It has been suggested that craft be merged into this article or section. (Discuss) Proposed since March 2012.

It has been suggested that tradesman be merged into this article or section. (Discuss) Proposed since March 2012.

An artist blacksmith and a striker working as one.

Wood carver in Bali.

An artisan (from Italian: artigiano) or craftsman (craftsperson)^[1] is a skilled manual worker who makes items that may be functional or strictly decorative, including furniture, clothing, jewelry, household items, and tools or even machines such as the handmade devices of a watchmaker. An artisan is therefore a person engaged in or occupied by the practice of a craft, who may through experience and talent reach the expressive levels of an art in their work and what they create.

The adjective "artisanal" is sometimes used in marketing and advertising as a buzz word to describe or imply some relation with the crafting of handmade food products, such as bread, tofu, beverages, and cheese. Many of these have traditionally been handmade, rural, or pastoral goods but are also now commonly made on a larger scale with automated mechanization in factories and other industrial areas.

Artisan origins[link]

Artisans were the dominant producers of consumer products prior to the Industrial Revolution. According to classical economics theory, the division of labour occurs with internal market development (Adam Smith). However, according to economist John Hicks, merchants and artisans originated as servants to the rulers, which occurred much earlier.

Medieval artisans[link]

During the Middle Ages, the term "artisan" was applied to those who made things or provided services. It did not apply to unskilled labourers. Artisans were divided into two distinct groups: those who operated their own business, and those who did not. Those who owned their businesses were called masters, while the latter were the journeymen and apprentices. One misunderstanding many people have about this social group is that they picture them as "workers" in the modern sense: employed by someone. The most influential group among the artisans were the masters, the business owners. The owners enjoyed a higher social status in their communities.^[2]

Gallery[link]

• 

  Carpenter, 1425

• 

  Tailor, 1425

• 

  Armourer, 1425

• 

  Dyer, 1433

• 

  Saddler, 1470

• 

  Tanner, 1473

• 

  Weaver, 1524

• 

  Nailsmith, 1529

• 

  Hatter, 1533

• 

  Shoemaker, 1535

• 

  Furrier, 1543

• 

  Goldsmith, 1543

• 

  Wheelwright, 1545

• 

  Stonemason, 1550

• 

  Bladesmith, 1564

• 

  Locksmith, 1600

• 

  Potter, 1605

• 

  Blacksmith, 1606

• 

  Cooper, 1608

• 

  Gunsmith, 1613

• 

  Ropemaker, 1616

See also[link]

• Artist
• Applied art
• Arts and Crafts movement
• Caste — Tarkhan
• Guild

References[link]

External links[link]

• The Wiktionary entry for artisan
• History of Artisans

Rob Zombie
Background information
Birth name	Robert Bartleh Cummings
Also known as	Mr. Zombie
Born	(1965-01-12) January 12, 1965 (age 47) Haverhill, Massachusetts, United States
Genres	Heavy metal, alternative metal, groove metal, industrial metal
Occupations	Musician, songwriter, screenwriter, film director, film producer, programmer, music producer
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, bass guitar, synthesizer, programming
Years active	1985–present
Labels	Roadrunner/Loud & Proud/Geffen
Associated acts	White Zombie, Alice Cooper, Powerman 5000, Ozzy Osbourne, Black Label Society, Marilyn Manson, Iggy Pop, Lionel Richie, Howard Stern
Website	www.robzombie.com

Rob Zombie (born Robert Bartleh Cummings;^[1] January 12, 1965) is an American musician, film director, screenwriter and film producer. He founded the heavy metal band White Zombie and has been nominated three times as a solo artist for the Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance. Zombie's lyrics are noted for their horror and sci-fi themes, and his live shows for their elaborate shock rock theatricality.^[2]

Zombie has also established a career as a film director, creating the movies House of 1000 Corpses, The Devil's Rejects, the 2007 remake of Halloween, its sequel, and The Haunted World of El Superbeasto. His next film will be the upcoming The Lords of Salem which is scheduled to premiere in theaters sometime in 2012.

Early life[link]

Born in Haverhill, Massachusetts, he was the first of two brothers. His younger brother Michael David Cummings was born on August 25, 1968 and is better known as Spider One, the frontman of alternative metal group Powerman 5000.

Recording career[link]

This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (August 2010)

White Zombie (1985–1998)[link]

Based in New York, White Zombie was originally a noise rock band in the vein of fellow New York band Sonic Youth and Texas experimental punk band Butthole Surfers. White Zombie was known for combining heavy-metal music with driving guitar riffs (as on "Super-Charger Heaven"), overlayed with lyrics heavily influenced by horror films and pseudo-Satanic imagery.

