Corey Taylor: Son Griffin got me into Babymetal

Corey Taylor
Corey Taylor (Image credit: Getty)

Corey Taylor has revealed that his son Griffin got him listening to Babymetal.

The vocalist says he wasn’t aware of the band until Griffin persuaded the Slipknot and Stone Sour frontman to listen to their music – with Taylor saying his son’s enthusiasm for the Japanese trio was infectious.

Taylor tells Junkee: “He’s such a big music fan. He’s actually the one that got me into Babymetal! I’d never heard of them, and he comes running up to me and is like, ‘You gotta check this out.’

“I was so amazed – it was like, ‘What the fuck?’ His enthusiasm is what got me into them.”

Griffin joined his father onstage during Stone Sour’s set at Holmdel’s PNC Banks Arts Center in New Jersey at the end of July to sing Song #3.

Taylor praised Griffin’s performance after the show and has now spoken about how music has been an important part of their relationship.

The vocalist say: “The cool thing is that as he’s gotten older, we’ve bonded so strongly through music. Before, it was me more focusing on laying down the law and just being a dad. I was trying to hammer in those important things – morals, manners; having those foundations and that compass.

“Now that he’s a little older and putting those things into practice, it’s allowed us to lift that a little bit. I’m still a dad first and foremost, but I’ve also been doing what I can to teach him what I know about music.

“It’s a new level to our relationship – and I never had that with any person who tried to be my parent growing up. This is a really new thing for me, and I love it. It’s really cool.”

Stone Sour are currently on tour across North America and will return to the UK and Europe in November and December. Find a full list of their 2017 tour dates below.

Stone Sour 2017 tour dates

Sep 27: St Paul Myth Live, MN
Sep 28: Fargo Civic Center, ND
Oct 03: Bethlehem Sands Event Center, PA
Oct 04: Niagara Falls The rapids Theatre, NY
Oct 08: Wichita The Cotillion, KS
Oct 10: Clive Seven Flags Event Center, IA
Oct 14: The Woodlands Cynthia Woods Mitchell Amphitheatre, TX
Oct 15: The Woodlands Cynthia Woods Mitchell Amphitheatre, TX
Oct 18: Anaheim House Of Blues, CA
Oct 19: Las Vegas House Of Blues, CA
Nov 04: San Bernardino Knotfest, CA
Nov 15: Copenhagen The Gray Hall, Denmark
Nov 16: Stockholm Annexet, Sweden
Nov 17: Oslo Sentrum Scene, Norway
Nov 19: Frankfurt Jahrhunderthalle, Germany
Nov 20: Berlin Columbiahalle, Germany
Nov 22: Brussels AB, Belgium
Nov 23: Eindhoven Klokgebouw, Netherlands
Nov 24: Paris Bataclan, France
Nov 26: Luxembourg Luxepo, Luxembourg
Nov 27: Hamburg Sporthalle, Germany
Nov 29: Birmingham Barclaycard Arena, UK
Nov 30: Leeds First Direct Arena, UK
Dec 01: Brighton Centre, UK
Dec 04: London O2 Academy Brixton, UK
Dec 05: Cardiff Motorpoint Arena, UK
Dec 06: London O2 Academy Brixton, UK
Dec 08: Glasgow SSE Hydro, UK
Dec 10: Cologne Palladium, Germany
Dec 11: Munich Zenith, Germany
Dec 12: Vienna Gasometer, Austria
Dec 14: Zurich Samsung Hall, Switzerland
Dec 15: Milan Alcatraz, Italy

Corey Taylor and Randy Blythe: The Big Debate

Scott Munro
Louder e-commerce editor

Scott has spent 35 years in newspapers, magazines and online as an editor, production editor, sub-editor, designer, writer and reviewer. Scott joined our news desk in the summer of 2014 before moving to the e-commerce team in 2020. Scott keeps Louder’s buyer’s guides up to date, writes about the best deals for music fans, keeps on top of the latest tech releases and reviews headphones, speakers, earplugs and more. Over the last 10 years, Scott has written more than 11,000 articles across Louder, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog. He's previously written for publications including IGN, the Sunday Mirror, Daily Record and The Herald newspapers, covering everything from daily news and weekly features, to tech reviews, video games, travel and whisky. Scott's favourite bands are Fields Of The Nephilim, The Cure, New Model Army, All About Eve, The Mission, Cocteau Twins, Drab Majesty, Marillion and Rush.