Slipknot and Stone Sour guitarist and frontman Corey Taylor has revealed the impact that Prince had on his career,
In an interview with CNN, Taylor spoke about his close emotional connection to The Purple One, and about what it was like to play a show in Prince’s hometown the day he was found dead.
“It was pretty heavy,” said Taylor. “I mean, that whole day was heavy. Waking up to that news, and then kind of putting yourself in a position to think about, you know, it’s like, oh, I am playing First Avenue in Minneapolis on the day that we lost Prince, you’ve got just so many kind of thoughts and emotions that go through your head, especially as a fan.”
He revealed that Prince shaped his music and the industry in general, and also outlined how much he inspired Taylor to keep working hard at music, especially after seeing the hardships Prince endured during his career. “I mean, he was one of those artists, very rare artists, that came up, kind of used the system to make the kind of music he wanted to do, even when the system kind of pushed back, you know.” he said. “I mean, he was subversive to the point of he would go all the way for his art, and he did for people like me, as far as that kind of breaking ground on how labels treat us, and how you have to have a relationship that works both ways with the label, you know, which is… which is pretty big, you know? I mean, the way he shaped the system now, it’s kind of a 50/50 thing as far as, you know, how artists labels work together to put music out for the fans instead of, you know, the feeling like you are… you are killing yourself for your art and not really feeling the impact. So, for me, you know, watching him go through the things that he had gone through inspired me to stick at it and stay with it and do as much as I could, you know, with the music that I had.”
He also spoke about the emotions he felt playing a concert on the day Prince died. “I mean, it was very palpable, You could feel it. It was… Especially knowing that the audience wanted that to happen, and then when it did happen, there was such an outpouring of it. I mean, I was nervous right up until the first chorus, honestly, and when the audience really took it over. I mean, after that, it was out of my hands, thankfully, you know. And it was… it was just… it was us showing our appreciation, showing our love for him, and just trying to come togiether and know that he wouldn’t… you know, he would have wanted us to celebrate music instead of kind of be stuck underneath it.”
Watch: Corey Taylor – Purple Rain (Prince Cover)