Following their signing to Geffen Records, White Zombie achieved commercial success, with a double and triple platinum album and a large number of their songs featured in movies and TV shows (notably Beavis and Butthead and Millennium). The group officially disbanded in 1998 shortly after the release of lead singer Rob Zombie's solo album Hellbilly Deluxe. In a 2008 interview^[3] to promote the release of Let Sleeping Corpses Lie, Rob Zombie made it clear that a reunion with his White Zombie bandmates was unlikely, saying, "I don't want fans to think it's the beginning of anything." Cummings legally changed his name to Rob Zombie, his former stage name, in 1996.^[4]

Solo career (1998–present)[link]

In 1996, Zombie collaborated with Alice Cooper on the song "Hands of Death (Burn Baby Burn)" for the X-Files tie-in CD Songs in the Key of X. It was Zombie's first work outside of White Zombie. The song was nominated for a Grammy for Best Metal Performance the same year.

In 1997, Zombie contributed a song entitled "The Great American Nightmare" for the Howard Stern movie, Private Parts. Since January 6, 1999, it has been the opening theme for Stern's radio show.

[edit] Hellbilly Deluxe

Zombie formed his own solo band in 1998. Drummer John Tempesta came directly from White Zombie, and was joined by Mike Riggs on guitar and Rob "Blasko" Nicholson on bass. A tongue in cheek reference to Dwight Yoakam's Hillbilly Deluxe, Zombie's debut solo album, Hellbilly Deluxe, in 1998, produced by Scott Humphrey. The album was a success, selling three million copies domestically. This album contained the hit singles "Dragula", "Living Dead Girl" and "Superbeast".

Zombie toured extensively to promote the album, then released American Made Music to Strip By in 1999, an album of remixes from Hellbilly Deluxe.

Apart from critical review, the album's cover art received much negative response by various conservative Christian groups, citing the album's inverted pentagram depiction and alluding to rumors and allegations of Satanism. Walmart banned the traditional artwork version of the album from its inventory and offered a 'clean' version of the album (without the inverted pentagram) in its stead, à la Eminem's The Marshall Mathers LP.

[edit] The Sinister Urge

Zombie released The Sinister Urge in 2001 (the title taken from a 1961 Ed Wood film), again produced by Scott Humphrey. This release contained the singles "Never Gonna Stop (The Red Red Kroovy)", "Feel So Numb" and "Demon Speeding". While the album still featured Zombie's signature heavy metal sound, it was also more experimental than Hellbilly Deluxe, including brass instruments on "(Go To) California." The album has been certified platinum.

In 2003, Zombie released his first greatest hits album Past, Present & Future, containing hit songs both from his solo band and White Zombie. It also featured covers (The Commodores' "Brick House" and The Ramones' "Blitzkrieg Bop") and unreleased songs ("Two-Lane Blacktop" and "Girl on Fire").

After a 2002–2003 world tour, Mike Riggs and John Tempesta left Zombie to form a similar band, Scum of the Earth, because Rob Zombie wanted to make movies and got bored on the music industry. He made, between 2003 and 2005 two horror films, House of 1000 Corpses and The Devil's Rejects.

[edit] Educated Horses

Rob Zombie at Ozzfest, 2005.

In 2005, Zombie returned to the music world by recruiting former Marilyn Manson guitarist, John 5, and former Alice Cooper drummer, Tommy Clufetos. Blasko and Humphrey remained, and the five began recording Educated Horses. Released in 2006, Educated Horses is a break from Zombie's usual style. In contrast to the heavy metal sound of his first two albums, Horses features a more alternative metal sound. The single "Foxy Foxy" can be described as his most mainstream and "party-going" song. The other two singles, "Let It All Bleed Out" and "American Witch", featured his signature heavy metal sound. Also, for the first time, Zombie steered away from including horror references in the artwork and songs. Even his physical appearance is less of a persona (Zombie is dressed in regular clothes on the album cover, and his dreadlocks are gone). However, the songs "Seventeen Year Locust" and "The Scorpion Sleeps" do concern themselves with creepy-crawlies. Following the release of the album, Zombie toured the U.S. with Lacuna Coil.

20th Century Masters: Millennium Collection: The Best of Rob Zombie was also released in 2006 by his label, Geffen Records. It contains songs similar to his first greatest hits album, but there are also songs on this release from Educated Horses.

