing and asked her to show up to the studio and I had to sing that part to her!"

Davis explained how he thought the album could have been better had Robinson not pushed so hard and allowed the band room to have "a bit of fun." The track "Are You Ready to Live?" is also likely difficult for Davis to think back on since his wife, Deven, died after ingesting a combination of drugs in 2018.

One of Korn's most divisive records remains 2011's "The Path of Totality." It marked a noticeable shift in the band's sound as they embraced EDM influences and worked with electronic musicians such as Skrillex and Noisia. While most people can appreciate it when a group tries new things, the decision to go dubstep left many fans disappointed by the musical direction.

As it turns out, Brian "Head" Welch wouldn't have rejoined Korn had they continued down the electronic route. Speaking to Metal Hammer, James "Munky" Shaffer detailed how Head flat-out said he didn't want to do an electronic album. The good news is Munky agreed with Head, saying how it made sense to go back to a more guitar-driven sound with both he and Head at the shredding helm.

Head added, "I was like, 'Dude, I love what you've done with the electronics and stuff, but if you wanna do that, I don't think it's right for me.' We all agreed that ['The Paradigm Shift'] had to be a rock record."

Want to find out more about Head? Then, check out why Brian "Head" Welch left Korn and returned seven years later.

If you or anyone you know needs help with addiction issues, help is available. Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).