1992-Jonathan DavisVocals, bagpipes1993-
James "Munky" ShafferGuitar1992-
Brian "Head" WelchGuitar1992-2005, 2013-
Reginald "Fieldy" ArvizuBass1992-
David SilveriaDrums1992-2006
Ray LuzierDrums2007-
Most radio stations steered clear of Korn, so they built their substantial fan base by touring in the mid-'90s with acts like Danzig and Biohazard that were also on the fringes, too untamed for most listeners. They later toured with more established artists like Ozzy Osbourne and Megadeth, and by 1998 were one of the most popular bands in America, leaders of the nu metal movement.
They formed in Bakersfield, California, a spot known for traditional country music from the likes of Merle Haggard. There is a "Bakersfield sound," but it's not Korn.
They had their nicknames since they were young:
Reginald Arvizu had big chubby cheeks when he was a kid so they called him Garfield... later on it became Fieldy.
James Shaffer is able to spread his toes out to where they look like monkey hands, which is where the name Munky came from.
Brian Welch has a big head ("Go get me any hat and it won't fit"), so he earned the name Head.
Jonathan Davis and David Silveria don't use nicknames, though Jon calls himself "HIV," a reference to how many lunkheads derisively through gay slurs his way when he was younger (he's not gay, but many people thought he was). Davis even has a tattoo on his left arm that says "HIV."
David, Fieldy, and Munky all first played together under the name LAPD and recorded an album. When they brought along Head, they changed their name to Creep. The addition of Davis brought the name Korn. The band LAPD initially stood for Laughing As People Die, but later it was changed to Love And Peace Dude.
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Suggestion credit:
Aby - Ajman, United Arab Emirates
Davis had been in bands before (like Sex Art), but was on his way to becoming a mortician when the band called on him to join. His time as a mortician helped develop his fear of automobiles.
A spot on the 1997 Lollapalooza tour helped cement their entrance in the mainstream, although they had to cut is short when Munky came down with viral meningitis. Rap, rock and techo all came together on this tour, with Snoop Dogg, Tool and The Prodigy among the acts. Korn was an amalgam of all these sounds, so they fit right in.
They founded and headed up the Family Values Tour in 1998, which helped introduce the world to Limp Bizkit and Orgy, among others.
In 1998, a boy at a high school in Zeeland, Michigan was suspended for wearing a Korn T-shirt to school when the principal claimed their music was obscene. The band members responded by teaming with a local radio station to hand out free T-shirts in front of the school.
Guitarists Shaffer and Welch both use seven-string guitars (the seventh is a low B-string). Bass player Arvizu sometimes uses a five-string bass. All of them tune their instruments lower than normal.
Davis contributed music to the 2002 movie The Queen of the Damned, starring Aaliyah, and has a small role in the film.
In 1996, Korn became the first band to have an interactive internet radio broadcast when they previewed the album Life Is Peachy on the web.
Korn never tell anyone the lyrics to their songs based on their belief that their music is a very personal thing. Anytime you see lyrics to a Korn song (even transcribed inside the official tablature books to their albums), it is a "best guess."
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Nick - Paramus, NJ
Jonathan Davis used to practice the bagpipes for up to six hours a day when he was in high school.
In 2005, Welch left the band to focus on his Christian faith. He left after discovering his daughter was reciting obscene Korn lyrics at school. Welch reunited with the band on stage at the Carolina Rebellion on May 5, 2012 for the first time in seven years, and on May 2, 2013, officially announced he was rejoining Korn.
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Kenny - Semmes, AL
Shaffer started playing the guitar when he accidentally got the top his left index finger cut off in a bike accident. The doctor told him playing the instrument would be good way to rehab.
If it wasn't for David Silveria, Jonathan Davis would not have played the bagpipes in Korn's music. David simply told him to pick them up and start playing them during band practice, and later the song "
Shoots And Ladders" was born.
Arvizu is left handed but he plays the bass right handed.
They were early adopters of the internet, which they used to broadcast a series of "After School Specials" using RealPlayer in 1998, before most bands even had websites. These were interactive - fans could call in or send questions via chat. They used these broadcasts to help promote their Follow The Leader album.
In 1999, Korn were featured on the Halloween episode of South Park called "Korn's Groovy Pirate Ghost Mystery" where they solve a mystery Scooby-Doo style, then play a concert for the people of South Park. The show often ends with a mock moral, which in this case is delivered by Jonathan Davis to everyone who misjudged them. He says: "It's easy to perceive something some way and then be wrong. So we all need to learn to be a little less perceptive."
Davis and Fieldy have known each other all their lives because their fathers were in a band together.
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Carlos - Manassas, VA
In 2006, Davis started wearing grills on his teeth to poke fun at the trend. He had a few different grill that he would rotate - made a great talking point in interviews.
Their 2000 tour rider contains a request for a "rock friendly" lawyer, medical doctor, dentist, masseuse and/or chiropractor.
Founding member David Silveria left Korn in 2006 and was replaced by Ray Luzier. When Welch returned to the group in 2013, Silveria hoped to come back as well, reuniting the original lineup, but the band didn't let him back in. Silveria vented his frustration on social media.
When Fieldy was forced to drop out of Korn's April 2017 run of South American shows, the band hired a 12-year-old as a replacement. The stand-in wasn't just any pre-teen though, he was Tye Trujillo, the son of Metallica bassist Robert Trujillo.