On May 31, 2006, Zombie was joined onstage by guitarist Slash (Guns N' Roses, Velvet Revolver), Gilby Clarke (formerly of Guns N' Roses) on rhythm guitar, Scott Ian of Anthrax on bass, Tommy Lee of Mötley Crüe on drums and special guest Ace Frehley of Kiss also on lead guitar. The occasion was a one-time supergroup tribute to Kiss for the first annual VH1 Rock Honors award show. They played one song, "God of Thunder," before handing it off to the honoree. Zombie then went on tour with Ozzy Osbourne.

Blasko, Zombie's bass player, left the band shortly before the American Witch Tour (the second leg of the tour to promote Educated Horses), to play bass with Ozzy Osbourne. To fill in, Zombie hired Piggy D. of Amen and Wednesday 13 fame as a permanent replacement.

In 2007 Zombie released Zombie Live, which was supposed to be accompanied by a live DVD and picture booklet. So far, only the CD has surfaced.

[edit] Hellbilly Deluxe 2

Zombie's follow-up to Educated Horses was still unnamed as of May 2008. Zombie posted an update on his website, stating: "Well, we have for the first time ever written more songs than we need for an album. Everything isn't 100% finished, but everything is moving along great. No release date yet." In August 2008, a new instrumental song entitled "Tyrannosaurus Rex", featuring John 5 on guitar, was uploaded onto Zombie's MySpace music page. In an interview published in December 2008, Zombie spoke about his new band lineup (John 5, Piggy D., and Tommy C), and how happy he was with his new band members, saying, "I've never had a band that I could call my good friends until now.^[3] " Meanwhile, also in December 2008, Zombie's new single "War Zone" was featured in the soundtrack to Punisher: War Zone.

Rob Zombie appeared on The Howard Stern Show on August 18, 2009, saying the new album was complete, although he had not yet set a title, and was scheduled for release on November 10. That release date would later move to November 17, according to his MySpace blog. Eventually, the release date would be pushed back to February 2010.

On October 3, Zombie posted a link to preview the track "Sick Bubblegum" on his Twitter page. The first single "What?" was released on October 13. Zombie released the next new song, "Burn" for Rock Band, as well as two old tracks, "Dragula" and "Superbeast" on October 27. They are available via Xbox Live and PlayStation Network as well as the Rock Band online store.

On October 29, 2009, Zombie began the Hellbilly Deluxe 2 World Tour in support of his album Hellbilly Deluxe 2: Noble Jackals, Penny Dreadfuls and the Systematic Dehumanization of Cool, despite the fact it was not to be released until over three months later.

Hellbilly Deluxe 2 was set to be his last album released through Geffen Records, but in late October, Zombie announced that he had signed to Roadrunner Records and will instead be releasing Hellbilly Deluxe 2 under that label in early 2010.^[5]

On January 22, he announced that he would be touring with Alice Cooper for the "Gruesome Twosome" tour.

Tommy Clufetos recently left the band to perform with Ozzy Osbourne on drums. He replaced drummer Mike Bordin who is on tour with his current band Faith No More. Joey Jordison has since replaced Clufetos and was announced to be drumming with Zombie for his upcoming summer tour dates.^{[6] [7]} Rob Zombie was bothered that Clufetos was the second member to leave his solo band and join Osbourne after bassist Rob "Blasko" Nicholson left in 2006. Zombie commented, "If my guys that I have wanna go play with other people, that's fine; I don't own them. But I think there's ways to do things in a respectful way and there's ways to just be shitty, and I feel that the way things have gone down lately has been pretty shitty."^[8]

Rob Zombie performed at Edgefest in Little Rock, Arkansas as the co-headliner along with Godsmack on May 8, 2010. It was widely reported that much of the crowd left immediately following his performance, despite the fact that Godsmack was still scheduled to take the stage. He also played on the main stage on the second day of the Rock on the Range festival in Columbus, Ohio on May 23. Once again, it was widely reported that much of the crowd left after his performance, despite the fact that Limp Bizkit had not even started their set.^[9][10]

Rob Zombie finished recording four new songs in July 2010 with John 5, Piggy D, and Joey Jordison. The new music, expected to be released in September 2010, was described by Zombie as "some of the fastest and heaviest tracks we have recorded in a long, long time."^[11] Former White Zombie member, and drummer for Rob Zombie's first two studio albums, John Tempesta was rumored to have recorded at least one song titled "Loving the Freaks" for this release.^[12] While Rob Zombie did confirm that this collaboration was planned, his schedule was too busy and these recording sessions never took place. Working with Tempesta again in the future was not ruled out.^[13] These newly recorded tracks were incorporated into a special edition reissue of Hellbilly Deluxe 2 which was released on September 28, 2010.^[14]

For the first time in 12 years, Zombie returned to the United Kingdom to play a string of six dates in support of Hellbilly Deluxe 2.

On March 4, 2011, Rob Zombie said that he would record a CD after he completes his upcoming film The Lords of Salem.

Rob Zombie embarked on a North American tour with Slayer and Exodus called "Hell on Earth" tour which started July 20 and ended on August 6, 2011.

On April 22, 2011 on Zombie's official Twitter account, it was announced that his new drummer is ex-Marilyn Manson drummer and former John 5 bandmate, Ginger Fish.

Other projects[link]

Rob Zombie sang alongside his brother, Spider One, on Powerman 5000's song "Blast Off to Nowhere" on their 1999 breakthrough album Tonight the Stars Revolt! ^[15]

Zombie supplied the vocals for Drowning Pool's song "Man Without Fear" for the soundtrack to the 2003 film Daredevil.

Zombie is featured as a backing vocalist on "Floyd" from Lynyrd Skynyrd's 2009 album God & Guns.

On May 23, 2010 Zombie's new comic book series about a fictitious horror host, Whatever Happened To Baron Von Shock?, began. The first print sold out in less than a week.^[16]

On March 14, 2011, praising him for inventing the rock show, glam rock, and punk rock, Zombie inducted Alice Cooper into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Film and television[link]

Film career[link]

Rob Zombie attending the 2007 Comic Con to promote Halloween.

House of 1000 Corpses was Rob Zombie's directorial debut and his first horror film. Zombie wrote the screenplay as well as directing the film. It took four years to make (1999–2003), and was finally released by Lion's Gate Films in 2003, after Stacy Snider, then-head of Universal Pictures, sold the film to them. It featured a great deal of violence and gore. The movie told the tale of a group of unlucky young adults who stumble upon the Firefly Family, a family of sadistic and vicious murderers. The film was shot in a surreal and over-the-top style that alternated between dark and campy humor. The film was mostly panned by critics but has gained a cult following.

The House of 1000 Corpses' sequel, The Devil's Rejects, which Zombie also wrote and directed, showcased a much different style. Whereas House aimed at being more gory and bizarre, Rejects was darkly comedic and gritty. Released in 2005, Rejects had the Firefly Family on the run from the law and a particularly vengeful sheriff whose brother had been murdered by them in the first film. It had a better critical reception than Corpses. Zombie contributed to the 2007 exploitation film Grindhouse, by Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino by directing a faux trailer, called Werewolf Women of the S.S., starring his wife, exploitation veterans Udo Kier and Sybil Danning, and Nicolas Cage, who appeared free for fun.

Zombie next wrote and directed Halloween, a reimagining of the 1978 classic that was released August 31, 2007. Although it was a success and opened at number #1 at the box office with $26 million, it registered only 26% at Rotten Tomatoes.^[17] It would go on to gross over $78 million, his biggest hit yet and the highest grossing Halloween film of all time.

Zombie is the executive producer of the animated film The Haunted World of El Superbeasto, based upon his comic book series, The Adventures of El Superbeasto (which appeared in his Spookshow International comic book). The film was released in limited showings at selected theaters on September 12, 2009, and to DVD on September 22, 2009. It features the voices of Tom Papa, Paul Giamatti, Zombie's wife Sheri Moon, and Rosario Dawson.

Zombie directed a sequel to Halloween entitled Halloween II, which was released on August 28, 2009. Filming began on February 23, 2009 in Atlanta, Georgia with Tyler Mane returning as Michael Myers.^[18] Zombie will next be directing a new movie for Dimension Films known as Rob Zombie's Tyrannosaurus Rex.^[19] In an interview at Comic Con 2009 with his younger brother Spider One of Powerman 5000, Zombie stated that his album would be released in October, followed by a tour.

Variety Magazine announced the weekend before the release of Halloween II that Zombie will be directing a remake of the 1950s/1980s films The Blob.^[20] Zombie will also create a new comic called "Whatever Happened to Baron Von Shock?",^[21] which will be released by Image Comics in late 2010.^[22]

On October 3, 2009 received the Filmmaker of the Year title of the Chiller-Eyegore Awards.^[23]

In December 2009 he announced an interest to direct an episode of CSI.^[24] On January 13, 2010, Associated Press reported that Rob Zombie's CSI: Miami episode will air March 1.^[25] He shot the part of the series with the full cast of the series and casted for minor roles Michael Madsen, Malcolm McDowell, William Forsythe, ZZ Top's leader Billy Gibbons and his wife, Sheri Moon Zombie.^[26]

Rob Zombie and Universal Studios presents the Halloween Horror Nights – Rob Zombie Film Competition as part of the Halloween Horror Nights 2010.^[27]

Rob Zombie also was a guest host on WWE Raw.^[28]

On September 22, 2010, it was announced that Rob Zombie's next film project would be entitled The Lords of Salem.^[29]

On February 21, 2011, he announced in an interview that he will start filming Tyrannosaurus Rex after he finishes Lords of Salem.^[30] The remake of The Blob will no longer be directed by Zombie.^[31]

Rumors circulated that Zombie would direct The Dirt, a movie about Mötley Crüe. However, on his Twitter page on March 4, 2011, Zombie explained that he will not be directing The Dirt. Instead, he said, "I am not. I am directing The Lords of Salem.^[32] Recording a CD after that."

Tyrannosaurus Rex is not a dead project, he explained in an interview: "It’ll happen eventually. I don’t have a deal for it, but that was supposed to be my movie I did after Halloween and then it never happened. For some reason in the last six months or so, everybody seems incredibly interested in it again. So the goal is to make that the next movie after The Lords of Salem. I don’t know if it will be, because it’s such a weird business. But Tyrannosaurus Rex has always been my pet project that I’ve always wanted to make. It’s the movie I’ve been dying to make forever."

Music video direction[link]

Rob has directed all of his own music videos as well as all White Zombie music videos except for "Welcome to Planet Motherfucker", "Black Sunshine" and "Thunderkiss '65". Zombie has contributed to other artists directing music videos such as Ozzy Osbourne's "Dreamer", Powerman 5000's "Tokyo Vigilante #1" and Black Label Society's "Stillborn" among others. Zombie has recently finished directing a music video for Leviathan The Fleeing Serpent's song "Crushing the Ritual".

As a guest[link]

Rob Zombie has appeared as a guest on several talk shows including Late Night with David Letterman (several times), Jimmy Kimmel Live! (twice), Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, The Howard Stern Show, The Opie and Anthony Show, That Metal Show, The Nerdist Podcast, Criss Angel: Mindfreak (2005 episode "Buried Alive") and even Space Ghost Coast to Coast (while he was in White Zombie).

Zombie also made a few guest appearances in movies, including Airheads (with White Zombie on stage playing "Feed the Gods") and the voice of Dr. Karl (on the phone) in the movie Slither. He did a few voiceovers for cartoons such as the voice of Ichthultu, a creature from an alternate universe in Justice League Unlimited and Dr. Curt Connors ("The Lizard") in Spider-Man: The New Animated Series. Rob Zombie appeared as the guest host for the June 28th edition of WWE Monday Night RAW.

Zombie supplied music for the Twisted Metal III and Twisted Metal 4 soundtracks, and even appeared as a playable character in Twisted Metal 4. Zombie's song "Dragula" was used in the Jet Grind Radio soundtrack. Zombie's songs Return of the Phantom Stranger, Demonoid Phenomenon, and Meet The Creeper appeared in PS-X 2000 release of Nightmare Creatures 2.

Rob Zombie was the celebrity guest on the Oct 31, 2010 (Halloween Special) episode of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.

On October 16, 2011, Rob Zombie was a celebrity guest judge on Food Network's Halloween Wars.

Personal life[link]

On Halloween day of 2002, Zombie married longtime girlfriend Sheri Moon, whom he also features in all of his films and many of his music videos.

They currently live in Woodbury, Connecticut and Los Angeles, California.^{[citation needed]}

Collaborations[link]

Rob Zombie has cast certain actors in more than one of his films.

	House of 1000 Corpses	The Devil's Rejects	Werewolf Women of the SS	Halloween	Halloween II	The Haunted World of El Superbeasto	The Lords of Salem
Michael Berryman		N					N
Sybil Danning			N	N
Brad Dourif				N	N
Leslie Easterbrook		N		N
Ken Foree		N		N		N	N
William Forsythe		N		N
Sid Haig	N	N		N		N	N
Chris Hardwick	N				N
Danielle Harris				N	N
Clint Howard				N		N	N
Udo Kier			N	N			N
Richard Lynch				N			N
Tyler Mane		N		N	N
Malcolm McDowell				N	N
Matthew McGrory	N	N
Sheri Moon	N	N	N	N	N	N	N
Bill Moseley	N	N	N	N		N
Brian Posehn		N				N
Jeff Daniel Phillips					N		N
Daniel Roebuck		N			N	N	N
Scout Taylor-Compton				N	N
Tom Towles	N	N	N	N
Danny Trejo		N		N		N
Dee Wallace				N			N

Filmography[link]

Feature-length films

• House of 1000 Corpses (2003) (director, writer)
• The Devil's Rejects (2005) (director, producer and writer)
• Halloween (2007) (director, producer and writer)
• Halloween II (2009) (director, producer and writer)
• Lords of Salem (2012) (director, producer and writer)
• Tyrannosaurus Rex (TBA)

Animated films

• The Haunted World of El Superbeasto (2009) (director, producer and writer)

TV work

• Pee-wee's Playhouse (production assistant, unknown episodes)
• Headbangers Ball (guest, numerous episodes)^[33]
• Airheads (guest, with White Zombie performing "Feed the Gods", 1994)
• Space Ghost Coast to Coast (guest, 1 episode, 1997)
• Spider-Man: The New Animated Series (guest, voice of Dr. Kurt Conners a.k.a. The Lizard, episode 3, "Law of the Jungle", July 18, 2003)
• Justice League Unlimited (guest, voice of Ichthulthu, Episode 42, "The Terror Beyond Pt. 2", November 5, 2003)
• Criss Angel Mindfreak (guest, season 1, episode 6, "Buried Alive", 2005)
• Slither (guest, Dr. Karl (voice only), 2006)
• CSI: Miami (director, 1 episode, 2010)
• WWE Raw (Raw Guest Host, 1 episode, 2010)
• Extreme Makeover Home Edition (guest, Season 8 - Episode 6, 2010)
• Halloween Wars (Guest Judge, episode 3, "Zombies vs. Vampires," October 16, 2011)
• The Undead Eyes (voice of Dr. XXX - 2012–present)

Other

• Metal: A Headbanger's Journey as himself (interview)
• Werewolf Women of the SS (2007)

TV Commercials

• Woolite Commercial: "Torturer" (director, 2011)
• Amdro Commercial: "Death Note" (director, 2012)

Discography[link]

Rob Zombie performing in 2011 for the "Hell on Earth" tour with Slayer.

White Zombie[link]

• Soul-Crusher (1987)
• Make Them Die Slowly (1989)
• La Sexorcisto: Devil Music, Vol. 1 (1992)
• Astro Creep: 2000 – Songs of Love, Destruction and Other Synthetic Delusions of the Electric Head (1995)
• Supersexy Swingin' Sounds (1996)

Solo[link]

• Hellbilly Deluxe (1998)
• American Made Music to Strip By (compilation - 1999)
• The Sinister Urge (2001)
• Past, Present & Future (compilation - 2003)
• Educated Horses (2006)
• The Best of Rob Zombie, The Millenium Collection (compilation - 2006)
• Zombie Live (2007)
• Hellbilly Deluxe 2 (2010)
• TBA (2013)

Composer[link]

• Twisted Metal III (1998) (video game)
• Gran Turismo 2 (1999) (video game)
• The Undead Eyes (2011) (television)

Solo band members[link]

Current

• Rob Zombie – vocals (1997–current)
• John 5 – guitar, backing vocals (2005–current)
• Piggy D. – bass guitar, backing vocals (2006–current)
• Ginger Fish - drums, percussion (2011-current)

Former

• Mike Riggs – guitar (1997–2003)
• John Tempesta – drums, percussion, vocals (1997–2004)
• Blasko – bass guitar, vocals (1997–2006)
• Tommy Clufetos – drums, percussion (2005–2010)
• Joey Jordison – drums, percussion (2010–2011)

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Rob Zombie

• Official website
• ZombieFAQ
• Discovering "The Haunted World of El Superbeasto" With Rob Zombie

Corey Taylor
Background information
Birth name	Corey Todd Taylor
Also known as	#8, The Great Big Mouth, Faith, The Sickness, Todd Tigger
Born	(1973-12-08) December 8, 1973 (age 38)
Origin	Des Moines, Iowa, United States
Genres	Alternative metal, heavy metal, post-grunge, hard rock, alternative rock, nu metal
Occupations	Musician, songwriter, author
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, bass, piano, keyboards
Years active	1990–present
Labels	Roadrunner, Great Big Mouth
Associated acts	Slipknot, Stone Sour, Soulfly, Junk Beer Kidnap Band
Website	www.thecoreytaylor.com

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 of Iowa, 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]

Personal life[link]

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] He is of Belgian, Polish and Danish background from his father's side.

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 film Halloween. Taylor said this "developed some sense of Slipknot in [himself]."^[7] While Halloween introduced Taylor to masks and horror themes, Taylor's grandmother 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]

Music career[link]

Slipknot[link]

In Des Moines, Iowa, Joey Jordison, Shawn Crahan, and Mick Thomson approached him asking him to join Slipknot.^[23] He agreed to go to one of their practices, and ended up singing in front of them. They asked him to join the band because of his melodic vocals. Taylor became lead vocalist for the band, when their previous vocalist, Anders Colsefini, left for religious reasons. Of Slipknot's nine members, Corey was the sixth to join the band.^[24]

Taylor performing with Slipknot in 2005

Feeling he could expand more in Slipknot than in Stone Sour, Taylor temporarily quit Stone Sour, even though they were recording an album with Sean McMahon.^[25] Taylor's first gig with Slipknot was on August 22, 1997, which according to band members did not go well. During his first gig, Taylor did not perform wearing a mask; however, for his second show nearly a month later, Corey wore a mask that resembles his debut album mask.^[24] Taylor's current mask was described by MTV's Chris Harris as looking "as though it were made of dried, human flesh—like Leatherface, if only he used moisturizer."^[26] One of the old dreadlocked masks is now in the possession of Dom Howard of British rock band Muse, after the two bands both played MetalFest. He was apparently subjected to Taylor's "sit the fuck down!" routine face-to-face during Slipknot's set and can be seen reliving the experience (wearing the mask) on Muse's Hullabaloo . Despite rumours that Howard had stolen the mask, he in fact received it from a fan afterwards.

Taylor has recorded with Slipknot since the release of their second demo album, a self-titled demo used to promote the band to prospective labels and producers.^[27] As permanent vocalist, he recorded with Slipknot at Indigo Ranch in Malibu, California and released Slipknot, the band's debut album that peaked number one on the Top Heatseekers chart,^[28][29] went 2× Platinum in the United States,^[30] and was included in the 2006 book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.^[31] Taylor was accused of copyright infringement, regarding the lyrics of the song "Purity". But this turned out to be a lie.^[32] Taylor began recording for their second studio album, Iowa, in 2001 at Sound City and Sound Image in Van Nuys, Los Angeles, California.^[33] It was released August 28, 2001 and peaked number one on the UK Albums Chart,^[34] as well as number three on the Billboard 200.^[35] While writing Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses), Taylor decided to write lyrics that would not warrant an explicit label.^[36] It peaked number two on the Billboard 200.^[37] All Hope Is Gone was the first Slipknot album to peak number one on the Billboard 200.^[38]

Stone Sour[link]

Corey Taylor unmasked with Stone Sour

Taylor is a founding member of the American hard rock band Stone Sour. After he formed the band with drummer Joel Ekman, Shawn Economaki joined filling in the bass position, leaving the electric guitar position to be filled by Josh Rand. Stone Sour recorded a demo album in 1992, and another in 1994. In 1997, Taylor was approached by the metal band, Slipknot, resulting in him abandoning Stone Sour while they were recording a demo album with Sean McMahon at SR studios.^[23][25] Taylor did not return until five years later to record their debut album, Stone Sour in 2002. Both Taylor and guitarist Josh Rand contacted Jim Root, Slipknot's guitarist, and Shawn Economaki, Stone Sour's original bassist, to begin writing songs for their debut album.^[39] Drummer Joel Ekman came back on board as well.^[40][41] This "reformation" later resulted in Stone Sour recording at Catamount Studios in Cedar Falls, Iowa.^[40][42]

Their self-titled debut album was released August 27, 2002, and it debuted at number 46 on the Billboard 200.^[43] Their second album, Come What(ever) May debuted at number four on the Billboard 200.^[43] It was released August 1, 2006, and charted on several different charts.^[43][44][45] Live in Moscow is currently their only album specifically released only for music download.^[46] During the recording of the album, drummer Joel Ekman left the band for personal reasons. As a result, drummer Roy Mayorga was recruited, taking his place.^[47] The group released their third studio album, Audio Secrecy, on September 7, 2010. Corey Taylor announced he will do a Concept Double album with Stone Sour. It's going to be the first Stone Sour to be back to back with an album.^[48][49][50]

Other work[link]

Taylor has appeared as a guest musician on albums by Soulfly, Apocalyptica and Damageplan. At one point, he was heavily involved in the recording of thrash metal band Anthrax's album, Worship Music, but the sessions remain unreleased.^[51] He also contributed to the Roadrunner United all-star album in 2005, providing vocals for the song "Rich Man".^[52] Taylor has also made a brief appearance in Steel Panther's singles "Death to All but Metal", "Eyes of a Panther", and "Asian Hooker".^[53] In 2006, Taylor founded the record company Great Big Mouth Records.^[54] Taylor has produced two albums: Face Cage's self-titled album and Walls of Jericho's Redemption.^[55][56] Taylor provided guest narration on the track "Repentance" for Dream Theater's 2007 album Systematic Chaos. In an interview with Billboard magazine, Taylor confirmed that on January 13, 2009, he was planning on making a solo album, as well as returning to his side project Stone Sour after Slipknot's All Hope Is Gone World Tour.^[57] Taylor has stated that he is currently been writing songs that states "don't fit either of his main bands."^[57] He describes them as a cross between Foo Fighters, Johnny Cash, and Social Distortion, saying that there's "a country background that comes built-in with living in Iowa".^[57]

On the March 30, 2009, it was confirmed that Taylor and the Junk Beer Kidnap Band would be performing at Rockfest in 2009.^[58] The group performed on April 24, 2009 at People's Court in Des Moines, Iowa, marking Taylor's first official solo show.^[59] Taylor constantly performs with his band the Dum Fux, who make covers for 1970s punk rock and 1980s hair metal.^[60] Taylor also performs with Audacious P, a band that is primarily a Tenacious D covers band.^[61] Rapper Tech N9ne confirmed that Taylor was to perform on his album K.O.D., but was removed because Taylor did not submit his vocals in time.^[62][63] Taylor recently admitted that he tried out for the vacant singer spot in the band Velvet Revolver, but said that it just did not work out.^[64] However, according to a recent Billboard article, it seems likely that he may in fact become the vocalist for Velvet Revolver, though no official confirmation has been made.^[65] Duff McKagan added that they can neither "confirm or deny" Taylor's membership in the band but believes that Taylor is the "real deal".^[66] Slash has since ruled Corey out as the possible new vocalist explaining that "[it] just wasn't right" although he does love him.^[67] He however, has recorded 10 new songs with the band, drummer Matt Sorum stated it's unlikely it will ever be released.^[68] Taylor explained to Mark Hoppus on Hoppus on Music that McKagan and he were writing new music for a possible new supergroup.^[69]

In July 2011 Taylor collaborated with Aaron Lewis while promoting Lewis' solo album, Town Line for a one night only acoustic duet show covering songs such as, Pearl Jam's "Black", Pink Floyd's Comfortably Numb, and Alice In Chains' Down In A Hole, videos from this show with Taylor and Lewis can be found on YouTube.

As a solo artist he recently recorded a new song, "X-M@$", for The Teenage Cancer Trust. The video itself is dedicated to those who hate Christmas. The single was made available to digital retailers on December 12, 2010.^[70] It debuted at number thirty-seven in the UK.^[71]

In 2011, Taylor collaborated with Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker on Barker's solo album Give The Drummer Some on the song "On My Own".

Style and influence[link]

The first two Slipknot albums with Taylor's vocals, Slipknot and Iowa, both contain gratuitous explicit content. Many critics claimed Taylor relied on the profanity, which is why Slipknot's third album, Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses) is profanity free and did not warrant the explicit label.^[36] Compared with the previous vocalist for Slipknot, Anders Colsefini, Taylor has a vocal style that was characterized by drummer Joey Jordison as "really good melodic singing".^[72] Taylor's vocal style, which contains at times melodic singing, growling, screaming, shouting, and rapping, led him to place at number 86 on the Hit Parader’s Top 100 Metal Vocalists of All Time.^[73]

Taylor's two major projects have contrasting temperament.^[40] Slipknot is considered to be heavy metal, nu metal and alternative metal, and express moods such as depression, hostility, anger, and rebellion.^[74] Stone Sour is classed as hard rock, alternative metal, heavy metal, and post-grunge, expressing moods of bleakness and somberness as well as anger and rebellion.^[75] Taylor cites Mötley Crüe, Iron Maiden, Metallica, Nine Inch Nails, Dokken, Misfits, Black Sabbath, Black Flag, Slayer, Def Leppard, Sex Pistols, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Cheap Trick, Pearl Jam, The Damned, The Cramps, Journey, Mike Patton and Bob Dylan as influences.^[76]

Discography[link]

Stone Sour[link]

Slipknot[link]

Other works[link]